Why is Alaska Airlines so Cheap?

Alaska Airlines strives to run successfully despite the low fares without compromising on the quality of services and the overall safety. The Airline is ranked amongst the top International airlines in terms of safety and customer satisfaction. But how? Why is Alaska Airlines so cheap is a big question among the existing and potential passengers. 

There are various tactics used by Alaska Airlines to keep the prices low  as the airline focuses on offering an affordable and budget friendly experience for its passengers. While,it is slightly wrong to generalize  that Alaska Airlines is cheap for all travelers. It depends on various factors like the destinations, the services required, cabin type and others. However, it can be confirmed that it offers comparatively lower fares for all types of passengers. Without a delay, let’s understand the reasons behind the cheap flight tickets of Alaska Airlines. 

What is the Reason Behind Alaska Airlines Cheap Flights

Alaska Airlines is a low cost carrier of the United States which flies to a limited number of places. It commenced its operations in 1932 and has focused on offering low fare and budget friendly flights to its passengers. 

It is also the fifth largest in terms of total number of passengers in North America. Given,its regional partner airlines are also included. Also, Alaska Airlines is ranked amongst the safest airlines in the industry with good reviews about its services. 

Despite all this, why is Alaska Airlines so cheap? Honestly, it is no magic, the airline is a hybrid model and compensates from the slightly expensive side if the tickets. Not only this, many other smart moves have been formulated and adapted by the airlines to ensure Alaska Airlines cheap flights. Let\’s discuss these reasons one by one to know if we are actually flying an affordable journey. 

Cost Reduction on Fueling and Focusing on Sustainability

Recently, Alaska Airlines reported that it saved 4,80,000 gallons of fuel by using an AI tool, known as FlyWays. It helps analyze the traffic and weather conditions on the scheduled route map. This is a game changer for the aviation industry and has made it possible for the passengers to enjoy low fare rides more easily. 

It is surely Kill Two Birds With One Stone. Alaska Airlines became the first airline to introduce the use of AI that helps in reducing consumption of fuel, ensuring sustainability. This led to lower fare prices and a fool-proof future planning.  Fuel is one of the expensive resources that influence the ticket price for a journey, Alaska Airlines has adapted  ways to reduce it in order to ensure a budget-friendly journey. 

Straight and Short Routes

One more important reason behind cheap flights Alaska Airlines is its direct, limited and shorter routes. The cost of managing and monitoring these routes is low, impacting the overall price of the ticket to be lower. Also, since other major airlines rarely cover these inter-island regions, it is able to charge an appropriate price which is profitable yet lesser than the competitors.   

Alaska Airlines majorly focuses on the West coast of the United States. While it also flies to other regions of Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico. It flies to inter-island and similar less covered routes by other competitor airlines. It gives it the leverage to charge a sufficient sum of money that ensures profit to the airline while keeping the prices low due to increased efficiency in the repeated tasks.

Unbundled Services

Alaska Airlines cheap flights are also due to its unbundled services. The airline does not offer a standard combination of services that increases the cost of the overall journey. WiFi, extra comfortable seats, baggage are some of the needs that differ from person to person and should not be included in the ticket prices. 

By keeping these ancillary services separate from the main transportation cost, Alaska Airlines ensures cheap flight tickets for most of its destinations. The individual prices of the services are also kept minimal by partnering with other major suppliers of the  market. 

Reduction of Fancy Services

As discussed in the unbundled services, Alaska Airlines does not rely on one package fits all policy. Instead, it gives the passengers the freedom to choose how much they want to spend according to their specific travel needs. Similar to that context, since Alaska is aware of the price range its passengers are expecting, the airline has created a limited set of services. 

It does not offer complimentary services that can bring heavy costs to the company. Also, the seating arrangements in the Saver and Main cabins are limited to basic and does not offer reclining and other fancy services. Still, for the higher end consumers, it keeps the options available in the premium and first class cabin series. Either way, additional free benefits are not offered to the passengers to keep the cost within the limit. 

Hybrid Model of Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is amongst those low cost air carriers that relies on hybrid models. In this, the airline ticket consists of high and low cost fares according to destination, seating option and the competition. Destinations which are under its expertise require lesser training and operational cost, ensuring low prices. While the higher cost is charged for other longer routes.

The airline ensures its profit on one type of ticket according to the number of bookings and compensates it for the other. This allows an even distribution of expenses for the passenger while ensuring no loss making value is determined for the Alaska Airlines tickets. 

Customer and Price Prediction

Alaska Airlines has also started using AI to generate a real time analysis of how many passengers will be booking the tickets for what destinations according to the present and past data of the airline. Since it is an old airline, it becomes easier to rely on the data as it has many local and frequent flyers.

Through the prediction and thorough competitive analysis, the airline decides the Alaska Airlines price tickets ensuring it is low and budget-friendly. Sometimes,the prices may go high during peak seasons but still people prefer it as they can modify the total cost by opting and paying for a lesser amount of services.

Sharing Operational Cost with Partner Airlines

Alaska Airlines is part of Star Alliance. It is one of the major airline groups in the world that ensures that standard of the services is met by all its partners. The bigger reason for this tie-up is code-share flights. The member airlines of this group offer a vast variety of locations to explore via its partner flights. The prices and other factors do not differ too much and the operational cost is also not increased. Hence, these partner airlines like Alaska Airlines make sure to offer a higher quality service to its passengers while spending the least on additional routes and its services.  

Conclusion 

Alaska Airlines is the one of the popular airlines in the industry which is also known for its low cost fares. It uses various established and personalized tricks and strategies to reduce the cost of the fares while ensuring no compromise in its profits to keep the smooth flow of operations. Check out the reasons why is Alaska Airlines so cheap and plan your next trip more smartly. 

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