Maybe SEA-YXE or YQR ? Fair sized cities with no flights to the US west coast

Would be really excited to see some announced Max 9 routes since they are coming on property soon! Hopefully they take advantage of these capable planes and put them on some fun, new routes!

Maybe they will open some seasonal Max 9 flights to Central America from the PNW.

I would just like another flight from RDU. More than a 1 a day station, please... I’ll take the 738 + another flight over a 739 w/one flight

BDL seems like another East coast destination that's ripe for AS.

ERJ170 wrote:

I would just like another flight from RDU. More than a 1 a day station, please... I’ll take the 738 + another flight over a 739 w/one flight

In your hypothetical situation here, the 738 would probably be PDX-RDU, while the second 739 would be either another SEA flight, or LAX.

maximairways wrote:

BDL seems like another East coast destination that's ripe for AS.

I could definitely see SEA-BDL happen. AA and UA both have BDL flights from LAX and SFO, respectively, and with Seattle's rapid growth, I think that AS with a SEA-BDL flight could succeed right up there with AA and UA's transcon flights BDL flights.

routeplanner wrote:

I can assure you AS has some surprises TBA. Stay tuned

I’m calling SAN-TIJ!

routeplanner wrote:

I can assure you AS has some surprises TBA. Stay tuned

According to tphuang a few posts ago, those "surprises" you assure us will happen, I guess, will be primarily from the AAG network's growth point, SEA!

As he put it:

It's pretty clear what their focus now is. Seattle. Whether it's adding more flights at SEA or building up PAE.

And

It's just math really. SEA/PAE is getting more flights, so other places will see less flights.

So I guess, being from another AS city, I should give up any interest in upcoming expansion from AAG. Oh well...

(BTW, I don't have an idea where you will put all those new flights at SEA, but have at it, Alaska! Keep a growin' at SEA/TAC!)

bb

I would love to see AS return to COS now that their ops have stabilized. I'm still holding out hope for MRY-SEA with an E-175. And finally maybe all of the STS service will be E-175's.

I would love to see the following cities for AS: JAX, PBI, CLT, TUL, DSM and MEM.

SANFan wrote:

routeplanner wrote:

I can assure you AS has some surprises TBA. Stay tuned

According to tphuang a few posts ago, those "surprises" you assure us will happen, I guess, will be primarily from the AAG network's growth point, SEA!

As he put it:

It's pretty clear what their focus now is. Seattle. Whether it's adding more flights at SEA or building up PAE.

And

It's just math really. SEA/PAE is getting more flights, so other places will see less flights.

So I guess, being from another AS city, I should give up any interest in upcoming expansion from AAG. Oh well...

(BTW, I don't have an idea where you will put all those new flights at SEA, but have at it, Alaska! Keep a growin' at SEA/TAC!)

bb

I wouldn't give up on it just yet; unless if tphuang knows more than we do. For potential SAN growth, I could see SAN-JFK, MKE, PHL, or maybe even ATL if they want to keep Delta on their toes...

I hope that PDX gets something new this time around, but I'm unfortunately growing more pessimistic about their PDX operation lately. PDX-MCO was a great add and I applaud them for that, but I honestly am not sure what their PDX strategy is, since it seems like we're losing routes like STL and DTW, along with many seasonal downgrades and route suspensions (such as PDX-MCI which is getting suspended this winter yet again). I understand that they need the planes to fight off Delta at SEA, but c'mon...

I wonder if Alaska could come into RSW. F9 has just launched the first truly west coast non-stops, and this market bleeds sadly to FLL/MIA/TPA and even MCO. Perhaps they want to continue to grow FL by soaring into the fastest growing 4 counties in the country

Chugach wrote:

I’m calling SAN-TIJ!

Surely you mean SEA-TIJ! (Seriously, TIJ-SAN is an 18 mile flight!) But I'm sure you're kidding anyway...

bb

As I said earlier, would predict the next routes we see out of SEA to be to the Northeast. BDL/PVD/ALB/BUF all seem like reasonable bets (though I recognize could be 5-10 yrs before all are realized). COS seems like a logical resumption. Possibly SDF on an E175 as well (though i don't know if that's cutting range too close).

