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

USA: Alaska Airlines Eliminates Preflight Alcohol To First Class Passengers

Alaska Airlines has eliminated preflight alcoholic beverages for first-class passengers, a standard perk on other carriers.

The new policy took effect Aug. 1. The change was made to align the policies of Alaska and merger partner Virgin America, according to Alaska spokeswoman Ann Johnson.

Alaska bought Virgin America in 2016 and officially combined the airlines earlier this year, eliminating the Virgin America brand.

Virgin America offered preflight alcoholic beverages but Alaska did not, except on flights to Hawaii, where it offered sparkling wine.

Travelers who liked the free drinks before takeoff are not happy.

Country music star Brett Young called out Alaska in an Instagram story last week, citing a post on popular frequent flier site FlyerTalk.

There is good news for first-class passengers who like to toast before takeoff. Beginning Nov. 1, Alaska will introduce complimentary sparkling wine predeparture in first class on all flights after 10 a.m.

Bottled water and orange juice will be the other preflight options.

So for two-thirds of passengers, they are actually gaining access to sparkling wine at predeparture, Johnson said.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines all offer preflight cocktails for first-class passengers.


Tourism Observer

USA: Alaska Airlines Begins Seattle -Pittsburgh Service, Stops Some Destinations. Other Airlines Follow.

Alaska Airlines has announced that it will begin nonstop, daily service between Seattle and Pittsburgh.

This new service is currently the only nonstop flight offered from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).

The new route effectively links Seattle to the thriving business community in Pittsburgh, which continues to grow as top technology companies, entrepreneurs and start-ups look to establish a presence in the city.

Nonstop service to Seattle is a critical link for the Pittsburgh region and is the latest addition to the growth at Pittsburgh International Airport during the past three years.

We are thrilled to welcome Alaska Airlines, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said.

Increasing service to the West Coast has been a top priority and the connections between our two regions, including our vibrant tech growth, will fuel the success of this flight.”

Alaska Airlines has dropped more California routes.

In route news, Alaska Airlines drops California routes, but adds one from Seattle; JetBlue begins a new California transcon; United and American expand to Mexico; Southwest plans new weekly flights next spring; Lufthansa offers more air-rail connections at Frankfurt; Primera Air, LOT and

WOW enter new transatlantic markets; and Avianca adds U.S. frequencies.

In the latest adjustments to its network, Alaska Airlines will discontinue its twice-daily 737-800 flights between Los Angeles and Mexico City on November 6.

That marks the end of MEX service for Alaska, which earlier this year discontinued service to the Mexican capital from both San Francisco and San Diego.

Alaska also plans to discontinue a pair of regional routes on January 6: daily flights from San Francisco and Orange County to Albuquerque, both operated by SkyWest with Embraer 175s.

Meanwhile, Alaska added a new domestic spoke from its Seattle hub this week, launching daily year-round 737 service to Pittsburgh – the only non-stops in the market.

The eastbound segment leaves SEA at 8 a.m. and the return sets out from Pittsburgh at 5 p.m.

Another new West Coast route that started this week is JetBlue's daily A320 service between Ontario, California and its New York JFK hub –the tenth California city served by the airline. The eastbound leg is a red-eye.

While Alaska cuts back on its Mexico presence, United and American are expanding there.

On October 28, United will begin daily flights from Chicago O'Hare to Leon/Guanajuato, operated by SkyWest with an E175.

And on January 9, United will resume twice-weekly service to Mazatlan from Houston Bush Intercontinental, flown by Mesa Airlines with an E175.

American, meanwhile, will operate new seasonal daily service from its Charlotte hub to Guadalajara from January 6 through April 1 – a route where Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris is starting service in November.

Southwest has updated its schedule for spring 2019. On March 9, it will begin new or returning weekly seasonal service on Saturdays from St. Louis to Montego Bay, Jamaica and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; from Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham and San Antonio to Cancun; and from Baltimore/Washington to Cabo San Lucas.

On the same date, Southwest will kick off seasonal Saturday service from Cleveland to Tampa and from Cincinnati to Orlando, and on March 10 it will start weekly Sunday flights from Dallas to West Palm Beach, Florida and to Harlingen, Texas; and from Houston to Lubbock.

No word yet on Southwest's Hawaii intentions, but an announcement is expected soon. In the meantime, fare wars keep springing up, like this sale we wrote about this week.

Lufthansa has announced plans for a big expansion of its air/rail connecting service within Germany, in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn, the national rail network.

The airline's Express Rail program currently offers single-ticketing connections through Frankfurt Airport's on-site rail station to Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Wurzburg.

This month, Express Rail will add service via Frankfurt to Gottingen, Kassel, Erfurt and Aachen, followed by Freiburg and Ulm in December.

By next summer, Lufthansa Express Rail will add service from Frankfurt to Essen, Bochum, Duisburg, Wuppertal, Oberhausen and Bonn.

European low-cost carrier Primera Air, which most recently announced plans to start flying to Brussels from three U.S. cities, is continuing its rapid transatlantic expansion.

Primera is now targeting Germany, with plans to begin daily flights from New York JFK to Berlin on June 7 of next year, followed by four weekly flights from Boston to Berlin effective June 9.

The carrier will add daily Frankfurt-JFK service June 16 and four weekly Frankfurt-Boston flights as of June 21. All the new flights will use 737 MAX 9s. Primera also flies from the U.S. to London Stanstead and Paris CDG.

In other transatlantic news, LOT Polish Airlines plans to launch new U.S. service between Warsaw and Miami next June, using a 787-8 to fly the route four days a week.

Iceland's WOW Air will jump into the Reykjavik-Orlando market December 19, operating three weekly flights with an A321.

To Latin America, meanwhile, Avianca filed plans to add a fourth daily frequency between Miami and Bogota effective October 28, and a third daily New York JFK-Bogota flight beginning December 1.


Tourism Observer

USA: Horizon Air Staff Crashes Plane After Stealing It From Sea-Tac International Airport

Alaska Airlines has confirmed that a Horizon Airlines Bombardier Q400 that had an unauthorized takeoff from Sea-Tac International Airport around 8 p.m. has gone down near Ketron Island in Pierce County.

FAA, FBI and U.S. National Transportation Safety Board officials are investigating the crash of a Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 turboprop in woodland on Ketron Island near Tacoma, Washington, around 1.5 hr after it was stolen by an airline employee, believed to be a ground service agent.

The incident began around 8pm Pacific on Aug 10, when a Q400 made an unauthorized takeoff from Seattle’s SeaTac International airport.

Although details remain scant at this time, operations at SeaTac were temporarily shut down and two Air National Guard F-15Cs, call sign Rock 41 and 42, from the 142nd Fighter Wing in Portland, Oregon, were scrambled to intercept the Q400. A U.S.

Air Force KC-135R tanker was also dispatched from Fairchild AFB to support the F-15s.

Just after 10pm Pacific, Horizon parent company Alaska Airlines tweeted confirmation that a Horizon Air Q400 that had an unauthorized takeoff from SeaTac around 8pm has gone down near Ketron Island in Pierce County, WA.

