Alaska Airlines Doubles Down On Seattle As Recovery Continues

Alaska Airlines is rebuilding its route network, and Seattle is still proving to be a key. The airline is focusing its energies on its largest hub and base as travel picks up again. In fact, Alaska is expected to be back on the growth path in Seattle, and this will be especially true of the new opportunities it has through its partnership with others oneWorld airlines.

Alaska Airlines has returned to pre-crisis levels in Seattle and beyond. Photo: Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines brings Seattle back

Speaking on the second quarter earnings conference call, Andrew Harrison, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said the following about Seattle:

“Our strong sequential sales performance was made possible by the rebuilding strategy of our network team. [Alaska] The Air Group has returned to about 80% of its pre-COVID network size, but given the strong demand here, we’re prioritizing growth in Seattle. Our Seattle hub capacity was approximately 2% higher in the second quarter than in the second quarter of 2019. The team also restructured the Seattle hub to allow access to more traffic flows, which has contributed to this growth. “

Seattle is Alaska’s largest hub and operating base. As such, it has a strong presence and brand loyalty among travelers in the area. In addition, the carrier is a well-known brand for connecting traffic in the region.

While Alaska carries quite a lot of take-off and destination traffic in Seattle, the airport is also the airline’s largest hub. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying

Alaska’s hub Seattle

Most points served by Alaska Airlines in the 48 contiguous United States and Canada are served from Seattle. The airline also offers seasonal flights to winter destinations in Central America. One example is the flight to Belize, which is scheduled to take off this November.

Seattle has been a winner for Alaska in recent months, but it hasn’t always been. As the primary West Coast carrier, the airline was hit hard in the early days of the crisis when demand from big cities like Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles all but fizzled out.

In terms of connecting traffic, Alaska and Hawaii introduced travel restrictions that severely restricted travel from the other 48 states – even for returning residents. These were two traffic flows that Alaska could not use. Second, the airline has strong exposure to California, and that market didn’t fully reopen until mid-June 2021.

Connecting traffic is important to Alaska Airlines. Photo: Alaska Airlines

The airline did it and came back strong. Harrison attributes this to the airline’s strong brand loyalty, which has improved the performance of its coastal hubs compared to other airlines.

While a large portion of them are certainly Seattle-based, these loyal travelers are also passengers who fly through Seattle on their way to a vacation in Hawaii or San Diego, or fly to San Jose or many other points in Alaska’s network on business. They come from cities like Boise, Spokane, Portland, Fairbanks, and many other cities where Alaska has the largest or most substantial presence. Alaska’s new CEO also wants to expand the airline’s brand awareness and loyalty to a more national level.

Alaska is also bringing back capacity in markets like California, but Seattle is still proving to be key for the airline. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying

There is a lot of room for growth

Alaska isn’t finished in Seattle. The carrier certainly has plenty of room to grow. But much of that growth is happening in a slightly different area. While the airline has greatly expanded its network width and covered cities, it is now turning to more frequencies – or depth.

Brett Catlin, Alaska’s Vice President of Network and Alliances, spoke to Simple Flying in June about the airline’s future plan for the network, and also spoke about building the depth of the network in terms of partnerships:

“You are thinking of American’s new service in partnership with us in Bangalore. This is a market we can serve from Raleigh, but to serve it effectively we have to fly Raleigh / Durham from Seattle twice a day or three times a day and suddenly I’m going to be offering multiple daily frequencies, not just our domestic network but also benefits from our partner’s long-haul network. “

Take Raleigh, for example. If Alaska adds one or two more flights a day from Seattle, only a handful of passengers may be coming in or out from Bangalore flight. The rest of them will be distributed over the network via Alaska’s other flights. There are many opportunities here for Alaska.

Alaska has no shortage of growth opportunities, but it will focus more on depth over the next few years. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying

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That growth is not unlimited, however, and recent trends have shown that it will be possible in Seattle to grow where Alaska wants overnight. Ben Minicucci, Alaska CEO, highlighted the labor shortage:

“At our hub in Seattle, where our flight ability is essentially at the 2019 level, we have noticed that the entry-level workforce is limited, which makes hiring a challenge, especially for ramp workers. This personnel pressure, together with record-breaking heat waves during the quarter, put a strain on our operations. “

Labor is proving to be a critical barrier to the ability of various airlines to restore (or expand!) Their networks. While the industry grapples with this, it may take time for Alaska to reach its full growth potential from Seattle.

In the short term, Alaska Airlines plans to reactivate ten Airbus A320ceos by the end of the year to support the recovery. Depending on deliveries and demand, this could result in Alaska increasing its summer capacity by 8% in 2022 from 2019 if it sees fit. That growth could shift a little more to Seattle, though there are plenty of other options with California reopening.

Happy to see Alaska Airlines make a full return in Seattle? Let us know in the comments!