Alaska Airlines Removes Over 1,300 Flights From November And December Schedules

Alaska Airlines Removes Over 1,300 Flights From November And December Schedules

• Over 1,300 flights have been removed by Alaska Airlines in November – December, including Seattle-Vancouver and Seattle-Minneapolis routes.
• Schedule shifts like these are normal in the airline industry due to unforeseen reasons.
• Additional cuts in routes, including San Francisco-Palm Springs, Seattle-Eugene, and Seattle-Salt Lake City, were made.

Alaska Airlines has shifted its schedules for November and December, removing over 1,300 flights. Notably, the Seattle-Vancouver route will lose two daily roundtrips, as well as the route from Seattle to Minneapolis.

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Shifting schedules

Changing schedules months ahead is normal in the airline industry. Airlines may need to alter their plans and remove flights for several reasons. Sometimes, the shifts can include the addition of flights. This week, Alaska Airlines has cut more than 1,300 flights from its schedule in November and December, affecting its Seattle and San Francisco hubs. As a result, more than 180,000 seats were cut between the two months. Simple Flying has contacted Alaska Airlines for a statement.

The route from Seattle Tacoma International Airport to Vancouver, a short hop over the border into Canada, will have four daily roundtrips instead of the originally planned six. As of last week, the airline had 180 flights scheduled in each direction in November, or six daily, amounting to over 33,000 seats. December had 186 each way, also six daily, and more than 34,000 seats. Now, in November, Alaska has 120 flights each way, four daily, totaling just over 29,000 seats. Though this is less than initially planned, it is still larger than last year’s schedule by six flights in each direction and more than 12,000 seats.

Data shows that of the four daily roundtrips in November, two will be part of Alaska’s mainline operations, and Horizon Air will operate the other two. For mainline flights, Alaska will use the Boeing 737-900ER with 171 seats, and Horizon Air will use the Embraer E175 with 75 seats. The 737s will be deployed on midday flights, departing late in the morning and mid-afternoon, while the E175s will be used for the earlier departure in the morning and the late night departure, which touches down in Vancouver at 23:59.

The flight from Seattle to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport also had its operations cut by two daily roundtrips, a 50% cut. As of last week, the airline planned to operate four daily roundtrips but will now operate just two on the Boeing 737-900ER. With 171 seats on each aircraft, Alaska’s seat offering is just over 20,000, slightly less than the year before, when it operated two daily flights for most of November.

The short hop from San Francisco International Airport to San Diego International Airport in Southern California also lost two daily flights. As of last week, the airline had ten daily roundtrips scheduled, preparing to carry more than 45,000 passengers that month. Now, it is cut down to eight roundtrips and still has a seat offering of more than 36,000. SkyWest operates this flight on behalf of Alaska, deploying its E175s with 76 seats.

Additional cuts

Several other routes also suffered cuts, like San Francisco-Palm Springs, Seattle-Eugene, Portland-Anchorage, Seattle-Salt Lake City, Seattle-San Jose, Seattle-San Francisco, San Francisco-Chicago, and Seattle to Dallas Love Field, home to Southwest Airlines. Of the routes listed, San Francisco-Chicago and Seattle-Dallas suffered a 50% cut, going from two daily roundtrips to one.

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