Articles tagged “alaska airlines”

U.S. News & World Report's rankings have always skewed more toward leisure travelers than road warriors, but this year's lists show a growing difference between brands that choose to appeal to the majority of consumers versus those who choose to reward frequent business travelers or big spenders.

Yes, Alaska paid a fortune for Virgin America. But that doesn't mean it is a bad deal. Alaska believes it needs Virgin America's assets to compete and grow.

Alaska Airlines continues to play it coy when asked about its plans for the Virgin America brand. But it seems likely Alaska will retire most, if not all, aspects of the upstart's brand.

It's been a year of triumphs and also, unfortunately, more challenges for LGBT travelers. One truth that Orlando underscored is that the LGBT travel market is one of the most resilient and is not easily deterred from traveling and celebrating their community.

It'll be interesting to see how many of Virgin America's corporate travel partners stick around once Alaska Airlines begins to chip away at the brand's sterling identity.

While Alaska Airlines executives talked around whether they would eliminate the Virgin America brand and loyalty programs, the subtext indicates it's only a matter of time until Virgin America's fleet is rolled into the Alaska brand.

At least, as a strategy to eliminate competition and quickly acquire hard assets and frontline employees, this acquisition could prove profitable to Alaska Airlines. That's assuming JetBlue doesn’t get to disenfranchised customers first.

If you take Delta at its word, then fears that the introduction of Basic Economy fares to compete with the ultra-low-cost carriers on price would dilute the spend of usually higher-paying passengers haven't been borne out. Still, the situation is fluid as other legacy carriers are set to introduce these discounted fares, as well.

JetBlue management is obviously upset that it couldn't consummate the deal with Virgin America because of the key importance of transcontinental expansion. But JetBlue didn't want a merger at any price and now it is going to play hardball in trying to steal away Virgin America's potentially alienated customers.

All signs point to JetBlue making a meal of this Alaska Air/Virgin America situation. Butter the popcorn and watch this space.