HiFlyerAS From United States of America, joined Jul 2011, 607 posts, RR: 1 Posted (10 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 5433 times:
AS announced a record 2nd quarter profit of $110 million, beating analyst estimates. Load factor was 87.4%...not mentioned in the article but a record as well. Cash on hand of $1.2billion. Earnings call stated that fall bookings look good/equal to previous years and advance bookings BLI-OGG are on target...already 60% booked for start month of November. Interesting considering this is a new route, AS with 4x weekly competing with G4's 2x weekly.
Great job, AS!
n471wn From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 1185 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (10 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 5394 times:
Great news and validates their business plan of connecting the mainland with Hawaii through multiple gateways while my airline of choice (WN) fiddles around in its "no growth" mode......when WN eventually gets its act together and starts Hawaii service it may find the going tougher than they thought!!
MaverickM11 From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 15734 posts, RR: 48 Reply 2, posted (10 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 5286 times:
Quoting n471wn (Reply 1): when WN eventually gets its act together and starts Hawaii service it may find the going tougher than they thought!!
I really don't see how they could possibly compete. AS has done an excellent job on the cost side, and remains a strong brand up and down the West Coast.
n471wn From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 1185 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (10 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 5255 times:
Quoting MaverickM11 (Reply 2): I really don't see how they could possibly compete. AS has done an excellent job on the cost side, and remains a strong brand up and down the West Coast.
I agree but keep in mind that AS is not that well known back East and WN has been magical up to now now but the "bean counter" running WN is letting B6 and others such as AS take the growth inititative from them.
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12562 posts, RR: 64 Reply 6, posted (10 months 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 4751 times:
Congratulations to my co-workers on another outstanding quarter - our 13th profitable quarter in a row! Some notable highlights:
- Reported record second quarter net income, excluding special items, of $110.8 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net income of $89.6 million, or $1.22 per diluted share. This quarter's results compare to a First Call mean estimate of $1.51 per share.
- Earned net income under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of $67.5 million, or $0.93 per diluted share, compared to net income of $28.8 million, or $0.39 per diluted share.
- Held the No. 1 spot in U.S. Department of Transportation on-time performance among the 10 largest U.S. airlines for the twelve months ended May 2012.
- Improved employee productivity by 3.7 percent.
- Achieved trailing twelve-month return on invested capital of 12.3 percent, compared to 11.5 percent in the twelve months ended June 30, 2011.
- Lowered adjusted debt-to-total capitalization ratio by 4 points, to 58 percent, since December~31, 2011.
- Held $1.2 billion in unrestricted cash and marketable securities as of June~30, 2012.
- Received "Positive" outlook from Standard and Poor's, up from "Stable."
- Ratified a six-year agreement on July 18, 2012, with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) representing Alaska's ramp service and stores agents.
Second quarter recognitions:
- Ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers" in 2012 by J.D. Power and Associates for the fifth year in a row.
- Named "Best Regional Airline in North America" at the 2012 World Airline Awards.
- Earned "Eco-Partnership of the Year Award" by Air Transport World magazine.
- Recognized as the 2011 Best Company in the Northwest by The Seattle Times.
- Received "2012 Fly Quiet Bravo Award" by the Port of Seattle Commission.
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
I'm waiting for that as well. AS has aircraft scheduled for delivery through 2015 but after that nada. I think in the next few months you'll see something announced for orders beyond that year. When is the MAX supposed to enter service...2016? There'd have to be a few NG's to fill that one (or more) year gap.
BoeingGuy From United States of America, joined Dec 2010, 2315 posts, RR: 7 Reply 9, posted (10 months 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 4630 times:
Quoting n471wn (Reply 3): I agree but keep in mind that AS is not that well known back East
That doesn't mean anything. There are people who don't know where the state of Texas or the Atlantic Ocean is either. Obviously, AS has plenty of brand recognition all over by people who matter. That's why they are doing so well. I see people all the time from the East Coast who flew AS out to SEA so they obviously were able to figure out who AS is.
I surprised we haven't see one yet also. However, we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. I'd be quite willing to guess that Ray Conner and Brad Tilden have discussed it.
Quoting EA CO AS (Reply 6): Congratulations to my co-workers on another outstanding quarter - our 13th profitable quarter in a row! Some notable highlights:
- Reported record second quarter net income, excluding special items, of $110.8 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net income of $89.6 million, or $1.22 per diluted share. This quarter's results compare to a First Call mean estimate of $1.51 per share.
- Earned net income under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of $67.5 million, or $0.93 per diluted share, compared to net income of $28.8 million, or $0.39 per diluted share.