While SEA is very much the focus, as I said there are surprises TBA. Can't say more.....Stay tuned.

Hoping for them to add MKE-SAN/SJC!

routeplanner wrote:

While SEA is very much the focus, as I said there are surprises TBA. Can't say more.....Stay tuned.

You’re a tease.

But I’ll throw my hat in the ring: Something involving JFK.

SANFan wrote:

Chugach wrote:

I’m calling SAN-TIJ!

Surely you mean SEA-TIJ! (Seriously, TIJ-SAN is an 18 mile flight!) But I'm sure you're kidding anyway...

bb

Well, they have a 31 mile flight in the system already (PSG-WRG) so never say never.

PlanesNTrains wrote:

routeplanner wrote:

While SEA is very much the focus, as I said there are surprises TBA. Can't say more.....Stay tuned.

You’re a tease.

But I’ll throw my hat in the ring: Something involving JFK.

*Operated by B6.

I keep on going back to a comment I read somewhere about change-orders for the new ANC hanger to accommodate the A321NEO. 4000 miles puts every major AS station within reach of a direct flight from ANC.

I would to love to see CVG-SEA, especially given they are already in IND/CMH/PIT/BNA/STL/RDU. DL needs some competition on that route big time.

Given the fear some airlines seem to have about challenging DL at CVG, this is probably still a few years away...

FA9295 wrote:

SANFan wrote:

routeplanner wrote:

I can assure you AS has some surprises TBA. Stay tuned

According to tphuang a few posts ago, those "surprises" you assure us will happen, I guess, will be primarily from the AAG network's growth point, SEA!

As he put it:

It's pretty clear what their focus now is. Seattle. Whether it's adding more flights at SEA or building up PAE.

And

It's just math really. SEA/PAE is getting more flights, so other places will see less flights.

So I guess, being from another AS city, I should give up any interest in upcoming expansion from AAG. Oh well...

(BTW, I don't have an idea where you will put all those new flights at SEA, but have at it, Alaska! Keep a growin' at SEA/TAC!)

bb

I wouldn't give up on it just yet; unless if tphuang knows more than we do. For potential SAN growth, I could see SAN-JFK, MKE, PHL, or maybe even ATL if they want to keep Delta on their toes...

I hope that PDX gets something new this time around, but I'm unfortunately growing more pessimistic about their PDX operation lately. PDX-MCO was a great add and I applaud them for that, but I honestly am not sure what their PDX strategy is, since it seems like we're losing routes like STL and DTW, along with many seasonal downgrades and route suspensions (such as PDX-MCI which is getting suspended this winter yet again). I understand that they need the planes to fight off Delta at SEA, but c'mon...

I don't really know anything. I'm just basing it on what they have done so far, because SEA assigns gates based on number of seats each airlines fly, so they need to keep adding capacity to keep DL from getting more gates.

routeplanner wrote:

I can assure you AS has some surprises TBA. Stay tuned

Hmmmm.. could ANC-JFK/BOS be in the works with the MAX9?

impilot wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

routeplanner wrote:

While SEA is very much the focus, as I said there are surprises TBA. Can't say more.....Stay tuned.

You’re a tease.

But I’ll throw my hat in the ring: Something involving JFK.

*Operated by B6.

*Until B6 is combined onto the AS certificate.

But in all seriousness, I’m just throwing JFK out there since they’ve got the real estate and the lounge. Oh, and that big sign on the side of the terminal.

They can't compete on JFK routes, so doubt it. The entire east cost is the LGB (kryptonite) of AS. The new routes will be more pawns thrown into the west coast meat grinder against WN.

CobaltScar wrote:

They can't compete on JFK routes, so doubt it. The entire east cost is the LGB (kryptonite) of AS. The new routes will be more pawns thrown into the west coast meat grinder against WN.