We’re working to confirm who was on board, we believe there were no guests or crew on board other than the person operating the plane.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Department also tweeted that the suspect is confirmed a suicidal male. Acted alone he is 29-year-old Pierce County resident. We are working background on him now.

Officials indicate the aircraft crashed due to pilot action and was not forced or shot down.

The airline is working to confirm who was on board, but it is believed that there were no passengers or crew on board other than the person operating the plane.

Alaska Airlines believes a ground service agent employed by Horizon Air was the individual responsible for flying the Horizon Q400 without clearance from Sea-Tac International Airport around 8 p.m. tonight.

The plane, which was taken from a maintenance position and was not scheduled for passenger flight, crashed about an hour later in a wooded area on Ketron Island in rural Pierce County.

No ground structures were involved at the crash site.

Military jets were scrambled from Portland, but it does not appear that these jets were involved in the crash of the Horizon aircraft.

First responders are at the crash site. Appropriate government agencies, including NTSB, FAA and FBI, have been notified.

A brief statement from Constance von Muehlen of Horizon Air regarding tonight’s incident:

Good evening, I’m Constance von Muehlen, Horizon Air chief operating officer. I’m sorry to share with you this evening that at approximately 8 p.m., one of our Q400 airplanes made an unauthorized takeoff from Sea-Tac Airport. We believe it was taken by a single Horizon Air employee and that no other passengers or crew were onboard. Shortly thereafter, it crashed on Ketron Island by South Tacoma. Our hearts are with the families of the individual aboard as well as all of our Alaska Air and Horizon Air employees. We will provide more information as it becomes available.

Shortly after he stole an airplane from his employer, Horizon Air ground service agent Richard Russell barreled down a runway, took off and flew the two-engine turboprop above the Puget Sound, flying in dramatic loops before crashing in a wooded area.

Washington State governor Jay Inslee later confirmed the events in a statement. There are still a lot of unknowns surrounding tonight’s tragic incident of a stolen Horizon Air plane from SeaTac Airport.

The responding fighter pilots flew alongside the aircraft and we were ready to do whatever was needed to protect us, but in the end, the man flying the stolen plane crashed on Ketron Island.

The aircraft, registered N449QX, was delivered to Horizon in June 2012, and, according to the flight tracking website Flightradar24.com, had earlier that day operated scheduled flights to and from Victoria, on Canada’s Vancouver Island.

Prior to crashing, the aircraft was filmed conducting extreme maneuvers over the Puget Sound, including a barrel roll and inverted vertical dive culminating in a high g pull-out just a few feet above the water’s surface.


Tourism Observer

USA: Alaska Airlines Celebrates New Russell Wilson Aircraft

Alaska Airlines is unveiling a new Russell Wilson plane in celebration of the regular season opener and Seattle’s quarterback.

Guests flying to Denver this Friday, Sept. 7, are invited to sport their blue at a tailgate-inspired celebration at Sea-Tac’s C gates.

Throughout football season, Alaska Airlines guests wearing a Wilson jersey will be granted early boarding on all Seattle-departing flights.

Above the Boeing 737-800 aircraft door, Wilson’s tagline, Dream Big. Fly High. is on display.

The tagline speaks to Wilson’s character on and off the field. Through his multi-year partnership with Alaska Airlines, the Chief Football Officer is committed to celebrating Seattle football fans and building a strong local community.

- Wilson works with the carrier to support youth charities and education programs, including:

- Seattle Children’s hospital, where he visits patients every Tuesday during football season;

- The Strong Against Cancer initiative to end childhood cancer;

- His own Why Not You Foundation empowering kids to dream big, believe in themselves and have a why not you attitude;

- The Russell Wilson Passing Academy, a football camp for developing young players;

- The airline’s annual There’s No Time to Sleep event in South Seattle’s Highline Public Schools district encouraging graduates to define their goals and pursue their dreams.

Before Flight 682 to Denver this Friday, fans will be treated to tailgate food, a live DJ and custom photo-booth at Sea-Tac’s C gates.

Upon boarding the newly outfitted plane, guests will find a party favors on their seats, courtesy of Alaska Airlines.


Tourism Observer

CANADA: WestJet To Cease Flights To Mexico City In October 2018

WestJet will exit Mexico City in October, becoming the latest among several North American airlines to retrench from Mexico's capital city.

This only seven months after WestJet entered the Mexico City market with routes from Calgary and Vancouver.

It's just not performing up to the standards that we would like to see, WestJet chief financial officer Harry Taylor says of Mexico City. We don't want to be cost subsidizing at this point.

Taylor adds that despite retrenching, WestJet still sees long term opportunity to serve Mexico City and could return.

Long term there's something there.

WestJet will operate its last Vancouver-Mexico City flight on 3 October, followed by its final Calgary-Mexico City flight on 27 October.

The carrier launched both routes in March and does not serve Mexico City from any other destination, data shows.

WestJet's move mirrors cuts by other airlines.

Alaska Airlines will stop serving Mexico City on 7 November when it operates it last flight from Los Angeles.

Alaska called that route underperforming and said that the change frees aircraft to launch new routes, such as Seattle to Columbus, Ohio, which the airline plans to start in March 2019.

Alaska also had served Mexico City from San Francisco, but ended that route in May.

Likewise, United Airlines will also cut its Los Angeles-Mexico City flight in October, schedules data shows.

Capacity in available seats from North America to Mexico City jumped 9% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2018, primarily reflecting expansion by low-cost carriers Aeromar, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, VivaAerobus and Volaris, schedules data shows.

WestJet's move comes as the airline seeks to tighten its operation and bolster its finances.

The carrier has seen costs swell in recent quarters, and posted a second quarter operating loss.

The financial challenges hit amid a broad, companywide transformation under which WestJet is moving upscale, acquiring Boeing 787s, installing business class seats on 737s and adding flights at its hubs.


Tourism Observer

USA: Southwest, Delta, American, Korean And Alaska Drop And Open New Routes

Alaska Airlines will drop a Midwest route from San Francisco; Southwest hints at Hawaii and begins new service out of Los Angeles and Denver; American will fly a new transpacific route temporarily and adds a pair of domestic routes.

Korean plans to add a new U.S. gateway; and Frontier begins code-sharing to Mexico and announces another spate of new routes.

Last fall, Alaska Airlines started service between San Francisco and Indianapolis. And this fall, it will drop that route, effective September 30.

There has been lower than expected demand for these flights and we need to utilize this aircraft to add capacity on other routes, said a spokesperson of Alaska Airlines.

This change is another example of how we are looking across the network and making some tough decisions to ensure we are running as efficient of an operation as possible, so we can continue to offer our customers low fares. Alaska will continue to operate its Seattle-Indianapolis service.

The SFO-Indianapolis route is also served by United with it's cleverly numbered Flight 500, and Southwest has nonstop service between Oakland and Indianapolis.

Southwest made a few more hints this week about its new Hawaii service, revealing details such as its plans to serve meals on flights to and from the mainland.

