Non Rev Embargo on AK to HI

[Erndogg]

Non Rev Embargo on Alaska to HI

Had a buddy trying to jumpseat/non rev on them today and to his surprise AK stopped taking non revs because of all the problems headwinds/wieght/ETOPs fuel etc.... they are having with the 737-800 to HI????

Any AS people out there to explain???

 

[CesnaCaptn]

I don't think AS has an actual embargo on flights to HI. I was told that if the winds over the Pacicific exceed 65 knots headwind, they will leave revenue (or nonrevs) behind. This past week has been bad. I know quite a few flights had to do tech stops in Oakland. Even if I could get on a westbound flight, I wouldn't want to risk the extra stop. Your best bet is Hawaiian out of Seattle. I just vacationed on Oahu last week and I took HA westbound and AS Eastbound.

 

[S5Dispatch]

No embargo just headwinds last week 175kts +. We had to make OAK stops to make loads work. I had one flight with a 651 knot ground speed coming back from the islands.

 

[Erndogg]

Yah,
He ended up flying on HA out if PDX. But he told me that the embargo just started on Thursday.

 

[QCappy]

From Alaska's World:

Nonrev travel from Seattle and Portland to all Hawaii destinations is embargoed at least through Saturday, Jan. 16, when the ban will be re-evaluated and possibly extended. The embargo does not apply to employees flying on positive space credits, travel from Hawaii to the Mainland, or travel between Oakland and Hawaii and Anchorage and Hawaii.

Employees should expect that a nonrev embargo may occur on and off throughout the winter as weather patterns disrupt the ability to carry a normal payload of passengers and bags to the Islands.
The embargo is necessary because extreme headwinds mean flights have had to take off with 30 to 40 open seats during the past few days.

 

[IAHERJ]

Great, now you've given Continental some new ideas.... We've just started 737 "service" to HNL from the West Coast. I hear our next generation B737-900"ER's" are holding 15 seats Westbound everyday out of LAX due to weight restrictions.... The other cities are hopefully going to use 737-800's and or -700's so at least we can fill the seats Westbound. What a joke running 737's out there...We codeshare with UAL now from LAX. You tell me... you are a passenger buying a ticket on cal/ual from LAX to HNl. Your choice is a 767-300(3#'s daily) on UAL or jump on one of our award winning 737-900"ER's" at CAL... What do you choose? Let's see, go to HNL at Mach .83 on a 767 with 3 classes of service or struggle to lift off of a 10,000 foot runway and cruise at .78 across the Pacific on an airplane better suited for AUS/SAT to IAH.... Gordon? Where are you? The pizza is getting pretty cheap......

 

[ImbracableCrunk]

Oh, come on! Everyone knows that the 737-8 only struggles to get off of the 6500' runway! At night. In the winter. And then it putters its way back to the coast.

 

[Erndogg]

Great, now you've given Continental some new ideas.... We've just started 737 "service" to HNL from the West Coast. I hear our next generation B737-900"ER's" are holding 15 seats Westbound everyday out of LAX due to weight restrictions.... The other cities are hopefully going to use 737-800's and or -700's so at least we can fill the seats Westbound. What a joke running 737's out there...We codeshare with UAL now from LAX. You tell me... you are a passenger buying a ticket on cal/ual from LAX to HNl. Your choice is a 767-300(3#'s daily) on UAL or jump on one of our award winning 737-900"ER's" at CAL... What do you choose? Let's see, go to HNL at Mach .83 on a 767 with 3 classes of service or struggle to lift off of a 10,000 foot runway and cruise at .78 across the Pacific on an airplane better suited for AUS/SAT to IAH.... Gordon? Where are you? The pizza is getting pretty cheap......

Anytime you are BLOCKING seats on a plane it makes you wonder why Mgmt chooses to fly a type of aircraft not suited to the Market????= Wrong plane for route!!!

 

[Green Banana]

You tell me... you are a passenger buying a ticket on cal/ual from LAX to HNl. Your choice is a 767-300(3#'s daily) on UAL or jump on one of our award winning 737-900"ER's" at CAL... What do you choose?...

You want the real answer? The less expensive one. It's all about the $$. If you only have 150 people going to the islands, you are way better off blocking a few seats in a 737 than going with 100 empty on the 767. The 73 may not be prefect, but it is better than a half empty 767.

 

[Erndogg]

You want the real answer? The less expensive one. It's all about the $$. If you only have 150 people going to the islands, you are way better off blocking a few seats in a 737 than going with 100 empty on the 767. The 73 may not be prefect, but it is better than a half empty 767.

Green Ban,

who's flying 767s half full???? HA's load factors routinely are in the high 80's to 90%. Don't know what Nw/Delta, Ua or others are but I would bet it's in the 80-90% range.

 

[Green Banana]

I never said anyone was flying half full. Read my post. It says "If you only have 150 people"

Maybe ALK can only fill a 737. If that is the case, a larger aircraft would not be a good choice. If you have to bump a few passengers, but still make a profit, you are doing well in this environment.

 

[Erndogg]

I never said anyone was flying half full. Read my post. It says "If you only have 150 people"

Maybe ALK can only fill a 737. If that is the case, a larger aircraft would not be a good choice. If you have to bump a few passengers, but still make a profit, you are doing well in this environment.

Try telling that to all the Ex Aloha/ATA pilots who used to fly 737's across the pond.
Those two companies where flooded with complaints about pax being bumped and taken off before they both went out of business!!
I dont see how AS would do any better!

 

[flythere]

IMHO, I think Aloha and ATA had other bigger problems than bumping pax between oak and hnl. AS is stonger financially than those two carriers were, so they are better positioned to weather this storm, strong headwinds and all!

I think if these flights are operating near 100% completion for the year, most travelers are willing to put up with a fuel stop in oak, heck look what people are willing to put up with to save a buck, how many stops does the average Southwest passegner endure traveling cross country to grandma's house?

AS saw the market was strong and they wanted to jump onboard to make a buck. The big question is how long before Virgin jumps on the Hawaii bandwagon. I also wonder how long before VA starts competing with AS in the Mexico market?

 

[Erndogg]

I think AS pulled alot of planes out of the Mexico market after the SARS scare and wanted to give the Hawaii market a shot.
I wouldnt be pleased to about making a fuel stop, but like you said the "low yield" type of pax might not mind.