first, it may very well rally the troops but in the age of social media, giving Delta a couple second spotlight of what is likely supposed to be an intra-company rah-rah tool shows the effect DL is indeed having. (note the DL 767 landing at 0.27 - and it is a BEAUTIFUL landing indeed).
Second, all the internal rah rah doesn't change the external economic forces that AS brought on themselves. DL had no plans to add a dozen more domestic cities on DL coded aircraft. DL has pockets and a fleet way, way bigger than AS could ever dream to have.
Third, Alaska isn't Alaska; it is Seattle. Their crotch has apparently most been frosted because of DL's incursion into Alaska but they are an outsider to Alaska as well. They are lower 48 based airline.
fourth, all the stuff about the complexity of the AS operation is child's play in light of the fact that the sun never sets on the DL operation. And not just on one aircraft somewhere in Africa but dozens of DL aircraft flying into airports that are as complex or more so than JNU.
fifth, DL is itself running a very good operation and receiving plenty of accolades for what it does. Considering DL operates in the much more congested east far more than AS, DL's west coast operations look even more reliable than AS'.
sixth, DL is VERY aggressive AND successful at achieving its strategic goals, of which a Pacific Northwest gateway to Asia has been known to be one. With the AA/US merger and UA's strategic blunders, this is DL's hour to take the west coast battle on full steam ahead and based on the amount of capacity that DL is adding to both SEA AND LAX, DL is playing for keeps and to win.
seventh, the impact of DL's domestic expansion will be felt in the next few months and professional analysts are beginning to sound the alarm that ALK stock might not be a good investment until the competitive issues get worked out.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/29/rising-competition-is-still-a-big-worry-for-alaska.aspx
Alaska Air Group investors shouldn't take too much comfort from the company's strong Q1 results because hardly any of the new flights from Delta had begun during the quarter. Most of Delta's new capacity is coming online during the spring, with a few more flights beginning in the fall.
Alaska Air Group has a talented management team that has consistently created value for shareholders in recent years. It is thus in good hands to weather the challenges that lie ahead. However, I still think investors would be better off avoiding the stock.
Delta's growth in Seattle will put pressure on Alaska's unit revenue as 2014 progresses. Most importantly, it's hard to predict where Delta's growth in Seattle might end. As it adds long-haul international routes, it will be able to support more and more domestic flights in Seattle. In the long run, it could challenge Alaska's dominance in its home market. That's too much risk to contemplate investing in Alaska Air Group.
To the analyst's point, DL has more domestic capacity from SEA as of this summer than even UA did before 9/11. and UA has been the only airline since deregulation that has had enough impact on SEA to matter.
It's also worth noting that DL has the highest average aircraft size from the west coast, considerable larger than AA/US, UA, or AS. Of the largest west coast carriers, DL is much closer to WN than the other legacy carriers, including AS.
Good for AS for trying to rally the troops but the threshold has been crossed. DL committed to an int'l operation that they wanted to have AS serve as providing DL's non-hub domestic feed.
AS wasn't interested and there is no conceivable way that DL was going to walk away from its int'l buildup because of the lack of feed from AS.
AS now has to live with the consequences of its decision and their company will very likely constantly be fighting to achieve the levels of financial success they once knew because the market will be divided among two competitors where AS once had it to themselves