Schedules are expected to be announced in October with flights starts a few weeks later, we predict November timeframe. Flights will have satellite based wi-fi and movies, too. No word on fares yet.

Southwest Airlines this week kicked off its newest transcontinental non-stop, with daily service between Los Angeles International and Tampa. The LAX-Tampa route is also served by Delta and Spirit Airlines. And at Denver, Southwest this week started new daily non-stops to Cincinnati.

For 10 days in January, American Airlines' usual Chicago O'Hare-Tokyo Narita non-stop will operate via an intermediate stop in Las Vegas.

American said that from January 4 to 14, the daily 787-8 LAS-NRT flight will be marketed by its joint venture partner Japan Airlines to carry passengers to and from the giant Consumer Electronics Show. JAL will continue to offer its own daily non-stops between Chicago and Tokyo during that period.

Meanwhile, American will add a couple of new domestic routes in the months ahead. On November 4, it will launch one daily roundtrip between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Cheyenne, Wyoming, operated by Skywest with a CRJ-200.

On December 22, it will begin one flight a week between its Charlotte hub and New Haven, flown by PSA Airlines with a CRJ-200.

Korean Air is coming to Boston next spring, with plans to begin Boston-Seoul Incheon service five days a week beginning April 12. Korean will use a 787-9 on the route, equipped with six first class suites, 18 lie-flat seats in business class and 245 seats in the main cabin.

Korean will operate the route as part of its joint venture partnership with Delta, which recently announced plans to launch its own new service to Seoul from Minneapolis-St. Paul beginning in 2019.

Later this month, Frontier Airlines and Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris will begin a massive program of code-sharing that will put Frontier's code onto 51 routes operated by Volaris and will see the Mexican carrier's code go onto 120 routes operated by Frontier.

The new code-sharing will apply to Volaris flights from San Francisco to Mexico City and Guadalajara, and San Jose to Guadalajara, Morelia and Zacatecas, among many others.

Meanwhile, Frontier has announced another spate of new domestic routes, mostly starting in mid-November. From Phoenix, Frontier will begin new service to Norfolk, Ft. Myers, Grand Rapids and Madison. From Tucson, it will add service to Denver.

At Tampa, Frontier will start flying to Syracuse, Grand Rapids, Portland (Maine), Norfolk, and Greenville, S.C. And at Ft. Myers, it will kick off seasonal service to Albany, Las Vegas, Phoenix., Portland (Maine), Salt Lake City and Syracuse.

Most of the new routes will offer two or three flights a week.


Tourism Observer

More Airlines Expanding Routes

There’s a new entrant in the U.S.-Hong Kong market; Delta will put a new aircraft on a China route and will beef up transpacifc code-sharing; Cathay Pacific will add another U.S. gateway next year.

United is eliminating first class on many routes and cuts back China service; a Lufthansa affiliate is adding a new business class; LATAM is coming to Las Vegas; San Jose gets more service to Mexico; Copa begins Denver service; an Italian airline plans new U.S. routes.

Alaska ends its relationship with two European partners; and Norwegian revamps its U.S. schedules next summer, adding frequencies from the West Coast.

Hong Kong Airlines, a Hong Kong-based sister company of China’s Hainan Airlines, started service to the U.S. for the first time.

The carrier is using a new Airbus A350-900 on the Los Angeles-Hong Kong route, configured with 33 lie-flat business class seats, 109 premium economy seats with 34-inch pitch, and 193 regular economy seats with 31-32 inch pitch.

The new LAX-Hong Kong flights operate four times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday), with a 10:45 a.m. departure from LAX. Hong Kong Airlines plans to add San Francisco service in late March, and New York flights later next year.

So far, all of Delta’s Airbus A350-900s have been scheduled for routes out of Detroit or Atlanta, but now the airline is planning to operate one of the new planes out of Los Angeles.

Delta plans to start flying the new plane from LAX to Shanghai Pudong on July 2, alternating days with a 777-200LR until July 18, when the A350 went onto a daily schedule.

Delta’s A350s – which feature the airline’s new Delta One suites and new international premium economy section – are already used on flights from Detroit to Tokyo Narita and Seoul Incheon, and are slated to start Detroit-Beijing service January 17.

Detroit-Amsterdam and Atlanta-Seoul March 24; and Detroit-Shanghai April 19.

Meanwhile, Delta will expand code-sharing with its transpacific partner Korean Air on January 10, putting the DL code onto Korean’s flights to Seoul Incheon from Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

In other transpacific news, Cathay Pacific has unveiled plans to add another East Coast gateway in mid-September 2018, when it will start flying from Hong Kong to Washington Dulles.

The carrier already serves Boston, New York JFK and Newark. Cathay reportedly plans to fly the route – which will be the longest in its system – four days a week with a brand-new Airbus A350-1000.

A couple of months ago, we reported on United’s plans to reconfigure its international long-haul 777-200s, putting in new lie-flat Polaris business class seats, taking out first class, and going from nine-across to 10-across seating in economy.

The reconfigured 777s will be deployed, based on the elimination of first class from seating availability. It shows the elimination of 777 first class in late April from San Francisco to London, and from Washington Dulles to Brussels, Frankfurt and Tokyo Narita.

At the end of August from Chicago O’Hare to Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo Narita, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Frankfurt and Munich.

Meanwhile, United’s seasonal summer route from San Francisco to Xi’An, China, which had previously been scheduled for three 787 flights a week from May 6 through September 4, has been eliminated for 2018.

Las Vegas is due to get its first non-stop service to South America next summer.

LATAM Airlines Brasil has filed plans to operate a 767 three times a week between Las Vegas and Sao Paulo from June 21 through August 31.

Lufthansa’s lower-cost leisure affiliate Eurowings plans to launch new transatlantic routes in 2018, including JFK-Dusseldorf starting April 28, Dusseldorf-Miami as of May 4, and Dusseldorf-Ft. Myers beginning May 3.

Now it appears that the airline will try to entice business travelers onto those flights by adding a new business class cabin.

The new Eurowings cabin, simply called Bizclass, will feature seats that recline fully and will include upgraded meals and other special amenities. Details of Eurowings’ new Bizclass were introduced in March at the big ITB Travel Fair in Berlin.

Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris, which already had service out of San Jose to Guadalajara, has now added two more routes.

Volaris has started twice-weekly flights from SJC to Morelia on Fridays and Sundays, as well as twice-weekly service from SJC to Zacatecas on Mondays and Thursdays. Next summer, Aeromexico is due to begin SJC-Mexico City flights.

Panama’s Copa Airlines, a member of United’s Star Alliance family, has added Denver as its 13th U.S. gateway.

The carrier has kicked off new non-stop service four days a week from Denver to Panama City, with Denver departures on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 10:16 p.m. Copa offers onward connections in Panama to 55 Latin American destinations.

Italian carrier Meridiana plans to add two U.S. routes next summer. On June 1, it will begin daily service from Milan Malpensa to New York JFK, followed up on June 8 by four flights a week from Malpensa to Miami.

The airline will use a 247-passenger, two-class Airbus A330 on both routes.

