A headline caught my eye yesterday – Analyst amazed by Alaska Airlines’s ability to fight off Delta, not ‘just roll over and die’. The article, from the Puget Sound Business Journal, goes on to quote IdeaWorks Co. President Jay Sorenson,
“I don’t think it’s gone according to plan for Delta, because Alaska Airlines didn’t just roll over and die,” Sorenson said. “This intense competition seems to have made them (Alaska) into a better airline, and I would never have predicted that outcome.”
I, for one, am not surprised. Alaska Airlines is a unique company, and an airline I’ve long admired. My first experience flying them was…ahem…a few years ago, aboard a Boeing 737-200 combi from King Salmon to Anchorage. I thought they were unique and cool then, and nothing has happened since to change my opinion, nearly 20 years later. Alaska Airlines has a history of innovation and has been a technology leader in the airline business, a characteristic I value. (Image courtesy of Alaska Airlines)
Admittedly, Alaska’s partnership with Delta has not worked out like I thought it might. In retrospect, I probably should have known better, but I digress. Delta is an airline that is not just confident in its well-documented operational capabilities, it is convinced. One might have envisioned that a long term partnership with an airline that dances with multiple partners, notably one of Delta’s largest competitors, would not sit well in the psyche of an Delta’s leaders for the long term. I suppose the possibility exists that Alaska and Delta could get to some kind of equilibrium in Seattle, but I’m not optimistic. Will it be a bad break up? Who knows? But when it happens, I predict Alaska Airlines will still be standing in Seattle.
-MJ, March 17, 2015
AS appears to be in a better position to execute its strategy without DL than DL is to execute its without AS. DL has built SEA up a lot, but AS still offers a lot more nonstop options, and AS can offer other partner options for routes it doesn’t fly more easily than DL can build its own feed. It sure looks like DL ought to be motivated to find a way to get AS to the table.
Alaska has been my airline for the past two decades. Unless you live in the pacific northwest, you wouldn’t understand how AS delivers that northwest hospitality. Add to that the best frequent flier program, not my opinion but J.D. Powers. As DL has taken away from their medallions, AS continues to increase the value of their mileage plan. When DL adds flights in AS territory, AS adds new destinations like JFK.
This is where Delta’s trewards program bites them. Perhaps they do treat their upper level elites well. Their miles seem almost impossible to use vs the competition. I would stick with Alaska given the option.