Alaska: The Little Airline That Could
 

From Seattle Times:

As other air carriers fight for bare survival, Wall Street looks upon Alaska Airlines as the little airline that could.

Like other airlines that have cut capacity in the economic downturn, Alaska is forcing passengers to jostle as they board increasingly crowded airplanes. And starting next month, passengers will have to pay more to check the first bag.

Yet Alaska Airlines passenger loyalty has held, and at its key SeaTac International hub, the carrier is squeezing its competition.

Business & Technology | Alaska Air climbs through industry turbulence | Seattle Times Newspaper

Better be careful of touting that. Airlines like Delta, AMR and LUV all see the importance of that little airline.

Could what?

Apparently that could beat the crap out of the bigger airlines with a similar labor structure/costs; keep passenger loyalty; keep market share; and still not charge $2.50 to use the lav. :)

Now if only the 106 will be recalled.

I plan to attend the shareholder's meeting in a few weeks. Anybody else going?

deleted!!!

Over at the ugly red-headed step-child airline, the pilot group is working to have as large a presence as possible.

Today N530AS joins the fleet. Paying cash for four new 738's seems like we're pretty financially stable. Stock is to high for people to buy also you would lose most of what makes Alaska great if they got bought out...loss of code shares would kill it as well as route structure only profitable with the 73. Food for thought what is AS going to do when the -400's are gone and (theoretically they get rid of the -700) because a lot of the Arctic stations are not approved for the 800's and 900's

Cashless transactions like the NWA-DAL merger and the soon to be UAUA-CAL merger mean that no one has to pony up any money. They just convert the stock on a ratio.

You know it's been touted for years. Any merger would kill the economics of Alaska Airlines. It would just become another PSA, Air Cal, Reno Air dismantling.

It is about control of the market without diluting the market.

The DAM/AS codes share is about as good as it comes without a purchase. I can only see if happening if there is a threat to that Code Share via another acquisition.

Alaska does take very good care of its customers. From the passengers' perspective this a friendly, home team, mom and pop operations when contrasted with the majors.

When they fly routes like SEA=ATL without Delta code, it reflects on the loyalty that exists.

Bar,

Couldn't agree with you more.

I hope the Alaska name continues for years to come. Alaska is still about the people. You may have your burble from time to time, but it is still about the people.

If any merger should take place, I could only hope that Alaska would be treated with the respect it deserves. I wanted to work there as a pilot but the timing was wrong. I had the chance to work as a CSA for a couple of years and I ha d a great time. There are a good bunch of employees at Alaska that still care about their company and don't think of it as a meal ticket.

Best of luck

Please tell me you are not really attending Purdue University. :confused:

He'd proclaim knowledge of another imminent merger deal between DAL/ALK :eek:
Still waiting for January's forthcoming announcement...

Yawn

Yes and I will apologize for my crappy writing but I am doing this quickly and without worrying about editing my typing.

The answer should be: I was off campus drinking a lot and don't even remember typing that!;)

Agreed but since I typed it my computer in AS fltops that may not have been the best choice.http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/im...ons/icon10.gif

Crab,

Did you get the email I sent you?