Alaska airlines phasing out A320 and Dash 8-400

Sad about the Q400 😥

Straight forward business decision with the typical list of identified advantages. This will have been in their strat plan from the time of Virgin acquisition. IMHO, not so sure the dash-400 for Jungle-jet swap is as straightforward as the 737 for A320 one.

I can understand that... Both are old planes... I also know that the dash 8-400 has some wing spar cracking issues that get worse with time and a lot of carriers have already dropped this plane due to the maintenance cost for the repair.

So What airports will Alaska Air leave because they can not land or take off from those airports. I got to believe the Dash 8-400 can get in and out of a lot of airfields that the E175 or 737 Max can not.

The A321neos will be picked up quickly.

I hope the new planes can handle the bad weather like the Dash 8-400s did. Conditions in Alaska are differant then conditions in Florida.

The move to a single fleet has always been in the Air Group strategy. It reduces costs across the board: parts, certifications, all levels of maintenance, training, sims, the aircraft themselves, etc.) and simplifies the operation.

The VX decision is one that will bogle my mind. The Airbus fleet is only a part of an overall decision to wipe out something that Alaska inherently didn't have in their portfolio: an airline that was relatable to everyone outside the PNW. It also handed them California on very expense silver platter. They thought they knew better than VX in every aspect and systemically started disassembling. Alaska could have surely had a similar vibe with Boeing. If I remember correctly, they started putting music and mood lighting on the 737s after the acquisition.

The irony of that decision is that Air Group already has a separate fleet with a different name and employees: Horizon. While you could make the argument that Horizon is different because they fly regionally and not mainline, it's a blurry line. Either way, customers don't know the difference, they are want to get to their destination.

I’m going to miss flying on the Q400. I really enjoy my semi-regular flights between SEA and BOI. I won’t miss having to walk from the Terminal at SEA across the tarmac in the pouring rain to board though.

Like the decision and moreover, I trust management as thus airline has continued to fly newer and better aircraft and they make money.

Just another example (like we needed one) that the purpose of mergers and acquisitions is not to improve the business. Why would you buy out another company, then discard their assets? Where are the operating synergies if all you do is shut down the takeover target and replace it with the old company?

The purposes of M&A are:
1. Generate fees for Wall Street
2. Create confusing accounting conditions, which allow management and their Wall Street advisors make it look like the company is worth more than it is, resulting in temporary stock price bumps
3. Generate bonuses for top management
4. Create justification for larger future pay and bonuses for management
5. Squeeze the customers, by reducing options and price competition
6. Squeeze the employees, by reducing options and price competition

Operational synergies? If they ever happen it's only by accident.

Given the anger @AlaskaAir by Sir. Richard Branson am not @ all surprise with mgmt decision to continue butching VA. He, Sir Richard B regretted selling his prize possession to AlaskaAir and rightfully so!

Good riddance to those noisey Q400's flying low over neighborhoods around Seattle! I actually don't mind flying on them as it's kind of an old school flight experience. No question that the Embraer e185's are a huge step up and a far better plane in every way.

I’ve been an Alaska/Horizon customer for over 40 years. I’ve flown on Metroliners, Dornier 328, Fokker F28, and every configuration of Dash 8’s that had the Horizon name on it. I’ve also been on every DC 8, 737, and even the “groovy” Virgin 320s with the white leather seats and crazy mood lighting. All that to say that these folks got me safely from point A to point B every time. Moving to a simplified fleet makes total sense….. just ask SWA. I will say that Alaska Air today isn’t what it was 8-10 years ago. They’ve had to make tough decisions to stay competitive. My concern now is that since they have joined the One World Alliance, will they be absorbed soon by American Airlines?

No surprise on the A320s, Alaska has always been a 737 operator and they weren't going to give those up. Doesn't make me any more likely to want to fly with them. I wonder what real value they got from the Virgin acquisition, I really don't want to fly a MAX anywhere, so their MAX order fills me with nothing positive. It's a shame really, when I lived on the west coast I had good experiences with Alaska, once I forgave them for killing a plane full of people by not maintaining their MD-83 properly. Virgin was much better though, but a Wall Street man will sell anything for a short term profit.