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Alaska Airlines, Virgin America Strengthen Bay Area Route Network
Today Alaska Airlines announced over a dozen new routes from the Bay Area. A total of 13 new routes will be added from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and San Jose International Airport (SJC). The announcement of these new routes follows Alaska Airlines’ merger with San Francisco-based Virgin America. Alaska Airlines noted in a press release that with the additional routes, Alaska Airlines and Virgin America will operate a combined 125 daily nonstop flights to 42 destinations from three major Bay Area airports.
The expansion is widespread with new routes including Hawaii, the east coast, the Midwest, the Southern US, and Mexico.
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13 New Alaska Airlines, Virgin America Routes
| Start Date | City Pair | Aircraft Type | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | San Francisco to Philadelphia | Airbus a320 Family | Daily |
| Sep 21 | San Francisco to New Orleans | Airbus a320 Family | Daily |
| Sep 5 | San Francisco to Nashville | Airbus a320 Family | Daily |
| Sep 26 | San Francisco to Indianapolis | Airbus a320 Family | Daily |
| Oct 19 | San Francisco to Raleigh-Durham | Airbus a320 Family | Daily |
| Oct 16 | San Francisco to Baltimore-Washington | Airbus a320 Family | Daily |
| Dec 14 | San Francisco to Kona | Airbus a320 Family | Daily |
| Sep 18 | San Francisco to Albuquerque | Embraer 175 | Daily |
| Sep 18 | San Francisco to Kansas City | Embraer 175 | Daily |
| Aug 28 | San Jose to Austin | Embraer 175 | Daily |
| Aug 28 | San Jose to Tucson | Embraer 175 | Daily |
| Sep 20 | San Jose to Los Angeles | Embraer 175 | Four Times Daily |
| TBD (Pending Approval) | San Francisco to Mexico City | Airbus a320 Family | TBD |
Alaska Airlines Using Virgin America Aircraft
What’s especially interesting about these new routes is that Alaska Airlines decided to use Virgin America Airbus a320s and a319s for many of these routes. Anytime the aircraft type is “Airbus a320 Family” in the chart above; the aircraft is operated by Virgin America.Historically, Alaska Airlines operated an all-Boeing fleet. There has been a lot of speculation regarding what Alaska Airlines was planning to do with Virgin America’s fleet of Airbuses. For now, Alaska Airlines is planning to keep them and operate them on a variety of routes.
Historically, Alaska Airlines operated an all-Boeing fleet. There has been a lot of speculation regarding what Alaska Airlines was planning to do with Virgin America’s fleet of Airbuses. For now, Alaska Airlines is planning to keep them and operate them on a variety of routes.
Additionally, this shows that Alaska Airlines is truly working towards west coast growth. When Alaska Airlines and Virgin America announced their merger, Alaska Airlines stated that the two airlines’ goal was to build the “West Coast’s premiere airline.”
Andrew Harrison, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Alaska Airlines, said the following in a press release.
“The 10 new San Francisco routes and three new San Jose routes offer something for both the leisure and business traveler, including exciting destinations like New Orleans, Baltimore, Austin and Kona, Hawaii. Our strategy is to use the same philosophy that’s worked well for us in our Pacific Northwest hubs, which is to offer convenient, nonstop flights to the places guests fly to most. And if your itinerary requires travel overseas, our 10 global airline partners offer 137 international departures a week from the Bay Area.”
You can read the full press release here.
What do you think about these new routes?
