Originally Posted by whlinder
Are the 800s going to have winglets?
Si. Winglets all around.
Incidentally, I saw my first AS 73G with the winglets at SEA the other day. Cool.
Originally Posted by whlinder
What potential routes would AS need a 737-900X for? I can't think of markets AS could open with an extended range 737, aside from ANC-eastern US. Or would the 900X have transatlantic/transpac range?
Judging from other discussions and AS statements on this topic, it's less a pure range issue and more a capacity and effeciency issue. More people, more stuff, same pilots, same cities, less gas. The current 739's aren't as satisfactory in this department.
Over the long haul, effeciency is going to be the make or break factor in domestic US air travel, as the airline seat from point A to point B moves toward commodity pricing. I am convinced that the future of the industry for the "legacy" carriers is in flying mostly international flights, where (thanks to bilateral treaties, etc.) they are less vulnerable to new entrant low cost competition and thus able to charge a premium in order to subsidize limited domestic service (and infrastructure to support codesharing arrangements) to serve their international hubs. We've already seen UA, DL and AA cutting back domestically to expand overseas.
AS, as a carrier with a mostly domestic route network but a stronghold in Alaska, can possibly follow this model as well - but its Alaska route network probably can't carry as much of the cost burden as UA or AA flying multiple 777's daily to Asia and Europe. That's where we come back to effeciency, service, and good high-revenue choices for domestic expansion.