FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - American Airlines Adds Three New Flights to Alaska - More "Partner" Competition
Old Aug 29, 2019, 5:01 pm
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Often1
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
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Originally Posted by Chugach


AS already flies ANC-ORD, so there’s that.

AS is never going to fly a route like FAI-ORD or FAI-DFW, though. FAI is a spoke outstation for AS; with the exception of the SCC/BRW stuff there isn’t any non-hub flying there and they aren’t going to fly to a lower 48 city that isn’t a hub. UA and AA can make these long and thin ORD/DFW/DEN/SFO-FAI flights work because of the strength of their hubs in those cities.

I do, however, think AS has shot themselves in the foot in ANC. They’ve let other airlines get a toehold and start cherry picking traffic when ANC should be a locked down hub for AS. They cut ANC-DEN...now UA flies it twice daily in peak season. They cut ANC-YVR...now AC flies it twice daily. They finally added ANC-SFO back after letting UA own it for about the last 15 years or so. AA started flying an internationally configured wide body 787 in to ANC this year, and it was packed most days. Those are the most obvious examples.
That's the whole point. It will be hard for AS to compete, even on ANC-ORD, against an A-321 on a route with a lot of paid F. The FAI-DFW hop is simply OIL & GAS to OIL & GAS.

The problem for AS is the impact of losing high PRASM routes to a competitor in the heart of its turf.
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