- Held the No. 1 spot in U.S. Department of Transportation on-time performance among the 10 largest U.S. airlines for the twelve months ended May 2012.
etc. etc.
Yeah, and there are still people who think it's mandatory or a forgone conclusion or a good idea or absolutely unavoidable that AS get bought out by DL, AA or US. I guess I missed the memo. I never saw where it's absolutely positively mandatory that AS has to cease being an independent entity anytime in my lifetime (and I plan on living a long time) because times are changing.
SANFan From United States of America, joined Aug 2006, 4721 posts, RR: 15 Reply 10, posted (10 months 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 4545 times:
Well, this time it took 9 posts and 7 hours for the obligatory "merge"-mention to come up... I just hope I live long enough to see an AS thread that doesn't have that!
VXCabinCrew From United States of America, joined Mar 2012, 46 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (10 months 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 4466 times:
Wow! Great to hear! AS has really carved out a great little niche for themselves. I have to admit I'm surprised that a lot of their city choices have worked, but good for them. It'll be exciting to see where they expand next.
VXCabinCrew From United States of America, joined Mar 2012, 46 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (10 months 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 4398 times:
Quoting HiFlyerAS (Reply 12): 'm curious...which city pairs did you think would be a failure?
I wasn't thinking of any cities in particular. I just have been surprised about the considerable expansion out of the West Coast - especially the HI and East Coast markets that have done so well. It's great to see a company making smart choices in the industry these days.
HiFlyerAS From United States of America, joined Jul 2011, 607 posts, RR: 1 Reply 14, posted (10 months 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 4372 times:
Quoting VXCabinCrew (Reply 13): I wasn't thinking of any cities in particular. I just have been surprised about the considerable expansion out of the West Coast - especially the HI and East Coast markets that have done so well. It's great to see a company making smart choices in the industry these days.
Well, if they're wanting to grow and they've got the north-south thing covered then the only options are east or west. Now that Hawaii is maturing as a market (I can't imagine where else they'd go...LA Basin-Hawaii is the only real hole in the route map) and they're flying all the major east-west markets out of SEA I think they're going to have to get more creative. I think you'll see expansion east out of SAN (evidenced by SAN-MCO) and possibly SJC in the next few years. Me, I'd love to see some Central American destinations out of LAX.
BoeingGuy From United States of America, joined Dec 2010, 2315 posts, RR: 7 Reply 16, posted (10 months 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 4141 times:
Quoting SANFan (Reply 10): Well, this time it took 9 posts and 7 hours for the obligatory "merge"-mention to come up... I just hope I live long enough to see an AS thread that doesn't have that!
Why would I have wanted to disappoint you? You got your PVR, STS, MRY, FAT and MCO flights so I didn't want you to go without the merger discussion either.
wedgetail737 From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 5534 posts, RR: 5 Reply 17, posted (10 months 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 4077 times:
Quoting HiFlyerAS (Reply 14): Me, I'd love to see some Central American destinations out of LAX.
...or SFO. LAX has quite a bit of Central America service. SFO only has a few.
Quoting HiFlyerAS (Reply 14): Now that Hawaii is maturing as a market (I can't imagine where else they'd go...LA Basin-Hawaii is the only real hole in the route map)
There are still a few more Mainland-Hawaii opportunities out of SAN, SMF and BLI. In some cases, maybe AS will increase frequency in some key markets.
Quoting HiFlyerAS (Reply 14): they're flying all the major east-west markets out of SEA I think they're going to have to get more creative.
AS could increase frequency on markets that only have 1X daily service, even with the addition of the 737-900ER's. I could see AS adding new destinations like MSY, TPA, DTW.
Quoting HiFlyerAS (Reply 14): I think you'll see expansion east out of SAN (evidenced by SAN-MCO)
I think we'll see some increases in service through SAN. I could see additional Q400 service to places like TUS, RNO and maybe SJC.
It will be interesting to see what AS has in store in the not-too-distant future.
laca773 From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 3749 posts, RR: 2 Reply 19, posted (10 months 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 3943 times:
Quoting wedgetail737 (Reply 17):
...or SFO. LAX has quite a bit of Central America service. SFO only has a few.
I wouldn't say quite a bit. DL has a daily redeye to GUA. AA dropped SAL. The other service is via TA: 1-2X daily to GUA (depending on the day) and 2-3X daily to SAL (depending on the day) and SJO, I believe is 3X a week during the high season, otherwise it requires a stop, mainly in SAL.
There are many who travel LAX-GUA/SAL/SJO frequently and absolutely despise TA and won't fly them. They have to fly via PHX on US, UA via IAH (many frequencies), or DFW via AA.
With AS' cost structure, I think they can make a couple of these work really well.