On April 30, 2018, Alaska Airlines ended its Mileage Plan partnership with Air France-KLM – not really a surprise considering that the European duo has a joint venture partnership with Alaska’s arch-rival Delta.

Alaska and Delta ended their own mileage partnership last spring. The Alaskan carrier notes that it still has partnership agreements to Europe in place with British Airways, Finnair, Icelandair and Condor.

The latest schedule updates from Norwegian show the low-cost carrier plans to boost service on several U.S. routes in late March, increasing its weekly Barcelona frequencies from three to four out of Los Angeles, from three to five out of Oakland, and from four to six out of Newark.

The carrier will also boost LAX-Copenhagen service from three flights a week to four.

At Boston, Norwegian plans to increase London Gatwick service from four flights a week to seven starting June 12, but it will discontinue its seasonal Boston-Oslo and Boston-Copenhagen flights.


Tourism Observer

USA: Teen Passenger Helps Blind And Deaf Lone Passenger On Alaska Airlines Flight

Passengers and crew members on an Alaska Airlines flight last week stepped up to help a blind and deaf man who was traveling alone.

One passenger, in particular, a 15-year-old girl named Clara Daly, stepped up huge to assist her fellow traveler.

Daly was supposed to fly from Boston to Los Angeles with her mother when their flight was canceled and they were rebooked on a journey to Portland.

As the Daly family boarded the connecting flight, they noticed a man, identified as Tim Cook, saying goodbye to his sister using sign language in his hands so he could feel her words.

That’s when the passengers realized Cook was blind and deaf.

Alaska flight attendants called over the public-address system for anyone who knew American Sign Language (ASL) so they could properly communicate with the man.

Daly, who had been studying ASL for the last year, rang the attendants and said she would help.

Cook met Daly and attendants noted how excited he got when he realized someone would talk to him during the flight.

Daly spoke to him twice in order to help him with common tasks and spent the last 30 minutes of the journey simply chatting with the man in order to make him feel comfortable.

Another Alaska passenger named Lynette Scribner shared the story on Facebook, and the post has gone viral.

Daly’s mother told Scribner she believed their original flight was canceled so her daughter would be able to help Cook during the trip to Portland.

When a service provider from Brookdale Senior Living picked up Cook from the airport to take him home, he told them his experience on the Alaska flight was the best trip he’s ever taken.


Tourism Observer

USA: Pilot Shortage Causes Horizon Airlines To Cut Flights From Colorado Springs

Horizon Air operating for Alaska Airlines will cancel its 1x daily Seattle service from Colorado Springs due to a pilot shortage.

The service is expected to end on November 4, the airport has announced.

Horizon’s operations have been severely hampered this year by a lack of qualified pilots for its fleet of fifty-two Dash 8-400s and ten EMB-175s.

Portland Int’l, OR and Seattle Tacoma Int’l services were reduced in July following the forced cancellation of more than 318 flights in March.

The airline has also deferred delivery of six EMB-175s as it does not have enough pilots to fly them.

While we are disappointed that the Colorado Springs Airport is losing service from Alaska Airlines in November, we are aggressively pursuing other carriers to provide service to Seattle, an important destination for our region, said Greg Phillips, the airport’s Director of Aviation, adding that Horizon’s load factors had been around 83% for its Seattle flights.



Tourism Observer

USA: Pilot Shortage Causes Horizon To Cancel 6% Of Flights In August

A shortage of pilots has led US regional carrier Horizon Air to cancel a significant number of flights this summer, including some 6% of the airline’s flights in August, parent company Alaska Air Group confirms.

Though the company says the cancellations reflect a broad industry shortage of cockpit crew, Horizon’s pilot union lays blame at the carrier for policies that it says failed to address a looming shortage.

Horizon made the cancellations on 29 June, proactively in a move that will enable Horizon to operate reliably the remainder of its network.

The cancellations reflect just 2% of August flights operated by all of Alaska’s subsidiaries, which include Horizon, Alaska Airlines and Virgin America, the company says.

Like the rest of the industry, Horizon Air is facing a shortage of pilots caused by attrition and unprecedented Alaska Air Group growth, says Alaska.

Things are looking up for Horizon. June and July pilot new-hire classes are full and we’ve stepped up our recruiting efforts.

But it will take time for the new recruitment efforts… to bear fruit,Alaska adds, noting that it expects to hire 300 new pilots in 2017.

Horizon primarily operates Bombardier Q400s – it has 52 of the type, according to Flight Fleets Analyzer.

FlightGlobal schedules data show those aircraft will operate some 11,400 flights in August, which would put the number of cancellations at nearly 700.

Horizon also has six Embraer 175s in its fleet, though monthly flight figures for those aircraft are unavailable.

To address the shortage, Horizon is paying bonuses up to $20,000 for new Q400 pilots and up to $10,000 for new E175 pilots, says Alaska.

Horizon also pays pilots enrolled at some flight schools up to $11,000 in expenses, and a recently-amended pilot agreement has increased starting pay to $40 hourly, up from $30 hourly, Alaska says.

Horizon is also increasing its number of reserve pilots, deploying management pilots to line flying, increasing its number of recruiters to six from two, and adding more pilots to supervise training, Alaska says.

Horizon is even offering 200% pay to existing pilots who will fly additional hours, confirms Greg Unterseher, director of representation at union Airline Professionals Association (APA), a division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Many regional US airlines in recent years have cited a shortage of pilots, and many have attributed it to a 2013 rule requiring commercial pilots have 1,500h of flight time, up from 250h.

The APA says Horizon has failed to address the problem.

The situation at Horizon is a result of the company’s long-standing refusal to confront the depth and causes of the pilot shortage, says the APA in a statement.

For more than a year and a half, pilots raised concerns about this unfolding crisis with management. But despite these efforts, the company continued to pursue policies that only exacerbated the problem.

The union has argued that low overall pay contributed the pilot shortage, and Unterseher says Horizon’s lack of a formal pilot flow-through agreement further hinders hiring.

Such agreements would give Horizon pilots a defined path to advance to larger aircraft operated by Alaska, he says.

The union had also until recently criticised Horizon for paying bonuses to new hires, arguing instead that the carrier should raise overall pay rates.

Indeed, in January news broke that the APA and Teamsters sued Horizon over the issue, claiming bonuses violated its labour agreement.

That issue was resolved when pilots ratified a new contract in May that enables Alaska to pay up to $25,000 in a mix of bonuses to new hires, but also requires the carrier pay all existing pilots $15,000, Unterseher says.

In a 15 June securities filing Alaska said it recorded a one-time $9 million expense related to the new pilot deal.

The union also opposes the 200% pay incentive to existing pilots, calling those moves “short-term gimmicks and band aids”, says Unterseher.

“The problem is, they do it and [then] they take it away at their whim,” he says. “That’s what’s gotten us into the problem we are in right now.”


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USA: Alaska Airlines And Virgin America Expand To Dallas Love Field,Turkish Introduces New Product

Virgin America and Alaska Airlines are expanding service to Dallas Love Field from four West Coast airports. With new routes between Love Field and Seattle; San Diego; Portland, Oregon; and San Jose, California, the combined airline will serve eight destinations from Love Field with 18 daily peak season departures, up 40 percent.

