You may not have seen it since Alaska delayed its press launch after final week’s tech issues, however Alaska has put out its large home plans for summer time of 2026 and past. There’s a entire lot of progress in each Portland and San Diego, and that has to come back from someplace. Los Angeles and San Francisco (and San Jose) will probably be down. I spoke with Kirsten Amrine, Vice President of Income Administration and Community Planning, to get a clearer view of what all this implies strategically.
Filling within the Blanks on San Diego
San Diego simply opened its model new Terminal 1, and meaning it all-of-a-sudden has extra capability obtainable. Prepare for not less than a few years of Alaska and Southwest making an attempt to beat one another over the pinnacle as they give the impression of being to achieve supremacy there.
On this explicit announcement, San Diego will get 5 new year-round routes beginning April 22 (besides the place famous):
Dallas/Fort Value
Oakland
Raleigh/Durham
Santa Barbara
Tulsa (begins March 18)
I noticed Oakland and thought that sounded insane. In spite of everything, Southwest flies that market on a regular basis with large airplanes. However as Kirsten defined it, that is actually nearly serving the 15 largest markets from San Diego to ensure that Alaska can have broad attraction within the native market.
I went and pulled the information displaying the highest home markets from San Diego, and certain sufficient, this matches that sample.
Prime Markets from San Diego – 12 Months Ending June 2025
Information by way of Cirium
What doesn’t match the sample simply past the highest 15 the place Alaska will abandon Atlanta from San Diego filed this week. Mixed with the exit on Anchorage – Detroit, it seems like Alaska is making an attempt to ease a number of the preventing with Delta whereas build up in every single place else and difficult Southwest head-on.
All that being mentioned, solely two of the 5 new San Diego routes fall into the highest 15 anyway. RDU is at 40, Tulsa is 78, and Santa Barbara barely even registers. I didn’t get into particulars on these with Kirsten an excessive amount of, however I believe RDU is simply an interesting market demographically, Tulsa is about most likely about balancing the brand new addition from Seattle to make the operation route higher, and SBA is a market that has been served earlier than and possibly seems ok to strive once more.
The Portland Bulk Up Continues
For years earlier than and into the pandemic, all you noticed was progress in Seattle as Alaska appeared to win in opposition to Delta’s incursion and increase its community. Portland, a long-time hub, simply sat there unhappy and alone ready for some love. It has been getting it over the past 12 months, and now it will get 4 extra routes beginning Might 13, all summer time seasonal besides one:
Baltimore
Idaho Falls (year-round)
Philadelphia
St Louis
As you possibly can see, it’s been fairly the rise for Portland within the final 12 months each in a rising variety of locations and frequencies after an extended interval of stagnation:
Alaska Departures and Locations from Portland (PDX)
Information by way of Cirium
Alaska not too long ago turned Portland right into a extra banked schedule, and it’s working nicely, Kirsten tells me. The ends in PDX have been robust, so they only hold including. A few of these are markets which were served earlier than. Some will not be. However PDX appears to be actually having a second for Alaska proper now.
With all of this progress, there needed to be losers. Kirsten needed to emphasize to me that the cuts which are coming in each Los Angeles and San Francisco are all about alternative. It’s not that they needed to go away these markets, however they actually needed to bulk up PDX and SAN. With solely six B737s coming subsequent 12 months, they needed to make exhausting selections. So, they’ve thought of this strategically, making an attempt to give attention to markets that may be sacrificed.
What do I imply by that? Properly, Kirsten famous that these are markets which have a number of rivals already. If Alaska leaves, it doesn’t create a vacuum. The airline can all the time return in once more sooner or later if it deems them worthy. It noticed this because the lowest danger markets to go away with a purpose to fund the expansion elsewhere.
Los Angeles the Leisure Market
In LA, I used to be stunned to listen to Kirsten describe the main focus as being on the leisure market within the West and to Hawaiʻi. However certain sufficient, that’s how Alaska is considering the LA market nowadays. It’s a far cry from Virgin America’s efforts earlier than they have been purchased. There are some things that will probably be shifting in LA with some extra minor trims. However what caught my eye was this.
Alaska is pulling out of LA to Las Vegas, Reno, and San Jose. The Embraers are getting in the reduction of, and that is smart. As LAX will get an increasing number of costly, it will get more durable to earn money on a 76-seat jet in aggressive markets the place you aren’t going to get that prime fare.
It’s not all doom and gloom. On the identical time, the Embraer 175 will even go away LAX – San Francisco. That could be a market that issues for Alaska, however it wants higher seat economics. However there are extra cuts.
LAX to Newark drops from 3x to 1x each day, and there are frequency cuts to each Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta. Cancún will go away throughout summer time as nicely. These are leisure markets, however they’re off peak. They’ll come again stronger within the winter. Within the meantime, there will probably be a second each day LAX – Kahului throughout peak summer time.
San Francisco Retains a Western Focus
Up in San Francisco, the cuts simply really feel deeper. Kirsten says that they requested, “the place do our Atmos elites fly? Prime 10 locations? We made certain we saved these.”
Hawaiʻi once more does nicely with Kona and Līhuʻe going from a break up 1x each day between the 2 of them to every working 1x each day. However SFO does lose Austin, Boston, Burbank, and Newark with Orlando turning into summer-only. It sounds to me like Alaska remains to be making an attempt to determine who it needs to be in SFO when it grows up. For now, it has extra essential markets to look at.
These aren’t all the adjustments, however they have been the larger developments. Seattle will get new service to Arcata/Eureka and Tulsa (about so far as an E175 can go from there). Alaska will even backfill Avelo’s departure by beginning Santa Rosa – Ontario. And lastly, we’ll see a long-awaited Honolulu – Burbank route.
I had all the time been informed {that a} MAX 8 couldn’t get off the shorter runway with out a extreme weight penalty, however Kirsten says that it’s truly higher in summer time than in winter. I assume that’s a moist runway factor. And the flight will go away at 7am, so it gained’t be all that heat. This looks as if a check, solely working in peak summer time from Might to Sep, however it’s a superb check. I’m stunned Southwest didn’t do it first. However Alaska does appear to be pushing the envelope in its community technique when it may. This can be a good instance.
