COpltASgldPHX

Could the ~2.5 hours in IAH be for crew rest? I would assume that it would be cheaper not to overnight a crew in IAH every afternoon. With a block time of 4 hours 20 minutes SEA-IAH and 4:35 IAH-SEA can this be done by adding crew rest time in-between?

sxf24

Continuous expansion to serve all of the top O&D destinations out of SEA is an excellent strategy to improve yields. The larger the market share in SEA, the more business traffic you'll continue to attract (in addition to Alaska connections). AS doesn't really want originating traffic from IAH or ATL (will almost certainly default to incumbent carriers).

Hawaiian traffic is not as low yield as people think. While HNL traffic can be pressured by the large amount of competition, the outer islands generally have far superior yields from the West coast compared to transcons. Much smarter in this environment to fly KOA/LIH/OGG-just about anywhere over BOS/NYC-West coast.

BLI-Flyer

Here's the official press reelease: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....009&highlight=

Note that you can earn double miles on the SEA-HOU and SEA-ATL routes. (See below)

SEATTLE, May 6, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Carrier makes strategic shift in capacity to match customer demand; reduces Mexico flying and advances start of Portland-Maui service
Alaska Airlines announced today it will inaugurate four-times-weekly service between Oakland, Calif., and Kahului, Hawaii, on the island of Maui, beginning Nov. 9, 2009, and thrice-weekly service between Oakland and Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii, starting Nov. 10, 2009.

Additionally, the airline will expand its Seattle-Honolulu schedule from one daily flight to two, beginning July 2, 2009, and advance the start of its Portland-Maui service to July 3, 2009, from Aug. 7, 2009.

"Hawaii has become a major market for Alaska Airlines in just a short time, thanks to the loyalty of our customers and the great service provided by our employees," said Steve Jarvis, vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience. "We will have 59 flights a week to the four major Hawaiian Islands, and we're offering low fares and Alaska Airlines Vacations packages that make Hawaii travel even more affordable."

Alaska is offering introductory one-way fares of $169 between Oakland-Maui, Oakland-Kona and Portland-Maui, for tickets purchased by May 21, 2009.

New Seattle-Houston and Seattle-Atlanta nonstops

Alaska also will inaugurate nonstop daily service between Seattle and Houston, beginning Sept. 23, 2009, and between Seattle and Atlanta, starting Oct. 23, 2009. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members can earn double miles on the new nonstop flights between Seattle and Houston, through Nov. 23, 2009, and between Seattle and Atlanta, through Dec. 23, 2009.

"We are shifting capacity into markets where we are seeing higher demand," said Andrew Harrison, Alaska's vice president of planning and revenue management. "Houston and Atlanta are two of the largest markets that we don't currently serve nonstop from Seattle. With their strong business ties to the state of Alaska and Pacific Northwest, these cities will be great additions to our core route network."

Reduction in Mexico flying

The airline also announced plans to reduce its summer and fall flying to Mexico by 37 percent beginning July 2, 2009, through fewer flight frequencies. Harrison said the airline is reducing capacity in this market to match demand and reallocating it into new markets that will bring additional revenue to the airline. "We will continue to serve all our Mexico routes but will have fewer flights until we see a turnaround in demand," said Harrison.

The schedule changes announced today will not affect Alaska's plan to shrink capacity by 6 percent overall in 2009.

Summary of new flights

Start date City pair Departure time Arrival time Day of week

July 2 Seattle-Honolulu 4:45 p.m. 7:45 p.m. 2nd daily
July 3 Honolulu-Seattle 9 a.m. 5:45 p.m. 2nd daily

July 3 Portland-Maui 9:50 a.m. 12:45 p.m. Wed, Fri, Sun*
July 3 Maui-Portland 1:45 p.m. 10:15 p.m. Wed, Fri, Sun*

Sept. 23 Seattle-Houston 7:45 a.m. 2:05 p.m. Daily
Sept. 23 Houston-Seattle 4:30 p.m. 7:05 p.m. Daily

Oct. 23 Seattle-Atlanta 9:10 a.m. 5:10 p.m. Daily
Oct. 23 Atlanta-Seattle 6:10 p.m. 8:35 p.m. Daily

Nov. 9 Oakland-Maui 7:45 a.m. 11:05 a.m. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat
Nov. 9 Maui-Oakland 12:05 p.m. 7:10 p.m. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat

Nov. 10 Oakland-Kona 7:45 a.m. 11:15 a.m. Tues, Thur, Sun
Nov. 10 Kona-Oakland 12:15 p.m. 7:30 p.m. Tues, Thur, Sun

All times are based on local time zones.
*Becomes daily service starting Aug. 7, 2009

The new flights are available today at alaskaair.com or by calling (800) ALASKAAIR (800-252-7522 or TTY/TDD line 800-392-0228).

Alaska Airlines Vacations offers a full line of complete vacations and air/car packages for travel to Maui, the Big Island of Hawaii, Oahu and Kauai. Vacation packages include air transportation, hotel accommodations, optional ground transportation and tours.

Alaska Airlines will operate the new flights with Boeing 737-800 aircraft, accommodating 16 passengers in first class and 141 in the main cabin. Flights will offer Alaska's Northern Bites meals-for-purchase service, which allows coach passengers to buy a meal onboard. Inflight service also will include Alaska Airlines' digEplayer, a personal entertainment system offering a variety of movies, television shows, music and other features.

