If you were interested in the recent QF vs VA '65% capacity war' on the domestic front you might be interested to learn the even more aggressive battle for SEA between Delta and Alaska.
Battle for Seattle: Delta, Alaska Air add even more flights
Alaska Airlines and Delta are at it again in their ongoing – and seemingly escalating – battle for Seattle. In announcements that came just hours apart on Tuesday, each company announced they'll again boost their flight schedules from Seattle.
Alaska Airlines is the busiest and hometown carrier in Seattle, where it has long operated a busy connecting hub. But Delta – a partner of Alaska Airlines, at least for now – has been growing rapidly there. Delta is now the No. 2 carrier in Seattle, increasingly adding service that puts it into direct competition with Alaska Air on some of Alaska Air's most-lucrative routes.
Delta launched the first of Tuesday's new-service announcements, saying it would add six new "ski and beach" routes from Seattle. Alaska Airlines put out its own new-service statement a few hours later, revealing plans to add more than two dozen flights on existing routes as part of an effort to "increase Seattle departures by 11% next spring."
As for the details of Tuesday's announcements, Delta says it will begin flying to Spokane, Wash., and Calgary, Alberta, on Nov. 3. Delta's regional affiliates will operate both routes, flying 65-seat CRJ-700 regional jets to Spokane and 76-seat Embraer E175 jets to Calgary.
And on Dec. 20, Delta will add four more destinations, including daily service to Maui on Boeing 757s as well as a mix of seasonal and less-than-weekly schedules to Bozeman, Mont., and the Mexican resort destinations of Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta.
Several of the routes Delta announced on Tuesday will put it up against Alaska Air on routes where Alaska has an entrenched presence.
On the Seattle-Spokane route for example, Alaska Air has been the only carrier to fly between the cities since Southwest dropped the route in 2012, according to The Spokesman-Review of Spokane. Delta's four daily round-trip flights will go up against Alaska Airlines' 16 daily round-trip flights.
As for Alaska Air, it said on Tuesday it will add 27 daily flights that will boost the carrier's frequencies on routes from Seattle to destinations such as Boise; Boston; Chicago; Denver; Fairbanks, Alaska; Palm Springs, Calif.; and Sacramento.
The increased frequencies on those routes will begin in early March. Once they begin, that will grow Alaska Airlines' Seattle schedule to 280 daily departures, up from 253.
And on its Seattle-Spokane route, Alaska Airlines will increase capacity by about 150 seats a day by switching two of its 16 flights from Bombardier Q400 turboprops to Boeing 737 jets.
Alaska Air already had announced new service to start this year to six new destinations: Albuquerque, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, Tampa and Cancun, Mexico.
"Alaska Airlines has been flying out of Seattle for more than half a century and we're proud to offer our customers nearly four times the departures to more destinations than any other airline," Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines' SVP of communications and external relations, says in a statement. "With convenient nonstop service to 79 destinations from Seattle, our customers can fly to 80% of the places they want to go and this increases to 99% when combining Alaska's flights and those of our partner airlines."
The Seattle media picked up on the growing Alaska-Delta rivalry, with The Seattle Times writing Delta's growth spree "continues to give regional powerhouse Alaska Airlines a run for the money." The News-Tribune of Tacomanotes Alaska Air "has added multiple new non-stop destinations from Sea-Tac since Delta began beefing up its schedule last year" and also has added several new routes from Salt Lake City -- Delta's western hub. "
The jockeying for Seattle also has spilled over into the frequent-flier realm of both carriers. Each is offering numerous frequent-flier promotions aimed at Seattle customers.
More broadly, Alaska Airlines has a broad set of partners – including both American and Delta – as well as a number of international partners.
As part of its escalating feud with Delta, Alaska also recently announced several promotions with those partners that would seem to be aimed at Delta. One included double miles on British Airways' Seattle-London flights, a promotion that began just days before Delta was scheduled to launch its own nonstop service on the same route.
Alaska Air also has tweaked its frequent-flier offerings, saying in December that it would give its frequent fliers full frequent-flier benefits – including "elite" miles – when flying on "all of its international partners." Alaska Air's partners include Korean Air -- a SkyTeam partner of Delta -- Emirates, British Airways, LAN and a number of others.
Delta, however, has moved during the past year to restrict some benefits for its customers that fly on partner airlines. Delta has divided its partners into four groups, offering full benefits only to "Group 1" partners. Alaska Airlines remains a "Group 1" partner of Delta.
