Usually an airline cutting a single domestic route wouldn’t be news, but I’d argue that this is an exception.
Alaska ends key transcon route as of October 6
As noted by the always knowledgable Cranky Flier, Alaska Airlines will discontinue flights between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) as of October 6, 2021. This wasn’t a route that Alaska Airlines served until it took over Virgin America, but it’s a route that has been maintained ever since.
Over time we’ve seen frequencies in the market decrease — currently Alaska Airlines is operating the flight twice daily, and the plan was for the flight to be operated once daily in the fall, but now it’s being cut altogether.
How does this fit into Alaska Airlines’ transcon strategy out of the New York area?
- Alaska Airlines will continue to fly from New York (JFK) to San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA)
- Alaska Airlines will continue to fly from Newark (EWR) to Los Angeles (LAX)
What makes this route cut noteworthy
There are a couple of interesting things at play here. First of all, the market between New York and Los Angeles is arguably the most competitive in the United States, as it’s served by Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, and United.
This is a premium market, and in that sense Alaska Airlines has been woefully uncompetitive. Alaska Airlines is the only airline in the market to not offer flat beds.
Historically Alaska Airlines executives have stated that they were happy with this product offering. For example, earlier this year, Alaska’s Chief Commercial Officer said the following about not having flat beds:
“We feel really good. We are very thankful that we maintained a non-lie-flat position. We think our first class seats are spot on for the demand environment.”
Up until now Alaska has claimed to be happy with its decision to not install flat beds, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the product works in all markets. And clearly the most premium route in the United States is one where it no longer does the trick.
Then there are the partnerships at play — while Alaska and American have a close partnership at this point (beyond their mutual oneworld membership), they’re prohibited from codesharing between New York and Los Angeles. In other words, this isn’t even a case of Alaska “handing” the route over to American, because there’s limited upside for Alaska here without the ability to codeshare.
What I find perhaps most curious here is that Alaska is maintaining Newark to Los Angeles service, while cutting the New York to Los Angeles route:
- United recently started flying between New York and Los Angeles, so is this at least partly to spite United?
- Or is the New York to Los Angeles market simply too competitive, and Alaska can’t compete, while Alaska views itself as being more competitive in the Newark to Los Angeles market?
Bottom line
Alaska Airlines will stop flying between New York and Los Angeles as of this fall. This is a route that the Seattle-based carrier “inherited” from its Virgin America takeover, but it’s one that has been maintained ever since. That will finally be changing.
I imagine that Alaska Airlines had a hard time competing with the superior product offered by other airlines, and United recently getting back into the market probably made the situation even worse. While Alaska has a close partnership with American, this route is excluded from a codeshare agreement, so Alaska doesn’t have much upside with American here.
What do you make of Alaska pulling out of this premium transcontinental market?
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June 26, 2021 at 07:08PM
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Alaska Airlines Ending Flights Between JFK & LAX - One Mile at a Time
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