Major Midcon/Transcon Schedule Reduction (Winter 2020)
Nov 8, 2019, 9:25 am
#196
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: SAN
Programs: AS Mileage Plan 100k, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 991
Nov 8, 2019, 9:38 am
#197
Join Date: May 2003
Location: SFO, mostly
Posts: 2,204
The evolving route map for AS at SFO is looking more and more like that of their SAN mini hub circa 6-7 years ago. West Coast north-south flights, plus key leisure destinations (Mexico, Hawaii, Orlando), and then transcons to a few key east coast business destinations. Largely everything else is flyover. Yes, AS still has Ord, Aus, Dal and Msy for midcons ex-Sfo, but otherwise that’s the way it’s looking. AS has never stayed in routes that lose money for long, which may well be a key to their success.
Nov 8, 2019, 12:21 pm
#198
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,387
The evolving route map for AS at SFO is looking more and more like that of their SAN mini hub circa 6-7 years ago. West Coast north-south flights, plus key leisure destinations (Mexico, Hawaii, Orlando), and then transcons to a few key east coast business destinations. Largely everything else is flyover. Yes, AS still has Ord, Aus, Dal and Msy for midcons ex-Sfo, but otherwise that’s the way it’s looking. AS has never stayed in routes that lose money for long, which may well be a key to their success.
http://investor.alaskaair.com/static...e-8a59d35c7206
Mainline recorded pretax profit of $378 million in the third quarter of 2019, compared to $314 million in the third quarter of 2018. The $64 million increase in pretax profit was primarily driven by a $123 million increase in Passenger revenues and a $27 million decrease in economic fuel cost, partially offset by a $100 million increase in non-fuel operating expenses.
The increase in Mainline passenger revenue for the third quarter of 2019 was primarily driven by the impact of our revenue initiatives and synergies, as well as continued improvement in our trans-con markets as compared to the prior year.
The increase in Mainline passenger revenue for the third quarter of 2019 was primarily driven by the impact of our revenue initiatives and synergies, as well as continued improvement in our trans-con markets as compared to the prior year.
Nov 10, 2019, 10:29 pm
#199
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 493
Now the results are in. The AS transcon and midcon strategy has failed and they are cancelling a bunch of these routes and changing their strategy to "West Coast focus". It's kind of hard to call that a business win. This was pure and simple an execution failure. B6 executed the same strategy going East to West and is doing great on similar transposed routes.
Nov 11, 2019, 8:41 am
#200
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: B6 Mosaic, Bonvoy LT Titanium (x SPG LT), IHG Spire, UA Silver
Posts: 5,847
And B6 is adding even more capacity on these routes as AS pulls back making it even more difficult as time goes by for AS on these particular routes. The question was never if AS was going to be successful in their core markets. They were profitable and successful in those. The question was always whether or not they could succeed in markets which would require a different strategy than they were used to and it is clear they are moving back to their comfort zone. It seems like the right strategy to improve profitability in the short term....long term is still an open question.