Fare Rules: Fares must be purchased by 5/21/09 and complete travel by 2/10/10 for Oakland-Maui and Oakland-Kona, and by 10/31/09 for Portland-Maui. Blackout dates: 11/20/09 - 11/21/09, 11/25/09, 11/28/09 - 11/30/09, 12/18/09 - 12/21/09, 12/23/09, 12/26/09 - 12/28/09. Not included in the fares: Airport Passenger Facility charges of up to $9 (amount depends on itinerary), U.S. Federal Segment Tax of $3.60 per segment (takeoff and landing) and U.S. Security Fee of $2.50 per enplanement. All taxes and fees shown are based on one-way travel and may be doubled if traveling round trip. Tickets are nonrefundable, but can be changed for a $75 fee when changes are made online at alaskaair.com ($100 when made through a reservation call center or ticket counter and $125 when originally booked through a travel agent and changes are made through a reservation call center or ticket counter) and any applicable changes in fare. A ticket purchased at a Horizon Air or Alaska Airlines airport location or through a reservation call center will cost $15 more per person than the advertised fare. Seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or all days. All fares, taxes and fees are in U.S. dollars and are subject to change without notice, and other restrictions apply. Passengers traveling prior to 7/7/09 may check one bag for free. Effective for travel on or after 7/7/09, a $15 charge will apply to the first checked bag. A second bag may be checked for $25. Additional fees apply to check more than two bags or overweight or oversized item. See checked baggage policy at alaskaair.com for more details.

Double Miles: To earn double miles on Seattle-Houston and Seattle-Atlanta flights, customers must register at alaskaair.com before they travel. Registration will be available beginning May 27, 2009.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together serve more than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Traditional Network Carriers (tie)" in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 North America Airline Satisfaction Study(SM). For reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.

SOURCE Alaska Airlines

Duckouttahere

Wow! Great timing. Our family has been talking about heading to Maui in December. Service is supposed to start November.

Major G

So sounds like AS is not buying any new A/C for thesenew runs, just trying to reallocate A/C that are no longer being fully utilized for Mexico runs. Smart.

Really looking forward to the IAH as I am being moved here for work. Thought I might have to give up MVPG, but the Lord works in mysterious ways!

Glenn

robertlaird

The Lord must be MVPG also @:-)

402Fanatic

I don't think so.

The long ground stop is probably there because the aircraft can't be used for those 2.5 hours very effectively. If you turned it right back around...add the 40 min ground time in SEA, then a 40 min turn in another city, and you are left with 70 minutes. That's maybe barely enough for a GEG turn. So the aircraft probably can't be utilized anywhere else effectively and keeping it in IAH for a couple hours gives it a more desirable departure time instead.

bobsyouruncle

Great news that AS is finally flying to ATL but it's too bad that it doesn't start until almost the end of October. Still, it fills a big hole in their route.

Now that that's done, we can start campaigning for more coverage in the central east such as BNA (Nashville), STL (St Louis), CVG (Cincinnati), MCI (Kansas City), etc.

BOB W

Sounds like just enough time for a White Castle run to me. Anyone know if there is one close to the airport?

eponymous_coward

Wait, aren't you the one who complains a lot about there not being enough U inventory on transcontinental flights?

I would think you'd be thrilled about yields being down while load factors are up- invariably this means more F seats to upgrade into for SEA-EWR (and this does agree with what I am seeing- loads of empty seats in F on transcons).

Also, I'd note that the routes in question won't be seeing any competition anytime soon from WN, B6 or VX...

PacNWFlyer

I know AS isn't technically a Hawaiian carrier, but their new service announcement is pretty significant. Here are the parts of the news release which matter here:


ALASKA AIRLINES ADDS NEW HAWAII SERVICE FROM OAKLAND,
EXPANDS SEATTLE-HONOLULU FLYING
Carrier makes strategic shift in capacity to match customer demand;
reduces Mexico flying and advances start of Portland-Maui service

SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines announced today it will inaugurate four-times-weekly service between Oakland, Calif., and Kahului, Hawaii, on the island of Maui, beginning Nov. 9, 2009, and thrice-weekly service between Oakland and Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii, starting Nov. 10, 2009.
Additionally, the airline will expand its Seattle-Honolulu schedule from one daily flight to two, beginning July 2, 2009, and advance the start of its Portland-Maui service to July 3, 2009, from Aug. 7, 2009.
“Hawaii has become a major market for Alaska Airlines in just a short time, thanks to the loyalty of our customers and the great service provided by our employees,” said Steve Jarvis, vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience. “We will have 59 flights a week to the four major Hawaiian Islands, and we’re offering low fares and Alaska Airlines Vacations packages that make Hawaii travel even more affordable.”
Alaska is offering introductory one-way fares of $169 between Oakland-Maui, Oakland-Kona and Portland-Maui, for tickets purchased by May 21, 2009.

The airline also announced plans to reduce its summer and fall flying to Mexico by 37 percent beginning July 2, 2009, through fewer flight frequencies. Harrison said the airline is reducing capacity in this market to match demand and reallocating it into new markets that will bring additional revenue to the airline. “We will continue to serve all our Mexico routes but will have fewer flights until we see a turnaround in demand,” said Harrison.

AS Flyer

You don't have to go to IAH for that - you can swing through ORD. There is a White Castle just a very short cab ride down the same street that the Hyatt O'Hare is on. I have made a White Castle run there several times...

cblaisd

While it is always good news to see more availability to Hawai`i, we'll move this to the AS forum and invite folks to follow the discussion there.

cblaisd and FlyinHawaiian,
Co-Moderators, Hawai`i-based Airlines forum

channa

OAK-OGG and OAK-KOA.

Wow.

They're picking up some old AQ routes.

eponymous_coward

I believe you can find White Castle in close proximity to MSP and EWR as well.

However, you can now also make an easier Krystal run or Chick-fil-A run on AS, to go with a White Castle or In-N-Out run.