AS Flyer

I suppose, to a small extent, there may be a few connection opportunities at DCA to American Eagle flights but probably not enough to be a big deal. My point is that anyplace you can get to via PHL you can also get to via any of those other cities. You can do it via a codeshare partner if you travel through BOS/EWR or ORD. If you wanted to take a non-partner you could go via IAD or DCA and fly on United or US Airways.

I know that NW only has one flight a day (2 during peak season) to MEM from SEA but, as far as I know, they seem to go pretty full. Any time I've ever tried to non-rev on NW via MEM I have had a hard time of it. In addition to the MEM flights there are also 4 or 5 a day flights to ATL on DL and a variety of connections to many cities in the SE via IAH and even DFW on CO and AA, respectively. Southwest even offers a nonstop to Nashville from Seattle, with limited connections available from there. If I had to pick, I think ATL would win out over PHL and probably do a little better as a result of our codeshare opportunities there.

RASMguy

Our relationship with AA has been great and very cooperative. It has allowed us to expand into markets we value and need while still helping AA maintain pressence. A win-win for both of us. The question was asked, why add ATL when AS can just add its code on other carriers? The answer. We don't make any money on the deal. We drive our customers to our partners and take a hit on the revenue split. Its always better to fly the route ourself. In recent times however, we haven't been able to due to no planes and no profits, so codesharing is convenient. I think the on-time performance over the past couple months shows were running out of resources, ie planes.

ATL-SEA is a fantastic new route option. 1) Its a strong local market
2) A good flow point for AK and 3) A DL alliance gives AS access to major (lucrative) international traffic and much of the SE. It is a very logical addition to the network.

RASMguy

Not that I know of.

RASMguy

Those are fantastic. I love the 787 and the 747 scheme.

WebTraveler

Under that scenario, you can get to ATL via anyone of the partner hubs in one stop, just like PHL!! Its really no different.

Who knows what really will shake out on all of this. From what I read in the newspapers, Alaska's cost structure concerns is not solving itself too quickly, probably prohibiting too much expansion in the short term anyway.

I think it will all come down to yields. Which market can support the highest fares and fullest flights? That will make the decision....

whlinder

I'm wondering if the IAD flight could be on the chopping block with Independence Air announcing IAD-SEA, perhaps moving that flight to ATL? Of course, once Air Tran starts getting their 737s, ATL-SEA will certainly be a flight market for them.

mcrt

I'm glad AS is taking its time and expanding slowly. Mark Air is a good case that Alaska flyers know as an example of an airline that went too big too fast. AS seems to do a good job of analyzing the routes before leaping in.

formeraa

I bet that if Airtran started service from ATL to SEA, DL would welcome a couple of AS flights from ATL to SEA for codeshare purposes. Absent that, DL would NOT want the competition, guaranteed.

formeraa

As for NW to MEM, I believe that NW would have more traffic if it would consistently have 2 or 3 flights year-round between SEA and MEM. The schedule is not great during the off-peak months. They do need to upgrade the aircraft during the peak months, providing more seats in the market, if they want to capture more of the Pacific NW-Southeast traffic.

However, it seems that NW can never decide what to do with the Memphis hub. Some people in the Southeast were quite upset when they did away with the late bank of flights out of MEM.

PacNWFlyer

I'm surprised that nobody's talking about Mexico City at all. The DOT has a docket item that shows AS (along with AA, CO, & HP) trying to get permission to fill DL's old LAX-MEX route authority. It sounds like AS would like to start flying two roundtrips a day as early as May 1st.

... At least this is a little more empirical than 'Gee, I wish they'd start flying to Saskatchewan...'.

http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/p80/310628.pdf

RASMguy

Its one we want, but don't have any control over (unlike any domestic routes).

Eastbay1K

Mark Air's demise didn't have as much to do with "too big too fast" but rather, taunting AS with "outside" competition, and AS promptly caused them to be crushed, as predicted and warned of. They seemed to peacefully coexist within AK together for some time.

jiburi

I know this was talked about already but I would like to see SEA-MSY. Probably not as popular or profitable as MCO, but I think there is promise.

Back on the subject, with Northwest doing a seasonal run with 757 from Anchorage to Maui and Honolulu starting this month, I think Alaska Airlines is rethinking the idea of offering Anchorage to Maui and Honolulu with its equipment. I think Northwest will share load information with Alaska to make final determination.

I don't believe Alaska has ETOPS certification yet.

Jiburi

RASMguy

NW can't share load information with AS. That's an antitrust violation and the DOJ would have a fit. However, AS can wait and see how the market performs through DOT traffic figures.

whlinder

AS can also see any tickets that include travel on AS to gauge connecting traffic.