Four months into its merger with Virgin America, Alaska Airlines has announced unprecedented growth from the West Coast, adding a record 37 new markets to date.

The new Love Field expansion builds on Alaska's successful service to Texas, which began 12 years ago. After today's announcement, Alaska Airlines and Virgin America will offer guests 59 peak season flights a day to/from five Texas airports, including Austin, Dallas Fort Worth, Dallas Love Field, Houston and San Antonio.

The four new routes will be flown using three-class jets. The Embraer 175 jet, operated by SkyWest Airlines, will fly daily to Portland, San Diego, San Jose and Seattle.

One of the two daily flights to Seattle will be operated by Virgin America using an A320 family aircraft. All guests flying the new routes will enjoy Free Chat, free movies, premium food and beverages, Wi-Fi and advance seat selection.

Starting this summer, Virgin America jets will be replaced with a 76-seat E175 jet in two Love Field markets – New York's LaGuardia Airport and Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. On Aug. 27, three-times daily service to New York's LaGuardia Airport will operate using an E175 and increase to four daily flights on Oct. 28.

Starting Feb. 18, twice-daily service to Reagan National Airport will also be replaced with an E175. The third daily Love Field-Washington Reagan National daily trip will continue to be operated by Virgin America until March 11, when SkyWest will take over the evening flight. As part of these schedule changes, Virgin America will permanently exit Love Field-Las Vegas on Aug. 26.

The fleet changes will free up Virgin America planes used in Love Field, to fly new, previously announced long-haul San Francisco flights to Philadelphia, New Orleans, Nashville, Indianapolis, Raleigh-Durham and Kona, as well as new flights between Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

Virgin America will continue to operate three daily flights between Love Field and Los Angeles and three daily flights between Love Field and San Francisco. Additionally, all Virgin America employees in Dallas and LaGuardia are keeping their jobs. There is no change in employment status for any teammates as a result of this announcement.

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines takes in-flight experience even further. Having the passenger’ satisfaction as the airline’s priority, wide on-board selection of the carrier continues to be broadened in order to reach the widest range of passengers’ requests.

Yet another innovation developed by Turkish Airlines to enable its business class passengers to enjoy the best Turkish hospitality within the concept of privileged travel.

Living garden concept including new cosmetics consisting of hand lotion, hand soap and room odor branded with Molton Brown –a brand identified with refreshment, naturalness and luxury-, are presented on specially designed wooden stands with live plants in business class lavatories.

The flowers and green plants placed in the lavatories within the scope of the project make passengers feel like in a flower garden above the sky.

USA: Alaska Airlines Will Hire 2,300 Frontline Jobs In 2017

A forecasted more than 2,300 frontline jobs will be up for grabs at Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air throughout 2017.

The growing airlines are looking for candidates to fill hundreds of flight attendant, pilot, reservations and customer service jobs throughout the airlines’ route network.

Jobs will be posted to alaskaair.jobs and horizonair.jobs throughout the year.

More than 2,000 of the positions do not require previous airline experience.

“This is an exciting time for our airlines – we are growing and that means more new job opportunities in the communities we serve.” says Laura Fowler, Managing Director Talent Acquisition & Inclusion.

“Our team is on the lookout for people who want to be a part of a great culture and help create an airline people love.”

Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air 2017 hiring forecast:
- 300 pilots
- 900 flight attendants
- 540 customer, ground and passenger service agents
- 600 reservations agents (call center and work-from-home positions)

At least 250 of the jobs are earmarked for the Seattle area, with about 150 based in Boise, Idaho and another 100 in Phoenix, Arizona. The rest are spread throughout Alaska’s route network.

In addition to frontline and customer-facing roles, the growth of the company will require us to grow our corporate and support teams as well. Look for opportunities this year in information technology, revenue management, human resources, finance and other corporate roles.

Reasons you should apply to work at Alaska Airlines this year

Generous bonuses: Last month $100 million was distributed to nearly 16,000 employees throughout Alaska’s route network for meeting or exceeding company-wide goals for safety, customer satisfaction, cost control and profit.

For most employees, this equated to about an additional month’s pay, and is in addition to $15 million in quarterly bonuses paid for achieving monthly on-time and customer satisfaction goals.

Flight privileges: Alaska employees enjoy unlimited standby travel for themselves, as well as their spouses, parents and dependents.

Culture: When Alaska’s and Horizon’s recruiters set out to fill positions, they’re looking for people who are passionate about creating remarkable experiences for our guests by going beyond expectations and doing the right thing.

Since acquiring Virgin America in December 2016, Alaska has adopted the younger airline’s purpose statement: Creating an airline people love.

It’s also an airline that people love working for. See for yourself by browsing the hashtag #iamalaska.

Growth: 2017 is an exciting year for Alaska Air Group.

The recent acquisition of San Francisco-based Virgin America, the new Embraer E175 jets that will be delivered to Horizon beginning this spring and Alaska’s new flights to Havana, Cuba are just a few of the major developments creating new opportunities in 2017.

There has never been a more exciting time to join the team.

Best Airlines in 2016

The FlightStats OPS Awards recognized best airlines around the world in 2016 for on-time performance. Airlines below deliver the highest percentage of flights to their arrival gates within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time. To determine the finalists and winners, FlightStats examines flight status and arrival data aggregated from global sources including civil aviation authorities, airlines, airports, and major airline reservation systems.

The report covers airlines in the following eight (8) categories:

1. Major International Airlines
2. Airline Alliances
3. North American Major Airlines
4. European Major Airlines
5. Asia-Pacific Major Airlines
6. Middle East & Africa Major Airlines
7. Latin American Major Airlines
8. Low-Cost Carrier

This year, the awards expanded to recognize the best Major Global Airline and best Major Global Airline Network in each of the regional categories as well as the international category. “Network” is defined as a system of flights that are marketed by a major airline but are operated by a separate airline partner. Most big, full-service airlines have these types of regional partnerships where as many as 8-10 carriers operate flights on their behalf.