Battle for Seattle: Delta, Alaska Air add even more flights
Alaska Airlines and Delta are at it again in their ongoing – and seemingly escalating – battle for Seattle. In announcements that came just hours apart on Tuesday, each company announced they'll again boost their flight schedules from Seattle.
Alaska Airlines is the busiest and hometown carrier in Seattle, where it has long operated a busy connecting hub. But Delta – a partner of Alaska Airlines, at least for now – has been growing rapidly there. Delta is now the No. 2 carrier in Seattle, increasingly adding service that puts it into direct competition with Alaska Air on some of Alaska Air's most-lucrative routes.
Delta launched the first of Tuesday's new-service announcements, saying it would add six new "ski and beach" routes from Seattle. Alaska Airlines put out its own new-service statement a few hours later, revealing plans to add more than two dozen flights on existing routes as part of an effort to "increase Seattle departures by 11% next spring."
As for the details of Tuesday's announcements, Delta says it will begin flying to Spokane, Wash., and Calgary, Alberta, on Nov. 3. Delta's regional affiliates will operate both routes, flying 65-seat CRJ-700 regional jets to Spokane and 76-seat Embraer E175 jets to Calgary.
And on Dec. 20, Delta will add four more destinations, including daily service to Maui on Boeing 757s as well as a mix of seasonal and less-than-weekly schedules to Bozeman, Mont., and the Mexican resort destinations of Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta.
Several of the routes Delta announced on Tuesday will put it up against Alaska Air on routes where Alaska has an entrenched presence.
On the Seattle-Spokane route for example, Alaska Air has been the only carrier to fly between the cities since Southwest dropped the route in 2012, according to The Spokesman-Review of Spokane. Delta's four daily round-trip flights will go up against Alaska Airlines' 16 daily round-trip flights.
As for Alaska Air, it said on Tuesday it will add 27 daily flights that will boost the carrier's frequencies on routes from Seattle to destinations such as Boise; Boston; Chicago; Denver; Fairbanks, Alaska; Palm Springs, Calif.; and Sacramento.
The increased frequencies on those routes will begin in early March. Once they begin, that will grow Alaska Airlines' Seattle schedule to 280 daily departures, up from 253.
And on its Seattle-Spokane route, Alaska Airlines will increase capacity by about 150 seats a day by switching two of its 16 flights from Bombardier Q400 turboprops to Boeing 737 jets.
Alaska Air already had announced new service to start this year to six new destinations: Albuquerque, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, Tampa and Cancun, Mexico.
"Alaska Airlines has been flying out of Seattle for more than half a century and we're proud to offer our customers nearly four times the departures to more destinations than any other airline," Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines' SVP of communications and external relations, says in a statement. "With convenient nonstop service to 79 destinations from Seattle, our customers can fly to 80% of the places they want to go and this increases to 99% when combining Alaska's flights and those of our partner airlines."
The Seattle media picked up on the growing Alaska-Delta rivalry, with The Seattle Times writing Delta's growth spree "continues to give regional powerhouse Alaska Airlines a run for the money." The News-Tribune of Tacomanotes Alaska Air "has added multiple new non-stop destinations from Sea-Tac since Delta began beefing up its schedule last year" and also has added several new routes from Salt Lake City -- Delta's western hub. "
The jockeying for Seattle also has spilled over into the frequent-flier realm of both carriers. Each is offering numerous frequent-flier promotions aimed at Seattle customers.
More broadly, Alaska Airlines has a broad set of partners – including both American and Delta – as well as a number of international partners.
As part of its escalating feud with Delta, Alaska also recently announced several promotions with those partners that would seem to be aimed at Delta. One included double miles on British Airways' Seattle-London flights, a promotion that began just days before Delta was scheduled to launch its own nonstop service on the same route.
Alaska Air also has tweaked its frequent-flier offerings, saying in December that it would give its frequent fliers full frequent-flier benefits – including "elite" miles – when flying on "all of its international partners." Alaska Air's partners include Korean Air -- a SkyTeam partner of Delta -- Emirates, British Airways, LAN and a number of others.
Delta, however, has moved during the past year to restrict some benefits for its customers that fly on partner airlines. Delta has divided its partners into four groups, offering full benefits only to "Group 1" partners. Alaska Airlines remains a "Group 1" partner of Delta.
