Alaska has record first quarter

[700UW]

And AS had a 4.9% increase of passengers in SEA.

 

[Kev3188]

 

Those who were convinced that DL would be harmed because AS decided to fight back might be a little surprised.

...And those that think the Widget will just bulldoze their way to Emerald City domination may be in for a surprise as well...
 
 

Spiking the football a little early, perhaps?

AS has barely started to respond to DL, so you might want to wait to see how the second and third quarter of the game goes before you declare your team the winner.

 
Hard to craft a narrative when you have to stay 'til the final whistle...

 

[jimntx]

Funny thing about those hometown airlines.  The home folks tend to patronize them even when they cost a bit more.  Local pride and all, don't you know.  When WN moved into DEN in a big way, the imminent demise of Frontier was declared by all the talking heads (here and elsewhere).  Frontier is still in there kicking.  Not making much money, but they are still here.  Good Lord, they've even survived ownership by Republic!  Now, that's staying power. 

 

[WorldTraveler]

Spiking the football a little early, perhaps?

AS has barely started to respond to DL, so you might want to wait to see how the second and third quarter of the game goes before you declare your team the winner.

 
It's pretty easy to see how much capacity AS has added compared to DL. It's not even close, esp. since AS' adds in SLC are often one or two flights/day compared to 4 or more flights/day from SEA.

 

And AS had a 4.9% increase of passengers in SEA.

and DL is adding 45% more seats by this summer while adding is adding 6%. They are going to have to pedal a whole lot faster if they want to keep up, esp. since their CEO already said that there are too many seats in the SEA domestic market.  
 

Funny thing about those hometown airlines.  The home folks tend to patronize them even when they cost a bit more.  Local pride and all, don't you know.  When WN moved into DEN in a big way, the imminent demise of Frontier was declared by all the talking heads (here and elsewhere).  Frontier is still in there kicking.  Not making much money, but they are still here.  Good Lord, they've even survived ownership by Republic!  Now, that's staying power. 

that is always said but the simple reality is that people patronize local airlines because that is who has the majority of capacity. When other carriers start adding capacity, the market rarely shows the same loyalty it once did.

There is ample proof in market after market to show hometown loyalty doesn't hold up quite as much as some people think.

BTW, WN is the largest domestic airline at DEN

 

[700UW]

Adding seats doesnt mean there will be passengers there to fill them.

 

[WorldTraveler]

except the evidence is overwhelming that DL can and is filling them.

besides AS' CEO said there are too many seats in the SEA market. If it didn't think they were being filled, he wouldn't care.

 

[robbedagain]

i would not jump the gun on saying DL is filling the seats...  for example  BWI-ATL i flew recently there were some empty seats  not many though   then ATL to MLB there were some rows empty on the 319   then on the return trip MLB to ATL  the md88 had few left and ATL BWI had some   so the notion theyre filling up is not necessairly true  and the same can be said for SEA on DL

 

[WorldTraveler]

there is DOT data available that shows the performance for any route.

For the most recently available month (and of course it is all flown), DL's load factor at SEA is virtually unchanged year over year despite increased capacity.

DL is filling the seats. AS' LF is also holding up.

The only risk is to AS who might be seeing yields go down; that is why their CEO said there are too many seats in the market. The risk is not that the seats can't be filled but they can't be filled at the fares that AS has been accustomed to getting for them.

Given that DL can use its seats for the local SEA market, its own int'l connections, or domestic connections thru SEA (AS can do the first and third since they cannot coordinate their inventory controls per se with their non-immunized international partners), DL has more ability to maximize its SEA network based on what it is seeing in terms of demand. Thus, it is very possible that an increase in DL seats could make it harder for AS to maintain their current fare levels - which is exactly what their execs have said on their calls with investment analysts.

 

[robbedagain]

it still does not mean theyre gonna fill the seats but at least it is available