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES
Network
WINNER: KLM
FINALISTS: KLM, Iberia, JAL, Qatar Airways, Austrian, ANA, Singapore Airlines, Delta Air Lines, TAM Linhas Aereas, Qantas

Mainline
WINNER: Iberia
FINALISTS: Iberia, JAL, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Qatar Airways, Austrian, Singapore Airlines, ANA, TAM Linhas Aereas, Qantas

AIRLINE ALLIANCE
WINNER: oneworld
FINALISTS: oneworld, Star Alliance, SkyTeam

NORTH AMERICAN MAJOR AIRLINES
Network
WINNER: Alaska Airlines
FINALISTS: Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, WestJet, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Virgin America, JetBlue Airways, Air Canada

Mainline
WINNER: Alaska Airlines
FINALISTS: Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, WestJet, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Virgin America, JetBlue Airways, Air Canada

EUROPEAN MAJOR AIRLINES
Network
WINNER: Iberia
FINALISTS: Iberia, Austrian, Lufthansa, S7 Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, SWISS, Condor, British Airways, EasyJet, Vueling

Mainline
WINNER: Iberia
FINALISTS: Iberia, KLM, Austrian, S7 Airlines, SAS, Lufthansa, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Aeroflot, Condor, SWISS

ASIA-PACIFIC MAJOR AIRLINES
Network
WINNER: JAL
FINALISTS: JAL, Virgin Australia, ANA, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Air New Zealand, Jet Airways (India), Cathay Pacific, Jetstar, IndiGo

Mainline
WINNER: JAL
FINALISTS: JAL, Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines, ANA, Qantas, Air New Zealand, Jet Airways (India), Cathay Pacific, Jetstar, IndiGo

MIDDLE EAST and AFRICA MAJOR AIRLINES
Network
WINNER: Qatar Airways
FINALISTS: Qatar Airways, Saudia, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Flydubai, Kenya Airways, Pegasus

Mainline
WINNER: Qatar Airways
FINALISTS: Qatar Airways, South African Airways, Saudia, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Flydubai, Kenya Airways, Pegasus

LATIN AMERICAN MAJOR AIRLINES
Network
WINNER: Copa Airlines
FINALISTS: Copa Airlines, TAM Linhas Aereas, Gol, Aerolineas Argentinas, LAN Airlines, AVIANCA, Aeromexico

Mainline
WINNER: Copa Airlines
FINALISTS: Copa Airlines, TAM Linhas Aereas, Gol, Aerolineas Argentinas, LAN Airlines, Aeromexico, AVIANCA

LOW-COST AIRLINES
WINNER: Iberia Express
FINALISTS: Iberia Express, Air Baltic, Solaseed Air, Air Do, WestJet, Southwest Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Nok Air, NIKI, Frontier Airlines

USA: Will Government Clear Virgin America Merger With Alaska Airlines?

Virgin America made a profit of nearly $52 million with an operating margin of 20.4 percent in what airline executives hope is the company’s last quarter as a stand-alone ailrine, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing released Wednesday.

The filing comes as Alaska Airlines’ planned acquisition of Virgin America has hit a slight snag, with federal regulators still not announcing whether they will clear the deal, or possibly file suit to block it. The U.S. Justice Department may be asking Alaska for concessions to ensure the airline industry remains competitive, as it has done in previous airline mergers. The government sometimes asks airlines to divest gates and slot holdings at competitive airports, with those holdings often going to low cost competition.

Virgin America said little in the filing about its Alaska deal, long slated to close in the final three months of the year.

“The Company anticipates that it will complete the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2016,” Virgin America said in its quarterly filing. “However, the Company cannot predict with certainty whether and when any of the remaining required closing conditions will be satisfied or if the Merger will close.”

On Alaska’s third quarter earnings call on Oct. 20, CEO Brad Tilden said the two airlines and the Justice Department were “not quite there yet.”

“The scope of the issues that remain with the Justice Department is manageable,” Tilden said. “But they are important matters, and we want to take the time that is necessary to work through them.”

The Justice Department’s inquiry is not the only legal matter Virgin America is handling. It is also the defendant in a private antitrust lawsuit in San Francisco federal court brought by 34 consumers seeking to stop the proposed merger. According to Virgin America, a trial could take place as soon as December. The court is also requiring that it receive notice seven days before Virgin America and Alaska plan to close their merger, assuming it happens.

“We believe this lawsuit is without merit and we intend to defend against it vigorously,” Virgin America said in the filing.

As a stand-alone airline, Virgin America is facing many of the same revenue challenges as its competitors.

The company said passenger revenue per available seat mile, or PRASM, an industry metric measuring how much revenue a carrier makes for each seat it flies one mile, decreased 7.3 percent, year-over-year. Like other airlines, Virgin America said fare discounts are to blame for the revenue decrease.

Virgin America is still making money in part because it is paying 24 percent less per gallon of fuel than in the third quarter of 2015. The airline’s non-fuel unit costs also fell 5.6 percent, year-over-year. Virgin America said it was the only U.S. airline to report a unit cost decrease.

Virgin America is a considerably larger airline than it was a year ago, as the airline flew eight more Airbus aircraft than in the third quarter of 2015. Virgin America increased capacity 16.7 percent year-over-year. But it is filling more seats than a year ago, with third quarter load factor up 3.4 points to 85.9 percent.

Virgin America said it was one of only carriers to report a year-over-year pre-tax margin increase, and an airline spokesman noted the carrier’s margin is “is now above industry average.”

Looming Pilot Shortage Accross America

Piloting a jetliner was once a glamorous profession. Then came the 9/11 terror attacks, airline bankruptcies and pension cuts. And entry-level pilots worked for peanuts.

But now the pendulum is swinging back. Regional airlines across America — including the Northwest’s Horizon Air — are grappling with a looming pilot shortage.

Horizon currently has about 650 pilots on staff.

“We’re looking for roughly 100 to 120 pilots per year that we need to keep adding in for growth as well as to cover attrition,” said LaMar Haugaard, director of pilot development and recruiting at Horizon Air in Portland.

Horizon Air is part of Seattle-based Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines as well. They are just one player in a global industry, which the Boeing Company estimated in 2014 will need 558,000 commercial airline pilots over the next 20 years.

Aviation economist Dan Akins of the consulting firm Flightpath Economics described the regional airline sector as “the tip of the spear” for feeling the pilot shortage.

“There aren’t enough pilots being supplied to the industry to sustain it,” Akins said in an interview. He contended that smaller cities risk losing air service unless the current trajectory changes.

“I think we are in the very early stages of a really hard landing for the industry,” Akins said.

The big shortage

So how did airline pilots get in short supply?

“It really is a perfect coming together of growth within the industry,” Haugaard said.

That’s combined with the beginnings of an anticipated wave of retirements from the major airlines, who then backfill by plucking pilots from regional carriers. The Federal Aviation Administration requires commercial airline pilots to retire at age 65.

Then add to that, a big increase in the training requirements needed to get an air transport pilot license. That came from the FAA in 2013 in the wake of a commuter airline crash in upstate New York.

A lot of commercial airline pilots used to come over from the Air Force too, but Haugaard said the military does not train as many pilots as it used to.

“Marry that up with fewer and fewer people getting into the industry — mainly due to becoming cost-prohibitive on the training side — you have shortage that will come from that,” Haugaard said. “And we are certainly seeing that now.”

Perks for the aspiring pilot

So now Horizon and its peers are inking deals with university aviation programs to ramp up pilot development. The arrangements include tuition reimbursement or a big signing bonus for aspiring pilots. In exchange, those students commit to fly with a certain carrier for at least two years once they’re qualified.

The stepped-up recruiting by various airlines led Teamsters Local 1224 Vice President Mark Niles to observe, “It’s almost a game of one-upmanship right now.”

The veteran Horizon pilot said he had heard of rivals offering bonuses in excess of $20,000 to get new pilots in the door. Job offers can include a combination of signing bonus, a later retention bonus and advancement preferences to command bigger jets.

Horizon management and its pilots union are currently in talks about how to sweeten the airline’s offerings to stay competitive.

