Alaska posts record 2Q profit.

good morning, Kev,
again, the entire industry has benefitted from low fuel prices and AS' results show nothing different.

AS continues to use the strategy to grow its network using low fuel prices, just as DL and WN have done.

All 3 of those carriers have also seen their yields decrease... although since AS and WN do not serve long haul Asia, Europe, or S. America, the domestic RASM is the most meaningful comparison and on that basis, AS had the largest RASM drop of all three.

It is also noteworthy that AS' RASM drop was larger than its non-fuel CASM drop which means that it is willing to take a short term cut in profitability for every seat it produces in order to grow and defend its network.

AS has the advantage of having one of the lowest CASMs of the large jet carriers in the US and growth helps keep that CASM low. But AS has to deal with the reality that competition is increasing across its network, the same low fuel prices that are helping AS are also helping other carriers, esp. the growth of longhaul int'l flights from SEA, and SEA as an airport wants as much traffic by as many carriers as possible and will do what has to be done in order to help other competitors grow at AS' home base.

Good work by AS for sure... but there remain a lot of unanswered long-term strategic and financial questions about whether what AS is doing will work for the long haul.
 
Just can't resist running down your Seattle competition.  You should change your handle to "Yes, they did well, BUT. "  Though I hear AS's domestic flights are leaving the gate pretty full, and Delta's domestic flights at SEA (see also, numerous posts by you about the percentage increases in DL ASMs at SEA) are leaving the gate pretty much empty.  But, by golly they have the most ASMs.  Too bad the those ASMs are empty.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
I'm not running anyone down. Fuel has been the huge benefit for the entire industry. AS' RASM declined significantly... they are not getting as much revenue for the seats they are adding than the competition or what they are spending to produce those seats. That's a verifiable fact.

Feel free to hear what you want. Thankfully the DOT keeps up with load factor statistics and DL's SEA LF for the most recent quarter was higher than AS'. goes to show we can hear what we want and miss the truth.
 
in the case of statements about load factors in the SEA market, the facts are that there is no statistical difference in the macro level for any of the airlines in the market.

You well know that there are midweek off-peak hour flights that are not near as full as Monday a.m. or Thursday and Friday afternoon.

If anyone chooses to look, they will find empty seats in any market. Given that the big network carriers operate networks with more than 250,000 seats per day, even 10% of those seats empty is a lot of empty seats.

But since load factors are fairly comparable across the industry regardless of the size of the carrier, there are a similar PERCENTAGE of empty seats on all carriers and in all markets.

The data absolutely supports that reality.
 
Alaska just did a new "Hook-Up" with Emirates.
Hmmm. So now AS has heavy hitters like AA and Emirates "watching thier back" !
 
So, unless I'm incorrect, the west coast looks like this.
 
CITY............Dominant carrier from that City
 
SAN ............WN
LAX..............AA
SFO.............UA
SJC..............AA
PDX.............AS
" SEA " ........AS
 
As hard as I look at that List, I fail to see Del-DUH..anywhere dominant on the west coast  !!    (SLC doesn't count, sorry. )
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Great job by Seattle's hometown airline.

Anyone else get the notice that DL Skyclub members will no longer have access to the AS Board Room and v.v.?

Board Room will still have full reciprocity with the Admirals Club.

Hardly a shocker that the agreement between AS and DL continues to unwind, and also hardly surprising that their revenue doesn't appear to be suffering from DL's over-expansion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 people
It is only a surprise to those who assumed that someone had to get hurt in order for DL to expand at SEA.

SEA is a large enough market for AS and DL and both carriers serve different functions in the market.

And it is and has been a given that AS and DL will unwind their agreement when they can. Lounge reciprocity might not be fully covered in the agreement but codeshare with minimum performance by both sides is. Until that agreement is unwound, AS and DL will continue to be partners.

perhaps you listened to AS' conference call or have other data to show us the amount of revenue AS got from each codeshare carrier