Oh I'm sure that's true but I'll stand by my hat-in-the-ring guess. Nothing wrong with swinging for the fence.

As much as I wish it’d be PVD, I think BDL-SEA has got to be near the top of the list.

routeplanner wrote:

I can assure you AS has some surprises TBA. Stay tuned

Time frame?

flyoregon wrote:

routeplanner wrote:

I can assure you AS has some surprises TBA. Stay tuned

Time frame?

No inside information here but there are a couple of logical times to announce stuff. One would be on the 10/25/18 3rd quarter call or at the AS investor day in November which is typically held in New York.

BDL would have AS already if LAX and SFO were accounted for, BDL-SEA certainly seems ripe in the 5 year window especially given aerospace ties (heck CHS has it).

PVD-LAX/SFO is ripe from the perspective that they arent a big player and PVD hemorrhages pax to BOS for west coast flying, I could see each 1x daily for May-October then shared (4x/3x) for Nov-April.

RL757PVD wrote:

BDL would have AS already if LAX and SFO were accounted for, BDL-SEA certainly seems ripe in the 5 year window especially given aerospace ties (heck CHS has it).

PVD-LAX/SFO is ripe from the perspective that they arent a big player and PVD hemorrhages pax to BOS for west coast flying, I could see each 1x daily for May-October then shared (4x/3x) for Nov-April.

I know you know this, but CHS is an anomaly for AS because of the Boeing plant at CHS. The flight number is even 787. I would like to know the particulars behind scenes that were worked out between AS and Boeing to fly CHS-SEA. It must be doing reasonably well though because I think it has picked up a weekly frequency. Back to your original point, I do agree that BDL has to be on the very short list for AS.

RL757PVD wrote:

BDL would have AS already if LAX and SFO were accounted for, BDL-SEA certainly seems ripe in the 5 year window especially given aerospace ties (heck CHS has it).

PVD-LAX/SFO is ripe from the perspective that they arent a big player and PVD hemorrhages pax to BOS for west coast flying, I could see each 1x daily for May-October then shared (4x/3x) for Nov-April.

As much as I’d like to see some of the wish list routes mentioned, remember that LAX has only had BDL on and off. JAX and PBI couldn’t support LAX non-stops. I’m dubious that SEA could support any of the three or BUF.

with maybe 40 flights annually on F9: CLE-SEA, can't believe F9 has actually kept it alive at all given their consistency track record

I would build up SLC before all of these SEA-random smallish cities in the eastern time zone. They seem to be giving up on SFO as a placement option for all their capacity; they won't get much more city pairs out of SAN or LAX. SLC is pretty profitable for DL

crescent wrote:

SLC is pretty profitable for DL

And that's exactly why AS shouldn't do that. Way too much competition there. I doubt that AS would be able to steal loyal DL customers based in SLC.

Ok, while you all are talking about east coast airports, how about something less predictable.

What about Latin America from LAX? They already serve SJO and LIR. Do markets like PTY, SAL, MGA and TGU have enough demand for service from LAX? AS could use A320/A319 and run southeast bound red eyes and be back at LAX by noon for afternoon and evening coastal runs.

We were told to expect surprises.

BoeingGuy wrote:

RL757PVD wrote:

BDL would have AS already if LAX and SFO were accounted for, BDL-SEA certainly seems ripe in the 5 year window especially given aerospace ties (heck CHS has it).

PVD-LAX/SFO is ripe from the perspective that they arent a big player and PVD hemorrhages pax to BOS for west coast flying, I could see each 1x daily for May-October then shared (4x/3x) for Nov-April.

As much as I’d like to see some of the wish list routes mentioned, remember that LAX has only had BDL on and off. JAX and PBI couldn’t support LAX non-stops. I’m dubious that SEA could support any of the three or BUF.

BDL and BUF each sustain a LAX flight now. With BUF's being essentially a pure O&D route. (jetBlue really doesnt have connections on either end)

crescent wrote:

I would build up SLC before all of these SEA-random smallish cities in the eastern time zone. They seem to be giving up on SFO as a placement option for all their capacity; they won't get much more city pairs out of SAN or LAX. SLC is pretty profitable for DL

Sorry but I don't see anything major (or 'surprising') happening at SLC with AS.