A recently signed pilot development deal between Horizon Air and Central Washington University included one-time $7,500 “stipends” for up to 17 aviation students per year. In addition, Horizon donated a $10,000 desktop flight simulator.

Central Washington University Aviation Chair Sundaram Nataraja foresees major enrollment growth in his department to fill the pipeline.

“We want to grow this to a bigger level,” Nataraja said. “In five years down the road, we want to have a total of 1,000 students in the aviation department. Currently we have 200.”

Nataraja said parents still get wide-eyed when he explains the cost of a professional pilot education. It runs $80,000-$100,000 over four years, chiefly due to the fees for one-on-one flight training. A typical student may graduate with considerable debt. But thanks to the newfound, stiff competition for aviation graduates, entry level pay at regional airlines has risen significantly over the past year.

Student instructors with a first officer job awaiting them estimated their starting pay would be in the $30,000-$35,000 range. A few years ago, a freshly minted co-pilot at a regional airline might have earned less than $25,000 per year to start. As cockpit crew members gain experience and move up the career ladder, their pay soars into the six figures.

‘A dream come true’ in Ellensburg

Tyler Holmen, 18, of Redmond, Washington, knows what he wants to do in life.

“Flying has just always fascinated me,” Holmen said. “I kind of settled on it at an early age. It’s kind of a dream come true here.”

Holmen and fellow aviation students at Central Washington could hardly have picked a better time to become professional pilots.

Flight instructor Gage Geist, 22, graduated from CWU in late spring. He’s now giving flight lessons to undergrads, which helps Geist rack up the flight hours needed to qualify for an airline job. A first officer slot awaits him at his chosen Horizon Air as soon as he logs 1,000 flight hours.

“By the time I graduated, I had three conditional job offers,” Geist said.

He said that’s a big change from even just a few years ago.

“When I first started off, it was once in a blue moon we would have a recruiter come by — maybe once every other month,” Geist said. “Now it’s almost every other week.”

It takes a dispatcher to manage the waves of instructors and students rotating through five flight simulators and a fleet of single engine Cessnas used as flight trainers at Ellensburg’s Bowers Field Airport.

New training programs

Inside the training center, a bulletin board is covered with recruiting posters and ads from regional airlines such as Horizon Air, SkyWest and Mesa Airlines. You may know these better flying under their alternate identities as Alaska Airlines, Delta Connection or United Express.

The competing airlines gush about being the place where “your career takes off” and how quickly you can “upgrade” to a parent company’s mainline jets.

Until this year, CWU was the only public university in the Pacific Northwest offering a four-year bachelor’s degree as a professional pilot. A bunch of community colleges in Oregon and Washington have two-year pilot training programs with transfer options to meet the airlines’ preference for a bachelor’s degree.

Earlier this year, Green River College in Auburn, Washington, introduced a four-year bachelor’s degree track. The program’s enrollment filled right away according to Aviation Department Chair George Comollo.

Comollo said his department was in talks to set up a direct recruitment pathway with Horizon that would include the one-time $7,500 stipend and a guaranteed cockpit job for selected students. He said SkyWest Airlines might be the next partner to seek clearance to land on campus.

Drunk Delta Pilot Arrested

A SkyWest pilot scheduled to fly a Delta Connection flight out of South Dakota's Rapid City Regional Airport was arrested Wednesday morning on charges that he was intoxicated, the Rapid City Police Department says.

The local Argus Leader newspaper reports that Rapid City Police were notified that a pilot smelled of alcohol shortly after 8 a.m. local time Wednesday, according to public information officer Brendyn Medina.

Rapid City Police Chief Karl Jegeris said via Twitter at 12:55 p.m. ET that police had arrested a Skywest Airlines pilot for “operation of an aircraft while intoxicated.” To be arrested for operating an aircraft while intoxicated, the blood alcohol level has to be above .04, according to the Argus Leader. The pilot taken into custody is 38 years old, the newspaper reports.

SkyWest flies regional aircraft on feeder routes for major airlines Delta, American and Alaska Airlines.

SkyWest told Today in the Sky the pilot had been removed from flying duty while the company investigates the charges.

“SkyWest holds its employees to the highest standards of professionalism and the safety and security of our customers and people are our top priority,” SkyWest said in the statement. “We apologize to our passengers for the delay of SkyWest flight #4574, operating as Delta Connection from Rapid City to Salt Lake City, due to a crewmember issue. The crewmember has been placed on administrative leave and removed from flying duties as we investigate this situation. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement’s investigation into this matter."

From Rapid City, SkyWest flies under the Delta Connection brand to Delta’s hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Salt Lake City. The flight in Wednesday’s incident was Delta Connection Flight 4574 to Salt Lake City. The flight -- a Canadair CRJ200 regional jet, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware -- had been scheduled to depart Rapid City at 8:30 a.m. local time. Delta’s website shows the flight departed late at 10:38 a.m. local time.

"The system worked the way it is designed to ensure passengers' safety was not compromised," Jegeris, the Rapid City Police Chief, said in a tweet.

Delta Launches Seattle-California Shuttles

Delta Air Lines is adding the Delta Shuttle product on key routes from its Seattle hub to San Francisco and Los Angeles, upping the ante in two markets that will become more competitive as a result of Alaska Airlines’ acquisition of Virgin America. The Delta Shuttle product, also featured on routes between the Northeast triangle of Boston, New York LaGuardia, and Washington Reagan as well as on the fiercely competitive Los Angeles – San Francisco sector, features a variety of improvements over the standard Delta economy experience, including:

- Dedicated check-in counters exclusively for Delta Shuttle customers
- Gates located near security
- Complimentary newspapers for all customers including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Financial Times
- Two classes of service with complimentary upgrades for SkyMiles Medallion members when available
- Complimentary meals in First Class on all flights
- Complimentary Luvo snack box offered in Comfort+ on all flights
- Complimentary onboard snacks provided by Nourish Snacks in the main cabin
- Complimentary in-flight beer, wine, spirits and other beverages in all classes of service, including Lagunitas Brewing Company and Fremont - - Brewing Company craft beer and Starbucks coffee
- Access to in-flight Wi-Fi and free entertainment options through Delta Studio
- Convenient access to the new Delta Sky Club set to open in Fall 2016 on Concourse A
The Shuttle addition will come with an increase in frequency on both routes, as Delta will expand from eight to ten daily flights on Seattle – Los Angeles with a mix of 160-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft (16F / 18Y+ / 126Y) and 110 seat Boeing 717-200 aircraft (12F / 20Y+ / 78Y) on May 23. Delta will continue to fly a peak total of eight daily frequencies on Seattle – San Francisco with 76-seat Embraer E175 aircraft (12F / 12Y+ / 52Y)

Unlike on the short hour-long sectors where the Delta Shuttle is normally offered, Seattle-San Francisco is two hours twenty minutes and Seattle-Los Angeles is just under three hours. That’s a length where the improved product makes a difference relative to a standard mainline product. First Class is more or less the same (perhaps with a slightly improved ground experience), but the real benefit is felt in economy class and economy comfort, who get free alcohol (always popular) and premium snacks.

