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Alaska Airlines reported earnings Wednesday. Net income was down slightly to $220 million in the most recent quarter, coming out of $2.9 billion in revenue. The big merger with Hawaiian Airlines continues apace. But alongside those numbers came an announcement that the company is looking to seriously expand its higher-end offerings.
“Starting in September, we’re excited to begin rolling out additional First Class and Premium Class seating across more than 200 of our aircraft,” the carrier said in an announcement, with work expected to be complete by summer 2026. “This expansion will add 1.3 million premium seats annually to our mainline fleet. Earlier this year, we successfully retrofitted our entire regional fleet, adding 400,000 Premium Class seats.”
There are two big seating developments happening in the airline industry at the moment. On the one hand bigger companies like American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are trying to grab market share in the budget space ahead of a big retrenchment in low-cost-carrier capacity. On the other hand, they’re trying to pack in more of the high-margin customers who like their flights fancy — look at Delta’s huge new lounge at JFK Airport in New York.
“It’s clear that premium airlines are rising above the rest of the industry, and Alaska’s product and performance put us in that top tier, with a strong long-term outlook to grow and compete,” said CEO Ben Minicucci in a statement accompanying Alaska’s earnings.