USA: Alaska Airlines Goes To El Paso

Alaska Airlines launched operations from El Paso (ELP) on 19 February, with the carrier commencing flights to the airport from San Diego (SAN) and Seattle-Tacoma (SEA).

The airline will operate both routes daily using its fleet of E175s. There is no direct competition on the 2,198-kilometre sector from Seattle-Tacoma, however Southwest Airlines already offers eight weekly flights on the 1,109-kilometre link between San Diego and El Paso.

According to airport data, El Paso handled just over 3.26 million passengers in 2018, with this representing an 11% increase versus the 2.93 million that were handled during the previous year.

Alaska Airlines becomes the airport’s seventh scheduled airline, joining Southwest Airlines (46% market share of passengers in 2018), American Airlines (31%), United Airlines (13%), Delta Air Lines (6.9%), Frontier Airlines (1.9%) and Allegiant Air (1.5%).

Alaska Airlines is a major United States airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area of the state of Washington.

It is the fifth-largest airline in the United States when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and number of destinations served.

Alaska, together with its regional partners, operates a large domestic route network, primarily focused on connecting cities on the West Coast of the United States to over one hundred destinations in the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico.

Alaska Airlines is not a member of any of the three major airline alliances. However, it has codeshare agreements with 17 airlines, including member airlines of oneworld, SkyTeam, Star Alliance, and unaffiliated airlines.

Regional service is operated by sister airline Horizon Air and independent carrier SkyWest Airlines.

The airline operates its largest hub at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, and it also operates hubs in Anchorage, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco and focus cities at San Diego and San Jose.

As of 2018, the airline employs over 21,000 people and been ranked by J. D. Power and Associates as having the highest customer satisfaction of the traditional airlines for eleven consecutive years.

Through the airline's parent company, Alaska Air Group, it is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol ALK and is part of the Dow Jones Transportation Average and the S&P 500 Index.

For the fiscal year 2017, Alaska Airlines reported earnings of US$1.028 billion, with an annual revenue of US$7.933 billion, an increase of 33.8% over the previous fiscal cycle. Alaska Airlines shares traded at over $63 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at US$7.5 billion in October 2018.

Alaska Airlines has 23,400 employees. Alaska's pilot group is represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International and its over 5,872 flight attendants are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants.

Since May 2005, the airline's baggage-handling operations have been outsourced to Menzies Aviation. This was in response to rejection of a contract between IAM the union which represented the baggage handlers, and Alaska Airlines.

It also allowed the airline to save an estimated $13 million a year. In late 2016, Alaska Airlines created a wholly owned subsidiary McGee Air Services which would compete with Menzies Aviation for ground handling contracts in select Alaska cities.


Tourism Observer

KUWAIT: Emirates Announces Codeshare Agreement With Alaska Airlines

Emirates today announced a new codeshare and lounge agreement with Alaska Airlines (AS).

Pending governmental approval, Emirates will begin marketing up to 300 daily Alaska Airlines flights, which will give customers the simplicity of purchasing connecting flights on both airlines using one reservation, and a seamless ticketing, check-in, boarding and baggage check experience during the entire journey. In addition, the new codeshare agreement will feature several other new benefits including reciprocal lounge access and priority boarding and check-in for elite fliers.

Greater Connection Choice Across the Combined Network
With two daily flights now departing from Dubai to Seattle, the enhanced codeshare agreement gives passengers easy connections to 49 cities including Honolulu, Denver, Las Vegas, Portland, Phoenix, Pullman, Sacramento, Spokane, Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks as well as Canadian destinations such as Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.

