Comments on: Alaska “Welcomes” Virgin America to Seattle

By: Virgin America Takes Off! » Virgin America to Seattle

Virgin America Takes Off! » Virgin America to Seattle — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:02:14 +0000

[...] on Alaska Air’s turf. Alaska Air isn’t taking things lying down, though. As the Cranky Flier reports: “Alaska has effectively decided to turn their Seattle – California services into a [...]

By: CSL

CSL — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:00:41 +0000

Many of us regulars on the OAK to SNA are very disappointed with Alaska abandoning this route. Having been a happy customer (on the OAK – SNA, OAK – SEA routes)for over 10 years (and currently having 720k miles ff miles), Alaska just lost a faithful customer (one of many)to Southwest.

By: Flight Wisdom » Service Roundup - Seattle-LA/SFO Shuttle and More

Flight Wisdom » Service Roundup - Seattle-LA/SFO Shuttle and More — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:38:40 +0000

[...] used on the Boston-New York-Washington shuttle markets in the industry. The Cranky Flier has termed the move Alaska “welcoming” Virgin America to Seattle, a defensive move in two of their [...]

By: CF

CF — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 22:59:01 +0000

Ok Geoff, I’ve gone in and looked at October T100 data. By # of passengers, ANC-SEA is #1. LAX-SEA is #2 and SFO-SEA is #5. The only thing that changes if you look at rankings by number of seats and departures is that SFO-SEA falls to #7.

By: geoff

geoff — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:49:41 +0000

First of all to Cranky, isn’t ANC-SEA AS’ top route? And note that both UA and AS have had mixed skeds of mainline + RJs flying SEA-LAX since the summer.

To the point about amenities, note that AS is scheduled to do a test of WiFi (albeit on one ship only) this spring.

And the religious cards are absolutely still on the meal trays — it’s just that only F still gets trays.

Not sure who outside of a VX IP address thinks VX is going to have any different fate than Independence. Fuel is $100, they have no feed and they’re fighting entrenched majors with big FF programs, and feed, and corporate contracts.

By: Randall Shirley

Randall Shirley — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:08:25 +0000

SEA is my secondary airport (YVR is home), and frankly anything that keeps prices down in the market makes me happy. If the VX entry, along with Southwest’s SEA presence, can make it cheaper for me to fly to California or anyplace, hooray.

Meanwhile, as a frequent Alaska flier, I have to say I find their service to be completely fine…especially since they got rid of those embarrassingly silly religious cards that used to come on the food tray.

By: Jason H

Jason H — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:31:12 +0000

Also, Alaska is agressively updating their fleet to 737-800/900 aircraft and getting rid of those old MD aircraft. As they upgrade I’m sure they are looking at adding amenities. Another plus for Alaska is their participation with SkyTeam airlines and American Airlines. They allow a much greater route network than VX on top of greater frequency.

By: CF

CF — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:53:48 +0000

It’s always good to hear from the VX employees (At least, I assume you’re an employee since your comment came from a VX IP address).

I have heard that the product is fantastic, and I am hoping to have a chance to sample it soon, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be able to make money. We know that the #1 and #2 things people look for are price and schedule. Alaska certainly has a huge advantage in the latter and we’ll know more about the former when it gets closer. Something tells me that Alaska is not going to let up at all.

You’re talking about a 2 to 2 1/2 hour flight here, and in a market like that, product doesn’t matter nearly as much as in a transcon. Yeah, I’d like to have TV, but if my meeting finishes early and I have to sit around for 3 hours instead of hopping on earlier flight, I’d rather take the earlier flight that has no TV.

VX will have its best shot with leisure customers, but with the fuel the way it is right now, you need a lot more high paying passengers to make some money. Maybe they need some more first class seats onboard . . .

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:18:12 +0000

Have you been on a VX plane yet????
Although their schedule is leaner, the product and service is in a league of it’s own. I’m sure they will price to match Alaska, and they have a business model that can survive the lower price tag. VX is rapidly gaining loyal followers, so I wouldn’t discount their ability to hold their own despite this kick in the shins.