evoG

Yesterday I received an email invitation to tour the new Q.

I presume this is to allay VFFs' concerns related to the negative press received when AS' announced to switching FAI-ANC to Qs and combis.

Anything similar scheduled for ANC?

Putzy

Sept. 8 Juneau.
Sept. 9 Fairbanks.
Sept. 10 Kodiak then Anchorage.

dave1013

Thanks for sharing the info! Did the email provide any insight to what is new about the Q's that will be flying up here, or is it simply a reference to the new intra-Alaska service with Q400's?

golfingboy

I wonder what they will say if asked about why the seats don't recline, padding is non-existent, there are no window shades, lavatory does not have a sink, and about losing F, etc.

jsguyrus

They will call it an, "upgrade".

apodo77

Perfectly said. Q400 is not something I would be showing off.

ANC

might just be easier to use Era and save $5 a round trip and 30 or 45 minutes worth of time on each end not having to deal with TSA and having to sit around the gate for the 30 or 40 minutes. I cant believe the peak hour flights arent 737s. AS is probably going to lose some of the elite revenue on that route that fly it like I used to every week...sometimes twice a week. Not saying that some elite would take all their business to 7H but they may be more apt to do so if 7H is $20 or $30 cheaper OR if they need the extra time on the ground on a certain day where they dont have to deal with TSA and can show up 15 minutes prior. Aside from holiday times and weird anomolies it was almost an assured upgrade if you were a Gold and probably 60 to 75% for MVPs. There are going to be a LOT of miffed Golds on that route. I dont fly it any more so I dont care that much. Im just wondering if AS will considering intruding into ENA(the problem I guess would be lack of screening)....can we get some YXY!!!! now

Chugach

My next two FAI trips are exclusively on Era. I fly about 50,000 BIS annually on AS and I've been rewarded with a significant service downgrade on a frequently flown route and a $6 million donation to my arch rival.

I'm annoyed enough I booked an ANC-ORD flight in October on UA...in E-.

I already have MVPG for 2014 so my impetus to fly AS the rest of 2013 is limited at the moment.

evoG

the body of the invitation read:
Please Join Us

On June 4 of this year we announced the introduction of the Q400 aircraft
to the state of Alaska, with service between Fairbanks and
Anchorage beginning in March, 2014.

As one of our valued customers, we would like to invite you to tour the
Q400 NextGen while on an early trip to Fairbanks. Meet with members of
our exceptional crew and visit with the Alaska Airlines/ Horizon team.

I've been wondering the same thing- AS downgauging levels the playing field in terms of equipment with 7H, they have simpler airport procedures, and a more attractive/comprehensive intrastate network (i realize this is too sweeping of a generalization). I hope this doesn't muck up AS/7H award redemptions.

would be cool if q400s let AS grow in AK... YXY would be cool... DYR or PVS too

beaver

Point of reference as well. Cost for the FAI-ANC and ANC-FAI legs is staying the same for trips in February and March, 2014. Still at about the $149 OW rate ("Best Deal") regardless of type of aircraft.

I join others in being very disappointed with this change.

Bethelite

I am also concerned about the Q400 flying at ~24,000 feet over the Alaska Range, instead of 33,000+. I know it crosses the Cascades and Rockies regularly, but there is no comparison to our ranges up here. They will be in the weather constantly, and people will be getting rocked. I, for one, like being a jet that's cruising along smoothly over 10,000 feet above the top of the stratus deck.

ANC

to me thats not really an issue. You are only at 30,000+ feet for 5 to 8 minutes..if that. Typically on all my couple hundred treks between ANC/FAI the typical time at cruise altitude without ascent or descent was 6 minutes. To me its more about a degradation in services, added flight length of on average 10 minutes longer, same type of A/C (just an ER version of a 7H plane), less time consuming TSA hassle using 7H, and no change in price as someone has already touched on

golfingboy

Most of the time the planes don't even fly over 25K feet. They always file 33-36K, but end up only going up as high as 25K feet.

A bigger concern, IMO, is trying to land in high winds at some of those airports. The Qs are more prone to being pushed around due to its lighter weight and slower speed. Even on some days 747s struggle to land in the crosswind at ANC when crossing Fire Island (a lot stronger and more potent than your average crosswind in the lower 48) and I am sure that pales in comparison to some airports in remote parts of Alaska.

Bethelite

I should have clarified that my comment was looking ahead to the inevitable Q400 announcements for BET, OME, OTZ, etc.

AS Flyer

some of these arguments make no sense at all. On one hand, everyone here is contemplating flying on Era's Dash-8's to save time now that QX is moving in. On the other hand, there's an argument going on about whether the Q400 is going to be safe enough to fly around in Alaska, what with all the mountains and what not. How is a Q400 going to be any different than a Dash-8, except that it's twice the size? Yes, this is a downgrade from jet service and jet's feel better. FAI has enjoyed a level of service that no other community of it's size, and many much larger communities in the country, have enjoyed for a lot of years. Airlines are in business to make money and flying half full planes around isn't viable these days. I suppose it doesn't mean anyone has to like it but this has been going on down in the lower 48 now for about the last 30 years. If FAI could support a robust schedule of larger jets then I'm sure Alaska would be happy to provide that. As it is, they can't.

For what it's worth, someone said that the average flight time is going to be 10 minutes longer. That's not true. Flight times are scheduled at about 4 minutes longer or less on average.