Alaska Airlines Adds 18 New Winter Routes, And Some Are Surprising

Alaska Airlines has just announced 18 new routes for this upcoming winter season, which the airline describes as offering service to “sun-soaked international destinations and winter wonderland retreats.” The destinations as such make sense, though the city pairs are in some cases a bit surprising…

Details of Alaska Airlines’ new winter routes

For this upcoming winter season, Alaska Airlines will be adding 18 new routes. All of the routes are launching in December or January, though their travel windows differ significantly. Let’s go over the details, sorted by the start date of each route. Alaska Airlines will fly:

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• Daily from Fresno (FAT) to Guadalajara (GDL) between December 3, 2024, and February 12, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• 5x weekly from Boise (BOI) to Bozeman (BZM) between December 19, 2024, and March 17, 2024, using an Embraer E175
• Daily from Boise (BOI) to Orange County (SNA) year-round, using an Embraer E175
• Daily from Los Angeles (LAX) to Kelowna (YLW) between December 19, 2024, and March 17, 2025, using an Embraer E175
• Daily from San Diego (SAN) to Reno (RNO) between December 19, 2024, and April 21, 2025, using an Embraer E175
• 3x weekly from San Diego (SAN) to Vail (EGE) between December 20, 2024, and March 16, 2024, using an Embraer E175
• 3x weekly from Seattle (SEA) to Vail (EGE) between December 20, 2024, and March 16, 2024, using an Embraer E175
• 1x weekly from San Francisco (SFO) to Liberia (LIR) between December 21, 2024, and May 10, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• 1x weekly from Seattle (SEA) to Liberia (LIR) between December 21, 2024, and May 11, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• 5x weekly from Sacramento (SMF) and Los Cabos (SJD) between January 6 and April 21, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• Daily between Sacramento (SMF) and Tucson (TUS) between January 6 and April 21, 2025, using an Embraer E175
• 4x weekly between Sacramento (SMF) and Orlando (MCO) between January 6 and April 21, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• 3x weekly between Boise (BOI) and Orlando (MCO) between January 7 and March 25, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• 4x weekly between New York (JFK) and Puerto Vallarta (PVR) between January 8 and April 20, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• 1x weekly between Sacramento (SMF) and Puerto Vallarta (PVR) between January 11 and April 19, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• 1x weekly between Kansas City (MCI) and Cancun (CUN) between January 18 and June 7, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• 1x weekly between Kansas City (MCI) and Puerto Vallarta (PVR) between January 25 and April 5, 2025, using a Boeing 737
• 1x weekly between St. Louis (STL) and Puerto Vallarta (PVR) between January 25 and April 5, 2025, using a Boeing 737

These new flights are expected to go on sale as of later today (on July 10, 2024). This latest announcement follows Alaska having just recently announced new service to other destinations in Mexico, including La Paz (LAP) and Monterrey (MTY).

What makes these Alaska route additions interesting

Admittedly the airline industry has changed a lot since the start of the pandemic. As people started to travel again in 2021 or so, we saw legacy carriers add more point-to-point leisure routes, which was previously the turf of ultra low cost carriers. This latest expansion from Alaska very much aligns with that concept.

Back in the day, Alaska was pretty focused on primarily operating service from its hubs. In this case, we’re seeing a single new route added from Seattle, while a lot of the other service is in markets you would’ve never expected to see Alaska.

Kansas City to Cancun? Boise to Orlando? New York to Puerto Vallarta? Those are some interesting adds that you’d ordinarily expect to see from other airlines, but not Alaska.

Is Alaska basically maxed out when it comes to expansion at its biggest hubs? Or is there only so much leisure tourism that an airline can get out of a single market in the winter season?

I’m sure these routes will perform reasonably well, since people do like escaping their home climate in winter. However, these routes mostly don’t really tap into any strengths of Alaska’s, but rather the airline is just hoping for travelers to learn about the routes through online travel agencies, and book that way.

Bottom line

Alaska Airlines has just announced an expansion for winter, including adding 18 routes to both sunshine and snow destinations. It’s common for airlines to add seasonal leisure oriented routes, though what makes this so interesting is that some of these city pairs are downright random, and don’t really play into any of Alaska’s strengths.

Is there demand for a once weekly flight from Kansas City to Puerto Vallarta? Yeah, probably. But would we have expected Alaska to be the carrier operating that? Probably not…

What do you make of Alaska’s winter expansion?