sfozrhfco

https://onemileatatime.com/news/alas...k-lax-flights/

Guess we will find out soon if the slots are returned or if they move some to SEA or elsewhere.

olouie

Only a matter of time until they drop sfo to jfk / ewr. The frequency is terrible.

JHake10

This definitely doesn’t bode well for the other flights to/from JFK. I assume there are some fixed cost for operating at an airport which per flight/route has now increased. I’m guessing that whenever T7 gets demolished AS will sell the slots and call it a day.

Tack

AS announced to employees via the employee web site that SFO and SEA will have 4 JFK’s a day. PDX and SAN get 2 each. The JFK AL opens at the end of July. (Sorry I said Oct, that was incorrect). AS was no.5 in O/D traffic to JFK out of LAX. So the slots are going to the stronger cities. SAN was mentioned as very strong. LAX gets 4 EWR and will make AS the only OW non-stop carrier on that route. JFK will have 12 daily departures. EWR 13. Corporate accounts requested the better schedules at the cities mentioned. AS is working with AA to get the AC in EWR terminal A open by October as well. Their position is they’re committed to New York and are leveraging their OW membership with this new schedule.

For me this is great news. As OW Emerald with AA, I prefer AA or AS going East. For my NY flying either JFK or EWR work.(LAX based, the new schedule to EWR will be better than currently) I buy J for that route and don’t care about lie flat. I want maximum EQD’s, (AS provides) EP level service and either the AC or AL at both ends. ONLY those two carriers deliver.

olouie

When does 4x a day from sfo start? Right now it’s not even everyday.

Tack

Based on the notice as early as October or as late as start of 2022. They’ve not finalized the schedule yet.

Robt760

LAX-JFK =It’s ok. Let AA handle this premium route, with a premium outfitted aircraft. You’ll get credit in either airline’s program. Not to mention, there’s too much route competition, which is (rightfully) not Alaska’s forté.

This will allow AS to fill in other routes that AA lags on/doesn’t care about/can’t handle from LAX. (BNA, Anywhere in Canada, MEX (again), anywhere in the OH/IN/IL “non Chicago” areas as an example.

Tack

Funny you mentioned MEX. They stated that route only really works if you can get two way traffic, so they’re out for the foreseeable future. AS is noticeably week in driving traffic to its international flights from across boarder sales. It was like that before I retired. However they’re banking on their OW membership to help them improve on that portion of their business and then, who know? Love the other routes you mentioned.

TravelingZoomer

How are the feds permitting this? That leaves effectively three carriers for competition on the country’s most sought route

fly18725

Airlines can enter and exit routes at will. Since there’s no cooperation or even codesharing between AA and AS on LAX-JFK, there’s nothing the feds can do.

Eastbay1K

Although I may be speaking completely out of my posterior, I would expect that the LAX/JFK market has the most valuable premium market, and one of the least valuable non-premium markets in the USA. Since AS doesn't compete in that segment of the premium market, it probably isn't losing much by not serving JFK. If it can still reliably get you to NYC (via EWR), it will be just fine. (Now, whether it will keep up the projected EWR schedule is another story..)

sfozrhfco

That was true 5 years ago for AS. B6 clearly stated multiple times they started Mint precisely for that reason. Having a low frequency service with no premium product on a premium route is a recipe for disaster. It seems more like they are buying time before figuring out what to do with the slots. EWR is not going to be any easier as B6 is building that up and obviously UA has a ton of frequency on LAX-EWR in non-COVID times. The SFO routes are not great for AS--and PDQ-JFK is a great $99 coach fare route for much of the year. B6/AA already fully codeshare and coordinate schedules on flights such as LAX/SFO/SAN-JFK/BOS. SAN-JFK has a bit less competition but only flying transcons from JFK and not having a premium product, AS will always be one of the weakest if not the weakest in the market. There is little room for AS. It seems far more likely that more cuts will be coming next year.

keitherson

Thank god they bought Virgin America, only to destroy it.

Calculon

Classic. It’s like hearing grunge on the radio!

dayone

"Smells Like Mean Spirit."