The combination expands Alaska Airlines' existing footprint in California, bolsters its platform for growth and strengthens the company as a competitor to the four largest US airlines. Combining Alaska Airlines' well-established core markets in the Pacific Northwest and the state of Alaska with Virgin America's strong foundation in California will make the expanded Alaska Airlines a major force in and out of the Golden State airports, including San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Alaska Airlines, which has been in operation since 1932, has announced a rebranding of its aircraft, livery, website and mobile app. It comes at a time of immense growth for the carrier, which has added 90 markets and begun services to 26 new cities in just the past five years.
Seattle is now on the route maps of ten air carriers from outside the Americas, including major brands like All Nippon Airways, Condor, Emirates, Hainan Airlines, Icelandair, Lufthansa and Korean Air which have added to long-standing routes from Asiana Airlines, British Airways and EVA Air. A lasting legacy for managing director, Mark Reis as he steps down from the helm during February 2016.
The network growth will be facilitated by the expansion of the airline’s Embraer E-Jet fleet, which is flown on its behalf through a capacity purchase agreement with SkyWest Airlines. The first three E175 aircraft arrived earlier this summer and were introduced into passenger operations at the start of this month, including launching a new link between Portland and St Louis.
US regional carrier SkyWest Airlines will begin flying the its Embraer E175 jets for Alaska Airlines on July 1, 2015 with the start of new services from Seattle to both Milwaukee and Oklahoma City, and between Portland, Oregon and St Louis.
The airline will offer eight weekly flights into Costa Rica with four flights per week to each destination from Los Angeles International Airport. The link to San José will operate on Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from October 31, 2015, while the Liberia service will fly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from November 1, 2015.
Subject to final regulatory approval, Alaska Airlines will offer a four times weekly schedule between Orange County and San José del Cabo, in the Baja California Sur state, starting from October 8, 2015 and three times weekly between Orange County and Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta from October 9, 2015. Both routes will be flown using Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 equipment.
Major US carrier, Delta Air Lines has announced its plans to add a non-stop service to Kona on the ‘Big Island’ of Hawaii, as well as increasing services from its hub at Seattle-Tacoma.
Bristol Airport and airBaltic have topped the charts in a recent report by OAG which has revealed its punctuality league for 2014, highlighting on-time performance results for airlines and airports.
The US carrier confirms SkyWest has purchased seven E175s from the Brazilian manufacturer to fly on its behalf under a capacity purchase agreement (CPA). The first three aircraft will arrive in the summer of 2015 and will be used to introduce daily flights from Seattle to Milwaukee and Oklahoma City and from Portland to St Louis from July 1, 2015.
As Delta Air Lines’ expansion continues unabated and connecting traffic flows begin to shift toward this Pacific Northwest city, it is becoming increasingly clear that the industry is witnessing something that hasn’t been seen in a long time in the airline industry — a US legacy carrier developing a new airport hub from the ground up.
Alaska Airlines introduced service to Mexico in 1988 and operates more non-stop flights between the US West Coast and Mexico than any other carrier, flying an average of 1.5 million passengers a year.
