Alaska Airlines is one of the most popular airlines because they have a great staff, friendly attendants, and customer-conscious pilots. Plus, they are on the leading edge of innovative technology.
That brings up one of the most commonly asked questions within the airline industry. Why is Alaska Airlines so cheap with all the benefits you get when flying with them?
Why Is Alaska Airlines So Cheap?
1. Stationary Seats Are Standard
Interior designs of the Alaska Airlines planes make it easy for them to keep costs down while still offering a great way to fly. The design maximizes space to increase passenger occupancy.
Standard seats in the planes are stationary and bolted down in place. This means that you can not lean your seat back and take a nap during the flight.
This may seem like an inconvenience to you, but it is a positive aspect of flying for the people behind you. Nobody likes to be cramped in a seat that is already small compared to most people’s size.
2. Limited Flight Destinations
Alaska Airlines focuses most of its flights in the Western part of the hemisphere, cutting the cost off almost everything else. They have been expanding, but the focus is still the same.
They do not need as many flight attendants, gate people, luggage handlers, or pilots, which reduces operating costs. Planes are also unnecessary in mass amounts, saving tons of money.
Operating costs are the numbers that run any business. When these numbers are down, profits are up, meaning consumer prices go down, and the fleet’s technology goes up.
3. Loyalty Rewards
Loyalty rewards that you can get from Alaska Airlines are some of the best in the industry. Points that you earn for flying can decrease your costs substantially.
You can cash your points for seat upgrades, hotel booking discounts, and flight price reductions. They can add up fast if you fly a lot, especially if you save them up and use the points all at one time.
Year after year, Alaska Airlines has taken the top place when it comes to its loyalty points rewards. The competition simply cannot keep up with them.
4. Low Fare Calendar
If you are not set on the day and time you need to catch a flight, Alaska Airlines has designed a way to save you money.
They have a flexible schedule search that will give you a breakdown of the flights you can take. Flights that will cost you less money and still get you to your destination.
This is because you will change your flight to one of the days and times that are not on the hot seat. If they have less demand for flights, they will charge you less.
5. Employee Wages Low
One of the most significant expenses known to any business is labor cost. It has already been pointed out that the limited flight plans help save on payroll costs.
Alaska Airlines is also on the low end of the industry pay scale. This cuts down on their payroll costs as well.
This may not be great for the people that work for the airline, but it works out very well for you. It allows them to keep ticket prices lower than their competition.
6. Flight Pass
If you travel a substantial amount to Arizona, California, or Nevada, you will want to look into the Flight Pass program that Alaska Airlines offers.
You must fly in economy class and go to one of the destination airports on the list to enjoy any savings. If you can take advantage of the savings, it is well worth the cost.
Like every other yearly discount plan, it will cost you money upfront, but when you add up the flight cost, you will see the savings you can rack up.
7. iPad Used
As a company owner, if you can save money in any way, you will do it. The problem is that few companies are willing to invest money into something that will save money in the long run.
Alaska Airlines is not one of those companies. They took the initiative in the early 2010s to switch their manual flight plans over to use iPads.
It saves time and money for the flight crew, and now since they have shifted over to using them for checking in passengers, it will save them even more time, and time is money.
8. Fuel Efficiency
The world’s businesses are doing everything possible to save on fuel costs. Alaska Airlines stays ahead of the competition by implementing all the technology they can into their fleet.
The airline uses AI systems to help dispatchers create flight plans that help save fuel. The systems can optimize the routes to ensure the least miles are traveled during the flight.
Airplane fuel is not cheap, so anything that can be done to save on costs can significantly impact the bottom line. A good bottom line is passed down to you as savings on your flights.
9. Entry-Level Pilots
Payroll has been discussed above, but this ties into that. Alaska Airlines has been known to offer entry-level pilots jobs, especially now that the workforce is suffering.
Since pilots are still learning how to fly, they do not demand as much salary as seasoned pilots do. It makes excellent business sense to make this move.
It is not to say that the pilots for the airlines do not know what they are doing because they have the training to fly. They simply do not have the in-air experience to rely on when making split decisions.
To learn more, you can also read our posts on why Spirit Airlines is so cheap, why Wish is so cheap, and why AliExpress is so cheap.
Conclusion
Alaska Airlines is one of the cheapest airlines you can fly on. That does not mean that the airline is unsafe, though. In fact, they are one of the safest flights that you can fly on.
Since they keep the operating costs down so low, they have the money to reinvest in their fleet, which Alaska Airlines does whenever they can.