Business Class Lounge Access and Priority Check-in
In addition to the codeshare agreement, Emirates Skywards® Gold & Platinum members will soon have access to Alaska Airlines Board Room lounges in Anchorage, Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles any time they book an Emirates flight that connects with Alaska Airlines. Likewise, Alaska Airlines MVP® Gold and MVP® Gold 75K members will also enjoy access to Emirates Business Class lounges at Dubai. At a later date, Emirates and Alaska Airlines elite members will also enjoy reciprocal priority check-in and boarding at Dubai, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Redeeming Miles for Reward Travel
Since launching a frequent flier partnership in 2012, members of Emirates Skywards and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan have enjoyed earning and redeeming Miles for travel around the world.

“Passengers will appreciate the greater choice, improved connections and many added comforts and conveniences such as lounge access and priority check-in, as a result of our new codeshare agreement with Alaska Airlines,” said Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline. “Alaska Airlines’ superior service and exceptional connectivity across the US and Canada, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, perfectly complements our global network and extends the range of travel options for both our customer bases.”

“Our new codeshare agreement gives customers connecting through our West Coast hubs seamless access to Emirates’ global network,” said Brad Tilden, Chief Executive Officer and President of Alaska Airlines. “As Seattle’s hometown airline, our partnership already connects 2,500 customers a week to Emirates and we expect that to increase as we streamline the travel experience for customers traveling between Alaska and Emirates. In addition, elite members of our Mileage Plan program will enjoy unique access to the stunning Emirates lounges at Dubai.”

Passengers on Emirates flights can enjoy over 2,000 free channels of films, TV shows, music, games and podcasts through ice, the airline’s multi-award winning in-flight entertainment system, regionally inspired gourmet cuisine and Emirates’ renowned inflight service from the airline’s multi-national cabin crew comprised of over 135 nationalities. Additionally, First Class and Business Class passengers can experience Emirates’ Chauffeur-drive service, available in over 70 cities worldwide.

Emirates Flights to Seattle
Flight EK 227 departs Dubai at 3:15 a.m., and arrives in Seattle at 6:55 a.m. while flight EK 229 departs Dubai at 9:35am and arrives in Seattle at 12:55pm.

Emirates first launched service to Seattle just over three years ago in March 2012 and has since flown more than 600,000 passengers on the route. On 7th July, Emirates announced its second daily service from Dubai to Seattle. This second Seattle flight, operated with a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, takes the number of weekly seats to Seattle to 4,340.

At Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, Alaska Airlines operates from Concourses C, D, and N, with an easy tram ride to the Emirates gates at the South Satellite to ensure a quick connection between flights.

Explore More of the Americas with Emirates’ Pass
Emirates passengers looking to explore beyond the airline’s network of American destinations now have dozens of options with the Americas Pass.

With one combined ticket, travelers flying to any of Emirates’ 10 U.S. destinations can connect to more than 90 cities across America, Canada and Latin America through Emirates’ five partner airlines: Jet Blue, Alaska Airlines, Virgin America, WestJet Airlines and Porter Airlines.

Through Emirates local office or with the help of a travel agent, Emirates customers worldwide can now simply look at the destination list, browse a variety of options and select the best route to match their itineraries.

Emirates and the U.S.
Founded in 1985, Emirates is a global connector of people, places and economies. Based in Dubai, the airline’s global network serves 147 destinations in 79 countries across six continents. Its luxurious amenities, regionally inspired gourmet cuisine, award-winning in-flight entertainment system – ice – and unmatched hospitality provided by its iconic multilingual Cabin Crew have made Emirates one of the world’s most recognized airline brands.

Emirates has carried more than 11 million passengers on U.S. flights since launching services to New York in 2004. The airline currently serves 10 U.S. gateways – Orlando (MCO), Chicago (ORD), Boston (BOS), San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), Seattle (SEA), Dallas (DFW), Houston (IAH), Washington (IAD) and New York (JFK), as well as operating a trans-Atlantic route between JFK and Milan and a freighter service to Atlanta. Emirates SkyCargo transports up to 650 tons of U.S. exports each week – including auto parts from New York, apples and cherries from Seattle, and oil and gas equipment from Houston – stimulating trade and opening new markets for American businesses across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.