Chugach

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If loads are strong and B6 can make some money, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see it go year-round. B6 has stated before they would stay year-round if it penciled out, and the ANC authorities have worked to convince B6 to stay through the winter.

Contrary to popular belief, this market doesn't completely dry up in winter, especially to the Pacific NW.

AKLifetimeFlyer

I can't see many ANC based travelers using kettle-jet (B6) over AS... I cant imagine the fare difference will justify not getting miles/status on AS.

AS Flyer

Of course I prefer Alaska but "Kettle Jet" as you call it actually does a nice job. I fly them to Puerto Rico regularly and they treat us really well. They have comfy seats, free TV (where you can get it) and unlimited free snacks and drinks. Their people are really nice too. Honestly, I think this is probably Alaska's biggest competition. Southwest is a force to be reckoned with but they are kind of a one trick pony. The large legacies are all kind of disappointing. Allegiant and Spirit suck on a lot of levels but they definitely get the "Kettle" traffic. Virgin is having a very hard time and is just a bit of a thorn in every other airlines side. Jet Blue has a nice product and a decent frequent flyer program. No upgrades but their coach product is nicer than most. I don't think they are going to make a significant dent in this market with one all nighter with limited connecting possibilities but Alaska will most certainly keep an eye on this one.

AS Flyer

JFK beefs up their summer schedule usually. This year they had two BOS flights and several JFK flights. I imagine once they get the summer schedule online they'll have a better connection to JFK, if this isn't a through flight.

golfingboy

We will see how this works out... If necessary, UA can easily destroy yields ex-ANC [not that they want to, but will have to if necessary] since they have most, if not almost all, corporate contracts from the Lower 48 to Alaska [oil traffic mostly], so UA has a guaranteed revenue stream. With SFO, PDX, SEA 2x, IAH, ORD, and DEN in the summer, I think UA is AS's biggest threat. However, I do not think UA wants to start a fare war, but with F9 and B6 encroaching into the Alaska market, things could change.

This summer definitely will be interesting, but we have to remember that the DL SLC flight has gone buh bye, so capacity wise it might not be any different.

Chugach

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SLC comes back around spring break.

TravelMann

Well, I say bravo. I am a Lifetime Gold and I will be flying on Jetblue as much as I can to support the service. All the AS changes have diminished the program and the one benefit, upgrades is barely an F product and they have made it harder and harder to get those upgrades (each change, AS claims will improve our access like restricting the MVP guest upgrades to certain fare bases, and with each change, I don't see any uptick in access, only a bootom line move for AS. Good for them. If we don't want to be prisoners to AS in this market, healthy competition needs to be supported.

Partners charging us "non-refundable" $25 fees is ridiculous (and that's when you can find partner access anymore). The "tier" award system also only serves to cost us more miles soon after they had already just raised the saver award to 25K to "match the industry standard." From what I understand Jetblue's redemption for awards is fairly straightforward. Any more AS 'enhancements' and I really won't be using my Lifetime status at all

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BearX220

That "kettle-jet" insult is very ill-informed. It's usually leveled by people who don't know anything about B6. The economy product is better than that of any legacy, certainly including AS, and if you live in a B6 market that has enough destinations and frequencies, it's a fine choice for business travel. No F class, but as others here have pointed out, the AS F class is only one modest notch above coach... not really worth obsessing over IMO.

Right on.

LuckyDenver

The PDX experiment lasted for one summer season (2010) on CO and couldn't be cancelled quick enough...I flew it 4 times (as an MVP Gold) and each time got all three seats to myself, as did much of the rest of the plane. More importantly, CO never secured any measurable cargo for this flight which added to the pain.

formeraa

One seasonal flight per day is NOT going to start a major fare war on SEA-ANC. If B6 offers lower fares on their flight, AS will match the sale only on their flight(s) at the closest times.

OTOH, if B6 does well, decides to add three or four daily frequencies and run them year-round, then GAME ON!

UAPremierExec

I have to agree -- JetBlue is *far* from the Kettle-jet. I've used them to Puerto Rico as well (then on to Tortola or the USVI) and its always a much more enjoyable experience than on other airlines. I've always been able to watch a movie on this flight, for free, and the pay-up to the extra legroom seats gives you as much legroom as AS does in F, if not a tad more.

One flight won't do much worry for Alaska, unless as another poster said, it becomes 4 flights.

A turn to Juneau, I think, would have much more of an effect on Alaska than Anchorage.

Chugach

No...but if B6 offers fares between ANC-SEA at under $400 rt (which is comparable as that is about what they charge for ANC-LGB), then that is still a good thing for the market and may provide for some market stimulation.

Case in point: I'm a heck of a lot more likely to take my family to Seattle when it costs $350 rt, instead of the current $545 (or more if I want to do something fancy, like, not leave Anchorage at 1:30 AM).

jackal

Where does the ANC plane go after it arrives in SEA? I assume it doesn't sit in SEA for six hours, so probably LGB.

Yes, and as golfingboy mentioned, UA has the corporate contracts for that traffic, but why the stop in SEA, then? Not much of an oil presence in SEA (at least, AFAIK), and CO (now UA) has done a nonstop in the past, but it's usually seasonal. Why not just run the nonstop and skip the non-hub SEA, or why not keep it as a direct flight but route it through DEN or SFO (where they can feed traffic in from the rest of their network)?

Wow--is it really that bad?

I guess I've been away too long. I haven't paid more than $280 for a transcon round-trip all year. I just stay home if it's much over $300 or $350. And yet somehow I feel like I'm traveling too much--twice a month isn't too much, is it?

Tide_from_PAE

This is good news. Maybe I'll be able to finally visit Alaska next year if fares are right.

It was my understanding that CO had the USPS mail contract to Alaska and this flew larger aircraft, often a 757-300, with half the seats occupied SEA-ANC. The flight also benefits UA's West Coast network and provides competition for AS.

Seattle has historically been the gateway to Alaska since the days of the Alaskan Gold Rush. As such, it's not surprising that multiple airlines fly SEA-ANC.

BearX220

For years (don't know if it remains the case) the CO aircraft on the early-morning SEA-EWR departure, a 752 or 753, performed the overnight SEA-ANC-SEA turn beforehand and often ran late as a result, with a very fast SEA gate turn around 600a to get it on its way back east.