u/srekai

Since Alaska is going all out into longhaul expansion, I thought it would be an interesting to discuss what are considered Alaska's "premier" routes. Traditionally speaking, other airlines have flown these like the classic JFK-LHR or JFK-LAX routes, but since Alaska is very West Coast focused, I wondered what would be the flagship routes for each hub, it might look a bit different, so I thought it would be a fun exercise, this is my initial take, would love to hear thoughts and different opinions.

• SEA
  • This hub has a few because it's Alaska's largest hub and deserves more mentions
  • SEA to DCA, for domestic, this is AS 1/2 for a reason, flights are very full and fares are high
  • SEA to LHR, for international, Alaska purposefully gave it the AS 100/101 to mark such an critical route
  • Honorable mention for SEA to NRT, which marks Alaska's very first international longhaul flight
• SFO
  • SFO to JFK, it's one of Alaska's top routes by revenue, almost at the 100M per year level. This one is definitely the undisputed king for JFK. It's a flight that even the behemoth of SFO, United Airlines, cannot fly.
• LAX
  • LAX to HNL, this is the top 5 busiest domestic routes for LAX, and Alaska flies multiple widebodies on this flight all year long.
• HNL
  • This hub also gets a few because it has quite an interesting network
  • HNL to JFK, for domestic, this is one of the longest domestic flights in the world, and was the longest one in the US, until BOS to HNL happened
  • HNL to HND, for international, this is a route with a lot of history and importance due to the connection between Japan and Hawaii, and at one point HA flew this 3x daily.
• PDX
  • This one was very tough for me to decide. PDX acts as a reliever hub for SEA, so everything it does feels overshadowed by SEA.
  • PDX to OGG, I chose this one over HNL as HNL feels generic, and the fact that PDX can support up to 2x daily frequencies to OGG and make it to the top 10 list of busiest domestic flights feels impressive for a city the size of Portland.
• ANC
  • ANC to SEA, this is one of the most vital air routes in the US, and in fact is the busiest domestic route in the US during some months of summer. It's a critical connection that unlocks a whole world of connectivity for Alaskans. There are nonstop flights departing every hour during the day, I count almost 19x Alaska frequencies a day at the peak.
• SAN
  • SAN to DCA, Alaska is very proud of its DCA presence and gives them all very low numbers, this is AS 14/15, and Alaska is the only airline to fly SAN to DCA
  • I think another case could be made for SAN to JFK, but compared to the other airlines, Alaska is weaker.

I guess this is the official name of the Alaska/American joint venture.

Alaska honestly doing more for American than the other way around these days.

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