Airline’s Capacity to Drop by More than 500,000 Seats

Alaska Airlines intends to cut upwards of three-thousand flights from its January 2024 schedule, thereby depriving air-travelers of nearly half-a-million seats over the coming year’s nascency.

According to data compiled by Cirium, an aviation industry analytical concern, Alaska will cut service to numerous North American airports.

The most significant diminishment in service will be between the northern Puget Sound region’s Paine Field (PAE) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). At present, Alaska plans to cut 72 weekly services representing over 5,400 seats between the two locales.

Similarly, the airline will cut 48 weekly services representing more than 12,700 seats between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Sacramento, California’s Sacramento International Airport (SMF).

Cirium’s data underscores Alaska Airlines’s aim to eliminate six to seven daily flights between underperforming airports.

All told, Alaska will reduce as many as 48 weekly services between the following destinations:

• Los Angeles International (LAX) to Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS).
• San Francisco (SFO) to New York Kennedy (JFK) and Spokane International Airport (GEG).
• Seattle-Tacoma (SAE) to Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson Airport (ATL), Eugene, Oregon’s Mahlon Sweet Field (EUG), New York Kennedy (JFK), Oakland International Airport (OAK), Portland, Oregon International Airport (PDX), and Sacramento (SMF).

The planned reductions in service between the antecedent destinations represent an aggregate loss of nearly 140,000 weekly seats.

Alaska Airlines will also cut north of thirty weekly Los Angeles (LAX) to Washington Dulles (IAD) services, between which 37 fewer flights will operate in each direction—a cumulative loss of some 6,327 seats.

Between Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) and Alaska’s King Salmon Airport (AKN) Alaska Airlines will cut 36 weekly services representing nearly ten-thousand seats.

Vexingly, Alaska Air Group, the parent entity of both Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, reported a 2023 second-quarter profit of $240-million—the highest quarterly haul in the company’s 38-year history.

Viewed from a year-over-year perspective, Alaska Air Group’s $139-million second-quarter 2022 total earnings fell more than $100-million short of 2023’s mark.

In addition to handsome earnings, 2023’s second-quarter saw both Alaska Airlines and its Horizon Air subsidiary take delivery of new aircraft. The mainline fleet grew by eight new Boeing 737 MAX-9 narrow-body jets, while Horizon Air welcomed six new Embraer E175 regional jets. The additions brought Alaska’s and Horizon’s fleets to 51 and 39 aircraft respectively.

Currently North America’s fifth-largest Part 121 air-carrier, Alaska Airlines is headquartered in SeaTac, Washington—an inner-ring suburb of Seattle named for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), which occupies nearly one-fifth of the municipality’s area. In conjunction with its regional partners Horizon Air and SkyWest Airlines, Alaska operates a route network comprising over one-hundred destinations in the contiguous United States, Guatemala, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico.

A member of the Oneworld airline alliance, Alaska Airlines employs nearly 23,000 workers. For 12 consecutive years, J.D. Power and Associates has ranked Alaska’s customer satisfaction the highest among U.S. airlines.

FMI: www.alaskaair.com