Even though the flights will now operate with the Shuttle branding, they are not necessarily the same schedule-wise as the other shuttle products on the East and West Coast. The eight to ten daily flights on the routes are less than an hourly schedule, and the increase to Los Angeles was actually already planned before the conversion to the Shuttle product. So the Shuttle product is really more about creating a marketing and branding advantage in a crowded marketplace.

And the Seattle – San Francisco/Los Angeles (SFO/LAX) marketplaces are very crowded. That remains true even if you set aside the secondary airports in each metropolitan area (San Jose and Oakland in the Bay Area and Burbank, Orange County, Long Beach, and Ontario in Southern California), all of which have multiple daily Alaska flights from Seattle, though LAX and SFO are the most important airports for business travel in their respective market.

Delta’s schedule to LAX and SFO in fact lags behind that of the new Alaska Airlines, as the merger with Virgin America gives the combined carrier 17 daily flights on Seattle-Los Angeles, and 13 daily flights on Seattle-San Francisco (both closer to an actual Shuttle than Delta’s product). Seattle – LAX also has five daily flights from American, two from Spirit, and two from United, and Seattle – SFO has nine daily flights from United.

These schedules are more than competitive with Delta, and the overall competitive situation in Seattle, where Delta has progressed to 120 daily departures and is still in an aggressive battle with Alaska, remains protracted. The question for Delta is whether this creates any sort of advantage in the competition for passengers.

Whether the Shuttle branding and product actually creates a competitive advantage is an open question. The track record in the Northeast is middling despite the strong history of the product, and Acela has now dented the product to the point that Delta has actually pulled back to less than hourly flights during the winter. Over on the West Coast, the Delta Shuttle hasn’t really created any sort of revenue premium for Delta on the LAX-SFO route, though that might be due to the shorter length of the route.

Conversely on the longer routes to Seattle, the improved product is going to be a bigger draw, and it definitely puts Delta a cut above Alaska proper, United, American, and Spirit. However, Virgin America offers a product that is at least comparable (and arguably superior in in flight entertainment and connectivity), and the one caveat to Delta’s new product leadership at high frequency is the potential for Alaska to adopt some of Virgin America’s higher service standards. Delta Shuttle is a bold move for Delta in the Seattle market, but its efficacy is far from assured.

Alaska, Japan Airlines to Launch Partnership

Alaska Airlines and Japan Airlines (JAL) have announced plans to ink a codeshare agreement and a frequent flier partnership, scheduled to take effect on June 29, pending government approval.

From the U.S. West Coast, JAL flies nonstop between Tokyo and Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Vancouver, B.C. and between Los Angeles and Osaka. JAL also offers an extensive network within Japan and throughout Asia.

“JAL is a great addition to Alaska’s line-up of high-quality global partners, giving our Mileage Plan members more ways to earn and redeem miles for travel from the West Coast to Japan and beyond,” said Andrew Harrison, Alaska’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer.

With Alaska Airlines’ operations across California, Oregon, and Washington, JAL customers will now have more flight options and access to new cities, including Seattle and Portland. According to Hideki Oshima, JAL executive officer, international relations and alliances, the new partnership would allow JAL “to strengthen its presence throughout the Pacific Northwest.”

This new codeshare agreement brings Alaska Airlines further closer to American Airlines, which has a Joint Venture with Japan Airlines, and it would be the sixth codeshare agreement subscribed with a oneworld carrier (Alaska already codeshares with LAN, QANTAS, American Airlines, British Airways and Cathay Pacific).

Interestingly, the codeshare also pushed Alaska Airlines away from Delta Air Lines, which has had a heated battle in Seattle for the dominance of the market. The Atlanta-based carrier claims that it has built up presence in Seattle because Alaska was unable to deliver such feed to Delta’s Asian routes.

USA: Alaska Airlines Unveils Brand Change

Alaska Airlines has unveiled its first major identity change in over 25 years. The news broke in a moment in which the carrier remains independent, turning profits and ranking in the top of best on-time performance in the U.S. as the first 737-800 (N563AS, MSN 35180 / LN 2090) was repainted and shared with about 2,000 employees on hand for a company event held in Seattle. Heavily rumored for some time, Alaska endeavored to keep the new look a surprise by flying the plane into Sea-Tac last night in the cover of darkness.

“Our company has a unique personality and a vibrant spirit that our Eskimo has personified for almost half a century,” said Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden. “We believe our refreshed look reflects the warm relationships our employees have built with our customers, and makes us stand out in a compelling and consistent way as we expand into new markets, build loyalty and attract new customers.”

For the most part, the plane is similar to in the past. The tail got the biggest upgrade, going from just white to a nice dark blue background that we had seen in past years on the inverse AlaskaAir.com plane, N548AS before it was repainted in standard livery. A smiling Eskimo survived to see another plane while the carrier decided to take some lessons on its university planes, running blue and green stripes up the tail while leaving the nose all white.

Finally, on the front of the plane the carrier updated its logo for the second time in two years, this time going for more of a flat and bold standard font and no longer using the rough edges on the letters.

Employees were excited to see the new standard scheme get unveiled as this is the first time since 1991 that a totally new livery new has adorned an Alaska Airlines jet. This is the eighth standard livery for the carrier who launched all the way back in 1932 as McGee Airways and began offering flights out of Anchorage Alaska.

According to the airline, the brand change will also tell the story of the iconic Eskimo face that has been featured on its plane’s tail for 43 years. That iconic logo is an illustration of a real person, Chester Seveck, a reindeer herder and a Eskimo dancer who greeted deplaning tourists at Kotzebue (OTZ) for years. When first introduced, Chester’s expression was more of a frown, but this was quickly changed to a more cheerful smile. Back in 1988, the airline explored replacing the face of Chester with a new insignia. At the end, those plans were shelved after the outcry of Alaskans and customers as well.

“When I see that face, I feel proud. I feel like I’m home,” says Sallee Baltierra, a concierge in Alaska’s Anchorage Board Room airport lounge. “I love to see that Eskimo on the tail in other cities that we fly to, from Liberia, Costa Rica to Nashville, Tennessee. It makes me feel like there’s a little piece of home there waiting for me.”

Today the carrier offers flights to 111 destinations across the US, Mexico, Canada and new daily flights to Costa Rica. We don’t have any word yet on when the first Horizon Air Q400 will come out of the paint shop in the new livery but certainly can’t wait to see it. In addition to the newly painted plane, starting tomorrow travelers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will see a more welcoming lobby and 41 newly branded gates.

“Our refreshed brand really is an evolution, not a revolution, of Alaska Airlines,” said Sangita Woerner, the airline’s vice president of marketing. “Our goal was to reflect the soul of our company, which is known for its genuine, caring service and top-notch performance. It’s now time to show up to our customers in a bigger, brighter way.”

Alaska Airlines will take delivery of four new 737-900ER’s in the new livery, in total 40 of the airlines 147 planes will be in the new scheme by the end of 2016. The first Q400 will also be expected to rollout later this year in the new colors.