And AS' ability to keep ahead of DL might be increasingly difficult....
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/11/26/delta-air-lines-inc-is-on-the-move-again-in-seattl.aspx
all quotes from article:
Delta's growth spurt
The speed of Delta's growth in Seattle has been truly stunning. At the beginning of 2014, Delta operated just 34 peak-day departures from Seattle to 15 destinations. However, Delta has since added a slew of new flights from Seattle to virtually every major city in the western U.S.
Delta now operates about 80 peak-day departures to 25 destinations from Seattle. By the end of the year, these totals will rise again to 93 departures to 32 destinations. On Wednesday, Delta announced another round of growth that will add nonstop service to five more cities next spring, plus frequency increases on seven other routes.
As a result, by next summer, Delta will offer 120 peak-day departures from Seattle (up nearly fourfold in just 18 months) to 35 destinations across three continents.
More growth ahead
This growth spurt still leaves Delta as a distant second in Seattle in terms of departure count. By next summer, Alaska Airlines will have 280 daily departures in Seattle. However, Delta is the first meaningful competitor Alaska has faced in Seattle for many years, and unlike Alaska, it offers a global route network.
Despite Alaska's strong showing so far, there is only so much a good management team can do to offset external pressures. Its stock looks fairly cheap, but Alaska Airlines is running out of cost-cutting opportunities. (That said, it will benefit from lower fuel costs if oil prices remain low next year.)