Start-up airlines like Avelo Airlines don’t get the press coverage that larger ones do. Big airlines make splashy billion dollar deals like the announced $1.9 billion purchase of Hawaiian Airlines by Alaska Air.
20.11.2023 - 15:37 / travelweekly.com
Alaska Airlines gained a massive boost to its international partner portfolio when it joined the 13-airline Oneworld Alliance in 2021.
But Alaska is also bullish about its burgeoning partnership with small German carrier Condor.
"The amount of passengers we see every day both earning miles flying Condor as well as redeeming Alaska miles to fly on Condor are at record levels," said Nat Pieper, Alaska's senior vice president of fleet, finance and alliances. The numbers, he added, have doubled since 2022.
Last month, Condor began placing its code on more than 70 Alaska Airlines routes. The development followed the launch of the carriers' codeshare partnership in June, when Alaska began placing its code on Condor flights to its hub in Frankfurt from 12 U.S. gateways.
Codesharing represents a significant intensification of the relationship between Alaska and Condor, which had previously been interline partners. Alaska Mileage Plan members have also been able to earn and redeem miles on Condor flights since 2017.
One driver of Alaska's heightened interest is leisure-centric Condor's recent growth in the U.S. During the third quarter of this year, Condor flew 47% more seats and 31% more flights to the U.S. than it did during the July through September period of 2019. Next summer Condor will add San Antonio and Miami as U.S. destinations. (The carrier will, however, be dropping its weekly service to Fairbanks, Alaska.)
Business class seats on a Condor A330neo plane. Photo Credit: CondorBut the key motivator for Alaska is the improved cabin products Condor began offering as it introduced Airbus A330neos early this year. The A330neos, which are replacing Condor's older Boeing 767 planes, feature the carrier's first lie-flat seats. By next summer, all of Condor's transatlantic flying will be with the A330neo, each equipped with 30 business class seats and 65 premium economy seats.
Pieper said that he flew on one of new candy-striped Condor aircraft in June, turning him into the biggest fan of the airlines among Alaska's leadership. The product Condor is offering on the new planes, he said, is as good as any that he has experienced in the past three to five years.
"We love the partnership and a lot of places that Condor has historically flown to in the U.S., but the new aircraft, the business class and premium economy, it's just a completely different level," Pieper said.
Condor nevertheless remains just a small element of the connectivity Alaska is able to offer via partnerships across the Atlantic. The carrier's Oneworld membership gives customers access to far larger transatlantic players, including American, British Airways and Iberia, as well as to Finnair. Alaska also partners across the Atlantic with
Start-up airlines like Avelo Airlines don’t get the press coverage that larger ones do. Big airlines make splashy billion dollar deals like the announced $1.9 billion purchase of Hawaiian Airlines by Alaska Air.
There are few moments in the travel experience more disheartening than watching the baggage carousel come to a halt and realizing your suitcase didn’t make it to your destination. At best, it’s a hiccup in your plans, and at worst, you could lose the suitcase and its contents forever.
A merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines would place them as the fifth- or sixth-largest airline depending on whether the proposed merger of JetBlue and Spirit goes through.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, December 5. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Expands fifth largest U.S. airline to a fleet of 365 narrow and wide body airplanes enabling guests to reach 138 destinations through our combined networks and more than 1,200 destinations through the oneworld Alliance.
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The U.S. airline industry today is dominated by four big airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Together, they fly 78% of all of the seats in the U.S. market.
Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines made a big announcement over the weekend—they entered into an agreement under which Alaska will purchase Hawaiian for $1.9 billion.
Alaska Airlines plans to purchase Hawaiian Airlines in a transaction that will likely take more than a year to complete and may make flights more expensive for travelers.
It’s just the latest tectonic shift in an airline industry always drifting toward consolidation. North America’s sixth-largest airline, Alaska Air, has reached a deal to buy struggling rival Hawaiian Airlines for $18 per share in an all-cash deal valued at $1.9 billion, including $900 million of Hawaiian’s debt.
In a surprising twist of events on a lazy Sunday afternoon, Alaska Airlines announced its plans to acquire the struggling Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion.
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