Quoting slcdeltarumd11 (Reply 18): Clearly hawaii is profitable I think alaska is very happy to stay away from lax, las, and sfo
Agreed! They have been smart to avoid these markets. There's more than enough service, especially LAX, and SFO is pretty much owned by UA. AA & DL both axed their HNL flights from SFO.
I think they have some good opportunities awaiting them in SJC when the time is right. I can see 2X daily SJC-ORD. This market has been sorely under-served for several years now. SJC-MEX is another market they would do well in.
SANFan From United States of America, joined Aug 2006, 4721 posts, RR: 15 Reply 20, posted (10 months 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 3895 times:
With several new a/c arriving in 2013, we should (soon) be getting a pretty good idea where AS will be growing over the next couple of years. I've certainly got my own clear hopes as to where a lot of that growth will be focused but that probably doesn't rank real high in AAG's decision-making process!
I honestly do think that a good portion of the low hanging fruit has been collected out of SEA, PDX and ANC. So the decision will be whether AS now goes after the "easy pickin's" from new (different) cities, or do they instead go after the next level of higher fruit from their existing hubs? Knowing Alaska, and their apparent desire to be financially successful (!), the answer will simply be whatever would likely be the most profitable!
And speaking of Hawaii routes, as has been mentioned, a lot of the potential routes from AS's chosen gateways to the Islands are now up and running (at least seasonally.) I continue to hope we see the remaining options from SAN (LIH and KOA) added soon; I would be very happy, for starters, to see a split flight to serve both markets -- such as 3x weekly n/s SAN-LIH and 4x weekly SAN-KOA. This seems like a natural (to me anyway!)
RWA380 From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 2162 posts, RR: 4 Reply 23, posted (10 months 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 3776 times:
Quoting SANFan (Reply 4): Another great report from Alaska -- wonderful news and congrats to everyone at AAG!
Without it's awesome employees, AS would be just another carrier schlepping people around, font line AS is the company to me as a customer, and I'm very, very rarely disappointed. The guys in the Emerald Tower are obviously guiding AS into a force to be reckoned with. AS is an airline that took on WN in the Northwest and won, UAX intra Northwest flying is waning, I expect AS to continue it's long tradition of success, Awesome kudos to those involved, and a special shout out to all those AS employees that make our forum more interesting and informative, y'all must be be so proud to be working for Chester and the thousands of fans you fly each day.
Quoting SANFan (Reply 10): Well, this time it took 9 posts and 7 hours for the obligatory "merge"-mention to come up... I just hope I live long enough to see an AS thread that doesn't have that!
Is this a record? I'm surprised there are still those that think AS must marry to be even more successful, as we all know being your own boss beats the S#!t out of having a headquarters 3000 miles away and edicts are handed down in draconian fashion. AS is a confident, hot looking single airline that is enjoying expanding their horizons on their own terms.
Quoting HiFlyerAS (Reply 14): I think you'll see expansion east out of SAN (evidenced by SAN-MCO) and possibly SJC in the next few years. Me, I'd love to see some Central American destinations out of LAX
Why not serve those destinations from SAN? LAS and SFO already have non-stops to Central America, why not go full force with the SAN experiment and see how many destinations AS can reach with 73G's and 738's from SAN, you may see a ANC-SAN n/s and a bunch of new connections, just wait and see, IMO AS is really going to surprise some of us. Record profits are money in the bank, but also more ability to obtain more planes and add destinations.
I think AS is quickly tapping most domestic markets that are worthwhile, they will add a few more cities, add a few more flights from PDX to places they already serve from SEA if traffic warrants, and then the next steps I hope are some nearby Intl points.
Next Flights: AS PDX-SEA-KOA on DH4/738 in F, HA KOA-OGG on 717 in Y, AS OGG-PDX on 738 in F
wedgetail737 From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 5534 posts, RR: 5 Reply 24, posted (10 months 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 3436 times:
Quoting laca773 (Reply 19): I wouldn't say quite a bit. DL has a daily redeye to GUA. AA dropped SAL. The other service is via TA: 1-2X daily to GUA (depending on the day) and 2-3X daily to SAL (depending on the day) and SJO, I believe is 3X a week during the high season, otherwise it requires a stop, mainly in SAL.
There are many who travel LAX-GUA/SAL/SJO frequently and absolutely despise TA and won't fly them. They have to fly via PHX on US, UA via IAH (many frequencies), or DFW via AA.
With AS' cost structure, I think they can make a couple of these work really well.
Point well taken. With a FIS facility readily available at their new home at T6, Central America could be a possibility. My point was that LAX has quite a bit more Central America service as compared to SFO.
