Articles tagged “alaska airlines”

There's been some drama related to Alaska's proposed acquisition of Virgin America, but many industry insiders still expect the deal to get done. And Alaska executives remain publicly confident that they will get their prize. The big question is when.

JetBlue is surprisingly feisty in this filing, considering airlines ask for and receive extensions all the time. But Alaska is a major competitor of JetBlue's, so maybe that explains it.

There's a bit of blaming the victim (the consumer) in these words. Few in the airline industry think carriers have solved their technology woes, so passengers can expect intermittent outages to continue for the foreseeable future.

Delta is once more doubling down in its campaign to woo Seattle customers.

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.