Turf war? Alaska Air makes move ahead of Virgin America's Seattle debut
Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY, 1/18/2008
Alaska Airlines is beefing up its service between Seattle and six California markets, a move that comes just ahead of new competition coming from Virgin America. Alaska says it will reschedule its flights on the routes with "shuttle-like" departure times. Like the East Coast shuttles that run between New York, Washington and Boston, Alaska's flights on the routes will be timed to leave on the hour or half hour. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says Alaska "will offer 15 daily round-trip flights between Seattle and Los Angeles on weekdays -- three more than now -- starting April 27. It said it will offer nine daily round-trip flights to Orange County, one more than now; eight to San Francisco; and seven each to San Diego, Oakland and San Jose." The carrier will end its Oakland-Orange County route on April 1 to help free up resources for the new Seattle-California initiative.
Alaska Airlines is one of the strongest carriers offering service up and down the West Coast, but faces new competition on some of its key West Coast routes. As for the new California flights, The Seattle Times writes "the changes come on the heels of new competition for Alaska. Virgin America begins service March 18 between Seattle and San Francisco International Airport with three daily nonstops. The airline plans to add three daily nonstops between Sea-Tac and Los Angeles International on April 8 and a fourth on May 11."
Alaska also is turning to its frequent-flier program to help hold on to its passengers. Fliers who take two trips between Seattle and either San Francisco or Los Angeles between March 15 and May 15 can register for Alaska's "SEA double” promotion. Those who qualify can then earn double miles for all subsequent flights on the routes from May 16 through the end of 2008. Registration is required prior to flying, and you can read all the fine print on the airline's website.