Quoting RWA380 (Reply 23): Without it's awesome employees, AS would be just another carrier schlepping people around, font line AS is the company to me as a customer, and I'm very, very rarely disappointed. The guys in the Emerald Tower are obviously guiding AS into a force to be reckoned with. AS is an airline that took on WN in the Northwest and won, UAX intra Northwest flying is waning, I expect AS to continue it's long tradition of success, Awesome kudos to those involved, and a special shout out to all those AS employees that make our forum more interesting and informative, y'all must be be so proud to be working for Chester and the thousands of fans you fly each day.
Amen to that! Congratulations to all at AS.
Quoting RWA380 (Reply 23): I think AS is quickly tapping most domestic markets that are worthwhile, they will add a few more cities, add a few more flights from PDX to places they already serve from SEA if traffic warrants, and then the next steps I hope are some nearby Intl points.
If AS would add more mainline resources at PDX to serve places like SMF, SFO, SJC and OAK, then that could free up some Q400's for more regional services out of SAN and/or SJC.
I would like to see SEA-MRY eventually.
25 HiFlyerAS: Customers are randomly sent an email after their flight to ask them about their experience. For June, 82.3% rated their experience very good or excel
26 wedgetail737: You could fly Spirit out of PDX with 28-inch pitch and a $5 can of Coke. What a bawgain!
27 HiFlyerAS: Have never flown them but they seem to be filling a niche as their numbers look good. Not going there as to what that niche may be however! Just have
28 SonomaFlyer: SAN to ANC is 2452 mi which is roughly equal to a SAN to JFK routing. The only issues are whether there's enough demand (would likely be seasonal) and
29 RWA380: I have been under the impression that PDX/SEA-MRY was just a matter of time, maybe next summer? AS/QX has added seasonal new services from PDX this s
30 wn676: Would they really need to be to fly PDX-ANC? I'm pretty sure those flights don't stray far enough from land to require it.
31 RWA380: When TW flew the route, the M80's were overwater aircraft, if you do a GCM of that route, you'll see the vast majority of that most direct routing wi
32 HPRamper: I think SAN-Hawaii is on the somewhat short list for additional Hawaii flying. BLI seems to be doing well to the larger markets but I would not expec
33 wedgetail737: I don't think the CRJ's fly between the PNW and the San Francisco Bay Area. AS does fly some mainline flights between PDX-SFO and PDX-SJC. Could we s
34 HPRamper: I certainly hope so. They don't have that negative connotation that people have with CRJs, for whatever reason. Maybe it's the free beer? I just move
35 BoeingGuy: The OO CR7s operated for AS also give free beer and wine. It's the same as QX flights. I flew the OO/AS CR7 evening SEA-FAT flight last 8/31 and it w
36 wedgetail737: I believe the PDX-BIL service is year-round. I've flown SEA-OAK a couple of times in the Q400 and it really isn't that bad. In addition to the free a
37 HiFlyerAS: BLI-OGG was always on the table but G4's announcment pushed it to be moved from discussion to reality. The talk was that there wasn't any great expec
38 wn676: Do they actually fly the GC track though? I thought most of the major airways along the BC coast kept you within 50 nm of land.
39 as77w: I don't think their move at LAX to a terminal with easier customs access was a coincidence.
40 EA CO AS: It certainly was based partially on easier customs access, but it wasn't based on the desire by Alaska Air Group to begin throwing capacity into the
41 RWA380: Other than HA, I don't see a capable contender to be courting AS. That said, the merger of those two airlines would need to be in paper only, both na
42 BoeingGuy: Is AS getting rid of all their 73Gs? I thought they were keeping the ones that they own. What will they use at SNA then, 738s?
43 yeelep: The -400's are the planes that will be leaving over the next few years.
44 wedgetail737: I would imagine AS would hold on to their single 737-400F and their handful of 737-400C's. I don't think you'll see the -400's or the 73G's leaving t
45 HiFlyerAS: In the earnings call last week they said they're still hanging on to the -400's to have the flexibility of growing faster (most are owned by AS). The
46 as77w: I do know that the Navy operates 737-700s that have a large cargo door on the left side of the aircraft much like the -400s and -200s before them did
47 wedgetail737: The Navy 737-700's are C-40A's. They are 737-700C's. Boeing had at one time tried to sell the 737-700C's to AS, but the price probably wasn't right.
48 HiFlyerAS: Likely much cheaper to punch a door in the side...especially if they don't have to get a new certificate. I don't fly them much but would miss the fl
49 wedgetail737: It's probably cheaper to punch a hole in the side, but it places the certification burden on AS or a chopshop, whether it's a 737-700C or a 737-700F.
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