Alaska Airlines upgrade: Asian flights coming to Seattle hub, premium credit card and more

Salma December 10, 2024

0 0 6 minutes read

Alaska Airlines upgrade: Asian flights coming to Seattle hub, premium credit card and more

The merger of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines has officially begun, and it’s bringing some serious changes to the way the two carriers have historically operated.

It starts with merging and expanding the two networks, which will soon see Seattle become an international gateway, among other changes. The merger will also bring significant improvements to the premium experience offered by the carriers, as well as other changes to loyalty, faster passes and more.

Now that the merger is underway, Alaska Airlines is hosting an investor day in New York to share more about its vision for how the combined airlines will work.

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Here’s everything you need to know about the so-called “Alaska Accelerate” growth strategy.

Long-haul flights from Seattle

The key to this announcement is that Alaska will transform its hub at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) into an international gateway.

That means the airline will introduce long-haul flights from Seattle. The first destination, Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, will depart on May 12, and seats will be available for purchase on Tuesday.

The airline will follow up with another long-haul route to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN) from October. This line will go on sale early next year.

Alaska will deploy Airbus A330-200s for Hawaiian Airlines on its first virtual routes from Seattle. Flights will operate using Hawaiian flight numbers until the two carriers receive a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration. Both flights will book through Alaska and Hawaii stations.

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Note that the aircraft used for these flights may change as Hawaiian adds more passengers to its fleet, a spokesperson for the carrier told TPG.

Commenting on the expansion, Alaska Airlines chief commercial officer Andrew Harrison told TPG in an interview that Seattle is the sixth largest domestic gateway for airlines to Asia and Oceania, while Europe is the tenth. In addition, “the beauty of it is that both Narita and Seoul are already served by Hawaiian, so all the infrastructure, airports, all those things are already plug and play.”

He added that “Seattle is the largest hub on the West Coast of any US airline. We have double Delta’s North American seats, we have 28% more seats than United in San Francisco. And another thing is that the fastest way to in Asia it is over Seattle Not San Francisco and Los Angeles.

As part of this announcement, Alaska will move existing Hawaiian flights from Hawaii to Narita to Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) instead. This will work twice a day.

“We are going to move the Narita slot to Seattle, and Honolulu to Narita was losing a fair amount of money, so moving it to Seattle with a point of sale in the US, we believe it will be strong from day one,” he said.

The other two tailwinds supporting long-term expansion in Seattle are controlled by corporate and freight traffic, Harrison said.

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Speaking of corporate travel, Harrison shared that “Alaska Airlines’ corporate accounts spend more than $300 million a year on international travel alone out of Seattle, and our top five companies spend $200 million. That a corporate trip that we don’t participate in today that we can participate in tomorrow.”

As for cargo, Harrison didn’t have numbers, but the airline says the new routes will deal with strong demand for cargo.

While Alaska will start with two obvious destinations from Seattle, the carrier promises that by 2030, it will have at least 12 long-haul routes from the city.

Another network, fleet changes

In addition to the new long-haul flight, Alaska is making several other changes to its network.

This includes rethinking how it maintains its institutions. Harrison said this is especially important for Seattle and Oregon’s Portland International Airport (PDX) because Seattle is already strong, and nearby Portland is still sluggish.

Moving forward, Alaska will connect Seattle with its new long-haul routes, while Portland will take over some of the connecting traffic that has historically passed through Seattle.

A few other changes on the horizon include the addition of 20% more seats between Seattle and Honolulu, accomplished by upgrading three of the six daily nonstop flights that will be used by Hawaiian Airlines.

In addition to the aforementioned deployment, Alaska will also operate an Airbus A330 between Seattle and Anchorage during the peak summer season, and will fly an A330 from Sacramento to Honolulu as well.

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The airline will also add new nonstop routes from San Francisco to both Kona on Hawaii’s “big island” and Lihue on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Kona service will operate four times a week starting June 12, and Lihue flights will operate three times a week starting June 13.

Alaska will also increase the use of Hawaiian Airbus A321s, A330s and Boeing 787s in the coming months. (The airline says Hawaii’s Airbus A321 will fly 25% more than it did before the merger.)

In terms of fleet, Alaska has spent recent years consolidating its operations on Boeing 737 aircraft. Hawaiian’s merger reverses that partnership as the Honolulu-based carrier operates Airbus A321s and A330s. Hawaiian also flies the Boeing 717, Alaska does not.

That said, Harrison says the carrier has a plan for its new integrated fleet.

“Boeing 737-8, -9 and -10 are aircraft that are perfect for Alaska’s historic network…Boeing 787s are perfect for long-term growth…The only aircraft close to the field here is a Boeing 717 that operates on neighboring islands, which we will have to look into replacing.

As for the remaining Airbus A330s and A321s, Alaska seems content to keep them operating in existing markets.

Premium economy is coming

Now that Alaska Airlines will fly across the ocean, the airline says it needs a premium international economy product.

Hawaiian has chosen not to include premium economy on its Airbus A330s or new Boeing 787s, so these jets will undergo a retrofit program to include this popular cabin in the coming years. “They’re a lot less premium,” Harrison said of Hawaii’s cabinetry.

The details and timeline are still up in the air, but adding premium economy to these flights shouldn’t come as a surprise.

This cabin that sits between business and economy class has grown in popularity (and profit) in recent years.

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“The premium economy cabin on international routes is sometimes talked about as one of the most profitable cabins. It’s just a real sweet spot and there’s a demand for that kind of product,” said Harrison.

A new premium credit card

Alaska has clearly heard the news that cobranded credit cards are where the money is. (Just ask Delta, which brought in nearly $7 billion this year from its exclusive Amex deal.)

Alaska has never had a premium credit card, but that will change next summer when the carrier introduces one with a $395 annual fee.

Unlike the Big 3 US airlines, which include lounge access for their top credit cards, Alaska’s version will include other unique benefits aimed at attracting subscribers and offering more value than “access to crowded lounges,” it said. Harrison.

These benefits include a so-called Global Companion Award Certificate (similar to the airline’s existing fare, but valid worldwide on partner airlines), triple miles on international purchases and dining, fast track to elite status and much more.

Details are sketchy on what travelers can expect from the new card, but waitlist registration begins today at alaskaair.com/premium-card. Travelers who join the waiting list before Dec. 31, 2024, will enjoy a special offer, Alaska said.

A major upgrade to the living room

Alaska will also invest in its luxury travel experience to increase its premium appeal.

This includes unveiling new lounges in Honolulu and San Diego, as well as opening a new “flagship international lounge” in Seattle in 2027.

Alaska’s press team told Harrison not to spill the beans on the new facility (“I can’t tell Zach how big it’s going to be, right?”), but Harrison promised that Alaska would be doubling its new resort. The space will be significantly larger than Alaska’s North Satellite lounge in Seattle, which currently measures approximately 16,000 square feet.

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It will be interesting to see how Alaska markets this new resort when it opens. In recent years, we’ve seen the rise of business-only lounges, so it’s likely that this facility will be reserved for those sitting at the bottom of the plane who pay big bucks (or miles).

Alaska has already announced premium upgrades coming to its fleet with additional premium- and first-class seats, and this announcement builds on that work already underway.