Overall, AAG service at SLC has declined since they started service there 4 years ago (June 2014.) AAG started service with 13 daily departures to 8 destinations; mainline to QX ratio was 7:6. Service to LAS and SJC has since bee dropped entirely. This summer, departures were 12/day, to 6 destinations with the 737 to EMJ ratio at 6:6. (All service to the 3 CA markets is a single daily EMJs; the 737s fly only to PDX and SEA.)

IMO, it's an overall decrease as opposed to any sort of growth or expansion of service at SLC. The majority of the seats out of SLC are to SEA -- not a big shock. It's not impossible that the situation could change but the trend says otherwise. Until such time as AAG has better luck against DL in Utah, I can't imagine any added destinations or major increases in capacity there by AAG.

QXAS wrote:

We were told to expect surprises.

.
In my experience on A.net, a "surprise" varies a lot due to personal interpretation of the term. One persons "surprise" is another's "yawn".

So far, this whole

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for new markets to be announced

has not come through as expected, especially regarding the time frame. (Although I'm certainly pleased that SAN-ELP has been one of them!)

bb

I think ELP-SEA/SAN is a nice surprise. I’m also surprised that AS has held the ground they’ve held in SLC - I really thought they had pulled back more than they did. Still, I don’t expect any adds there.

I’d be happy for ANC if they got some interesting adds but it’s still hard to get too excited over that. Since I suggested JFK, maybe JFKANC? Won’t hold my breath.

I’m waiting for PHX-California. Holding my breath for that one. How about SFO/LAX/SAN-PHX?

For random destinations, I’ll say SEA-PVU on the E175, LAX-PTY on the B39M, and SEA-BDL on the 738.

PlanesNTrains wrote:

I think ELP-SEA/SAN is a nice surprise. I’m also surprised that AS has held the ground they’ve held in SLC - I really thought they had pulled back more than they did. Still, I don’t expect any adds there.

I’d be happy for ANC if they got some interesting adds but it’s still hard to get too excited over that. Since I suggested JFK, maybe JFKANC? Won’t hold my breath.

I’m waiting for PHX-California. Holding my breath for that one. How about SFO/LAX/SAN-PHX?

For random destinations, I’ll say SEA-PVU on the E175, LAX-PTY on the B39M, and SEA-BDL on the 738.

JFK-ANC would actually not surprise me, but they’ll need the MAX to do it.

Chugach wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

I think ELP-SEA/SAN is a nice surprise. I’m also surprised that AS has held the ground they’ve held in SLC - I really thought they had pulled back more than they did. Still, I don’t expect any adds there.

I’d be happy for ANC if they got some interesting adds but it’s still hard to get too excited over that. Since I suggested JFK, maybe JFKANC? Won’t hold my breath.

I’m waiting for PHX-California. Holding my breath for that one. How about SFO/LAX/SAN-PHX?

For random destinations, I’ll say SEA-PVU on the E175, LAX-PTY on the B39M, and SEA-BDL on the 738.

JFK-ANC would actually not surprise me, but they’ll need the MAX to do it.

Coming soon to an airport near you (and they have the neo already).

Hawaiian made mention of flying the NEO to unserved Western cities. I wonder if Alaska would get a head start on that. But of course Southwest is going to put Alaska out of business in Hawaii. So maybe not. lol

PlanesNTrains wrote:

I’m waiting for PHX-California. Holding my breath for that one. How about SFO/LAX/SAN-PHX?

SFOPHX is returning with 2X daily service for Spring Training using A320 equipment; it's only scheduled for about 5-6 weeks, similar to last year, but it performed really well last year and looks to do the same this time around as well. At some point it will go year-round; it's just a matter of time.

EA CO AS wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

I’m waiting for PHX-California. Holding my breath for that one. How about SFO/LAX/SAN-PHX?

