Alaska Airlines
is the USA’s fifth-largest carrier by flights. If its mainline and regional January 2025 network is considered, OAG data shows that it has an average of 1,117 daily flights (excluding the recent acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines by the Alaska Air Group).
It has 319 routes: 268 domestic and 51 international. They include 10 links that start this month, plus various resumptions.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
Summary: January 2025
While January flights have risen by 9% year-on-year, seats for sale are up by 6%. This reflects higher-gauge equipment, increasing seats per flight and reducing seat-mile costs.
Flights on the 78-seat Embraer E175s, the carrier’s most-used type, are primarily responsible. Daily services have risen by a fifth, with 80+ added, partly because of the additional deliveries following the Q400’s requirement in early 2023.
While 737 flying has grown by just 1% year-on-year, this hides significant changes. NG flying is down by about a tenth, while the 737 MAX 8 entered service in February 2024, and use of the 737 MAX 9 has grown by a quarter.
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Alaska Airlines’ 10 additional routes
The January additions are shown below in start date order. Nine have never been served by the airline before, which is good to see. Only one was previously part of its network, but that was three years ago. Despite the article’s title, it is obviously not new, but 90% being new is impressive.
Most notably, two routes—Portland to New Orleans and Boise to Orlando—have never been flown by any operator. I am sure they’ll make my jam-packed Weekly Routes article!
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying
When spread over a full year, rather than the part-year that Alaska Airlines will operate for winter demand, Portland-New Orleans has 40 passengers daily each way (supplemented by transit traffic), while it’s 79 for the Florida link. Will Alaska Airlines get a sufficient fare premium to warrant non-stop flights compared to the many one-stop options via hubs en route?
The list excludes simple seasonal resumptions.
Start date* |
Route |
Frequency (equipment with the most flights) |
Direct competition? |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 6 |
Portland (Oregon)-New Orleans |
Daily (737 MAX 9) |
No |
Brand-new to Alaska Airlines’ network. Ends on May 14. The city pair has not been served by any carrier |
January 6 |
Sacramento-Los Cabos |
Five weekly (737 MAX 9) |
Yes (Southwest) |
Alaska Airlines last served it in 2021. Ends on April 21 |
January 6 |
Sacramento-Orlando |
Four weekly (737 MAX 9) |
Yes (Southwest) |
Brand-new to Alaska Airlines’ network. Ends on April 21 |
January 6 |
Sacramento-Tucson |
Daily (E175**) |
Yes (Southwest from March 8) |
Brand-new to Alaska Airlines’ network and ends on April 21. It was last served by ExpressJet in 2008. |
January 8 |
Boise-Orlando |
Three weekly (737-900ER) |
No |
Brand-new to Alaska Airlines’ network. Ends on March 23. The city pair has not been served by any carrier |
January 8 |
New York JFK-Puerto Vallarta |
Four weekly (737-900ER) |
No |
Brand-new to Alaska Airlines’ network. Ends on April 20. JetBlue last served the airport pair in April 2024. |
January 11 |
Sacramento-Puerto Vallarta |
Weekly to twice-weekly (737-900ER) |
No |
Brand-new to Alaska Airlines’ network. Ends on April 19. Last served (albeit very briefly) by Frontier in 2011 |
January 18 |
Kansas City-Cancun |
Weekly (737-900ER) |
Yes (American Airlines and Southwest) |
Brand-new to Alaska Airlines’ network. Ends on August 9 |
January 25 |
Kansas City-Puerto Vallarta |
Weekly (737-900ER) |
No |
Brand-new to Alaska Airlines’ network. Ends on April 5. Last served by Frontier in 2015 |
January 25 |
St Louis-Puerto Vallarta |
Weekly (737-900ER) |
No |
Brand-new to Alaska Airlines’ network. Ends on April 5. Last served by Volaris in 2022 |
* Based on the route’s direction in the next column |
** The only type scheduled |