Fewer Canadians crossing the border to fly from BLI?

Definitely down, but I haven't seen it publicly quantified how the sharp reduction in cross-border vehicle traffic has affected enplanements at BLI. I recall a Port of Bellingham spokesperson saying generally that it wasn't as dramatic a drop as the vehicle traffic percentage.

Allegiant tries to generate and sop up as much of the British Columbia demand as it can (it flies to six destinations from BLI and the Port of Bellingham says historically, Allegiant has had 50-60% market share). AS is likely affected, too, but it's hard to say how much since Allegiant actively markets to the budget-minded Canadian leisure traveler.

It's not the redeye, it is leaving at 5:35pm from SAN and landing at HNL at 8:35pm. But, you are correct, it was an HA A321 and now AS 737. The morning flight is an HA A330. I was confused as my return via LAS is an A330.

I mean, if they aren�t filling the planes, they aren�t going to keep the frequencies. It�s well-known and documented that cross-border traffic is down nationwide thanks to the never ending winning in DC, so Alaska is going to move those planes to more lucrative markets if they see an opportunity to do so.

For those impacted, How long would you guys wait to request a change to your desired flight (on Atmos pts) ? Or how long do I have to change? They auto changed one of my flights but not all.

BLI has been shrinking for some time. Long gone it seems are BLI-LAS/HNL

PAE has bit in some as well I think (for some)

That's another interesting market. I miss the ANC-PAE flights.

Reminds me of the ANC-PDX-SEA-LAX-DCA hops I used to make. (Similar timeframe)

You can change up to departure. Be careful though as flights will sell out, and ideal seats disappear. When you have a good idea what you want, pull the trigger. Further changes could occur so keep watching.

Funny you should mention PAE. Whenever schedule changes hit and PAE suddenly has a better nonstop schedule for a route than connecting from BLI through SEA, I have switched to PAE (even though parking is ridiculously expensive at PAE for its size).

That may happen with an upcoming March/April flight to PSP once schedule changes roll forward. So far, so good, including the most recent Sunday overnight check.

I wrote a fair amount about the growth and challenges at both BLI and PAE when I was doing a regular newspaper column. The glory days of BLI for commercial passenger travel were in the 2010s with its new terminal and AS flights to Hawaii, Las Vegas and Portland. It's a shame it hasn't benefitted from the capacity limits at SEA. PAE apparently has, though it's been wobbly.

Meantime, I'll keep grabbing coffee and clicks every Sunday morning to check for AS changes.

Selfishly, as someone with friends in Bellingham, I would like to see AS offer service from PDX to BLI.

Prior to covid, United had 40% share of SFO passengers. Now at 46%. Alaska was 15% then, but now down to single digit. United is indeed going after AS operation at SFO.

Jiburi

It's not really a gift, more the spoils of a turf war.

The numbers also are also kind of meaningless. Was United�s growth via international markets for which AS doesn�t have any aircraft? Domestic routings which don�t make sense for AS operationally? Etc etc.

It's not like AS is putting any kind of fight at SFO. AS is effectively waving the white flag in favor of strengthening SAN and PDX (where are all of the PDX complainers?)

This isn�t some kind of emotional fight for them lol. If there�s more money to be made in SAN with less competition there, why would they do anything else? To get brownie points on FT for �fighting�, whatever that means?

BLI has been frustrating for years, especially now the SW has pulled out. I know the Port has been trying hard to bring in another carrier, but that hasn't been very fruitful. They sent out a survey last month asking residents what they'd value in new service and what routes they'd like to see. With AS there, AA is off the table, and not sure Delta or United want to start service there. As mentioned above, PDX and GEG would be good expansions for AS, but doubtful of that. We did do the PAE-PDX flight a few times before that got axed. As we live in the area we try to fly out of YVR more than SEA. Closer and a much nicer experience....and usually significantly cheaper when flying elsewhere besides the US.

Sure, just take the easy way out and retreat to its safe hubs...meanwhile, a brand new lounge, recent relocation of terminal/gates, plus other investment seemingly gone to waste. Delta, with much less ops at SFO, has a real chance in 2026 overtaking AS as #2.

Who said anything about emotional? Airline business is cutthroat; imagine calling SFO a hub, but has only a total of 4 (just 4!) daily flights (3 to JFK and 1 to DCA) east of the pacific time zone once deep cuts at SFO are completed by June 2026.