SFOPHX is returning with 2X daily service for Spring Training using A320 equipment; it's only scheduled for about 5-6 weeks, similar to last year, but it performed really well last year and looks to do the same this time around as well. At some point it will go year-round; it's just a matter of time.

To me, PHX-Cali is an odd omission in their network. If we could turn back time, AS+HP might have been interesting.

id love to see a build up of PHX to SAN/LAX/SFO/SMF/SJC... it's a hole in their west coast flying and heavily traveled route both for leisure and business. I know AA/WN are heavy there but Alaska could make it work!

PlanesNTrains wrote:

EA CO AS wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

I’m waiting for PHX-California. Holding my breath for that one. How about SFO/LAX/SAN-PHX?

SFOPHX is returning with 2X daily service for Spring Training using A320 equipment; it's only scheduled for about 5-6 weeks, similar to last year, but it performed really well last year and looks to do the same this time around as well. At some point it will go year-round; it's just a matter of time.

To me, PHX-Cali is an odd omission in their network.

There's a fairly large base of Mileage Plan elites in the PHX area who are clamoring for it as well, but without critical mass at one end, it never made sense. Today, it's much easier to argue that AS has critical mass at SFO, LAX, and possibly even SAN to make service from PHX viable, probably with E175s.

I think PHXLAX, PHXSFO, and even PHXSAN are more of a "when" than an "if," however.

PlanesNTrains wrote:

If we could turn back time, AS+HP might have been interesting.

There was a time where then-EVP Marketing and Planning Gregg Saretsky sent collective tongues wagging, saying how much he "wished we had a hub in PHX right about now" but of course nothing ever came of it.

What if everyone is looking at all this wrong? Lest talk about ANC and add the word "surprising"..... what would be some surprising routes.... think non USA....

jetsetterusa wrote:

What if everyone is looking at all this wrong? Lest talk about ANC and add the word "surprising"..... what would be some surprising routes.... think non USA....

There’s nowhere to go really. Tourism from Russia is down. Asia fares are super low. And I don’t know how far the NEO or MAX can go into Asia.

EA CO AS wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

EA CO AS wrote:

SFOPHX is returning with 2X daily service for Spring Training using A320 equipment; it's only scheduled for about 5-6 weeks, similar to last year, but it performed really well last year and looks to do the same this time around as well. At some point it will go year-round; it's just a matter of time.

To me, PHX-Cali is an odd omission in their network.

There's a fairly large base of Mileage Plan elites in the PHX area who are clamoring for it as well, but without critical mass at one end, it never made sense. Today, it's much easier to argue that AS has critical mass at SFO, LAX, and possibly even SAN to make service from PHX viable, probably with E175s.

I think PHXLAX, PHXSFO, and even PHXSAN are more of a "when" than an "if," however.

VX had planned on adding service to PHX prior to the AS-VX merger, but those plans didn't happen prior to the VX-AS merger. I do agree that AS does have opportunities to add nonstop service to PHX from California.

EA CO AS wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

EA CO AS wrote:

SFOPHX is returning with 2X daily service for Spring Training using A320 equipment; it's only scheduled for about 5-6 weeks, similar to last year, but it performed really well last year and looks to do the same this time around as well. At some point it will go year-round; it's just a matter of time.

To me, PHX-Cali is an odd omission in their network.

There's a fairly large base of Mileage Plan elites in the PHX area who are clamoring for it as well, but without critical mass at one end, it never made sense. Today, it's much easier to argue that AS has critical mass at SFO, LAX, and possibly even SAN to make service from PHX viable, probably with E175s.

I think PHXLAX, PHXSFO, and even PHXSAN are more of a "when" than an "if," however.

PlanesNTrains wrote:

If we could turn back time, AS+HP might have been interesting.

There was a time where then-EVP Marketing and Planning Gregg Saretsky sent collective tongues wagging, saying how much he "wished we had a hub in PHX right about now" but of course nothing ever came of it.

Well I'd argue that SLC seems to have been given that consideration, but I know there's more to it than that.