are you seriously suggesting anyone other than the most die-hard AS enthusiast or mileage/status runner would willingly fly SEA-DAL-BOS, particularly given 2x or 3x nonstops? on the other three routes a DAL connection isn't entirely unreasonable, geographically speaking, but AS has nonstop service on all
... further complicating the scenario

I would guess OP is suggesting the service as adds. IMO, it's kind of crazy given two gates and the fact that LGA/DCA are better cities to serve than BOS/MCO for DAL. Like way better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas...p_destinations

With DAL's curfew, VX's gates operate at near capacity. There is slack to add two landings and takeoffs. Maybe three, max. My money is on SEA.

Im not suggesting a full-on hub. But it provides additional opportunities to capture more traffic, both origin/destination out of Dallas, but also to provide more options, say SAN to DCA/LGA/BOS/MCO should the times work. 2 gates is enough to provide additional direct or connecting opportunities while working off the VX base already built up in Dallas.

Add in the AA relationship and it could work well in Alaska's benefit.

12 to 13 departures a day when at the max it was 18. there are some holes where maybe 4 or 5 flights could be added. 9am, 11am, 3pm, and after 630pm are times today when there could be some slack to slide in an additional flight, or two.

AA is not going to take kindly to AS having a focus city at DAL.

AA is partners with AS out of convenience of not having to have much in terms of service to the PNW/AK.

Just because they're codeshare and FF partners doesn't mean AA isn't competing with AS. Especially if AS decide to add service to non PWN destination visa-a-vi DAL. That's competing for O/D passengers head to head with DFW. Sure it would be great for AS, but not for AA.

But AS can't live in fear of not maximizing DAL, if it wants to, just because of AA. It's the same with LAX. AA is big in LAX and AS will have to compete with them there.

Anyways, AA probably realizes that it's really WN at DAL that is the big competitor, not AS. NK (at DFW) and DL (to all of DL's hubs) are also bigger competitors. AS is just a small time carrier in Dallas, even if it maximizes the two gates, all relative to WN.

I think DAL-MSP has a good chance of addition, with Southwest not serving it. It would aggravate Delta more than AA anyways. :-)

I'm not saying that AS shouldn't maximize their gates at DAL. I was more pointing out that there are many routes AS could chose that would potentially prompt a retaliatory measure from AA, and that AA isn't necessarily wild about their "partner" running routes like DAL/LAX or DAL/ORD.


Plus it's not like AS has a well established brand in TXj or East Coast. They can make the DFW flights work in partnership with AA. But I think it would be a mistake for AS to have too many DAL flights that go East...that puts them way outside their brand area, and it would be very isolated from the rest of their network.

AA can't be at DAL as per their merger agreement, so having a partner there is better than nothing.

How much of a focus city can you have with two gates? No other airline would call a city a focus city with two gates. None.

OTOH, I really think they need to add gates to DAL. Having a limit of 20 where one airline gets 90% is pretty anti-competitive. If AS wants more gates to build a stronger operation that can compete with WN, then it should. Also, if DL wants to fly to all its hubs, it should be able to as well.

having Delta expand at DAL.

I think DAL for AS will ultimately be about serving west coast-based passengers whose travels are terminating in Dallas.

It is when one of those airports has just a handful of flights to only one city. While the other two airports have more flights to more destinations. Even UA didn't feel JFK warranted remaining an open station just to serve two cities. And even the passenger "convenience" of using LGA will be quite the opposite during the next few years as the current terminal buildings become replaced with entirely new ones. If they still want to serve the DAL-NYC market, they are much better off shifting those flights to JFK and/or EWR. The fare premium commanded for serving DAL-LGA can't be that great that it offsets the cost of keeping the LGA station open solely for those flights.

DL has 5 nonstops on DAL-ATL.

It could technically switch it to: 1x DAL-ATL, 1x DAL-MSP, 1x DAL-SLC, 1x DAL-SEA and 1x DAL-DTW :) It might sound crazy, but Southwest at DAL has a lot of 1x daily routes, including PIT, CMH, IND, DTW and PHL and likely some others, so the Love Field traveler might already be used to it.

I've been wondering if AS could sell the LGA slots for more gates at EWR in Terminal A at EWR if it's possible.

Southwest has actually struggled at EWR, deleting EWR-LAS/HOU/BNA, and might want more of an LGA presence. I don't know if AS can just expand at EWR though on it's own. Also an interesting point, along with not covering DAL-MSP, Southwest doesn't cover DAL-EWR. But I've seen United and American be competitive with DAL-EWR fares mainly because the fare war of DAL-LGA spilling into DAL-EWR, so the two markets while different are closely related.

Eh. My guess is that SEA-DAL and maybe PDX-DAL (on an E75) is about all we'll get for DAL (and AS will retain their DFW presence, maybe even add SFO/LAX-DFW so there's a codesharing opportunity beyond DFW).

It's not like AS isn't used to serving two airports in the same metro area.

AS is used to operating some fairly small stations. BUR isn't huge. Neither is ONT. Neither is OAK. They aren't coughing those up even though they have duplicative service into LA and SF, so why cough up LGA?

UA had a hub 30 miles away they could switch p.s. service to (and back in the day JFK was actually a hub for UA). Are you suggesting AS needs to build out a hub in EWR or JFK so they can serve DAL?

Again: AS has those slots as part of the AA divestiture, for the exact same reason they have DAL gates. Requires regulatory approval to sell them, and the airlines for who those slots would have the most value are exactly the airlines the regulators want to keep those slots away from: AA, DL.