SEATTLE, Aug. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Alaska Airlines continues the expansion of its Seattle hub with the launch of new daily nonstop service to Indianapolis and Wichita, Kansas starting spring of 2017. With the addition of Indianapolis and Wichita, the airline will serve 89 nonstop destinations from Seattle, more than twice as many as its nearest competitor. Alaska is the only airline to fly nonstop from Sea-Tac International Airport to 35 of those destinations.
“We continue to add more destinations from our hometown,” said John Kirby, vice president of capacity planning at Alaska Airlines. “With the addition of nonstop service to Indianapolis and Wichita, Alaska Airlines now offers nonstop service to a total of 89 cities from Seattle – more than twice as many as any other airline.”
This new route provides a link from the Midwest to tech hubs up and down the West Coast. Named the No. 1 city for conventions by USA Today, Indianapolis has a thriving business community and is known as the Silicon Valley of the Midwest. Home to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, “Indy” is considered the motorsports entertainment capital of the world. With two professional sports teams and a budding craft beer scene, the city is a desirable vacation destination.
Often referred to as the “Air Capital of the World,” Wichita is the country’s major supplier to builders of commercial aircraft and is home to aviation heavyweights Beechcraft, Cessna, and Boeing 737 fuselage maker, Spirit AeroSystems. Kansas’ largest airport, Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, opened its state-of-the-art, modern terminal on June 3, 2015.
With these new routes, Alaska will operate 20 daily flights to nine Midwest cities: Chicago; Detroit;Indianapolis; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; St. Louis; Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; and Wichita, Kansas.
| Summary of new service: | |||||
| Start date | City pair | Departs | Arrives | Frequency | Plane type |
| April 13 | Seattle-Wichita | 11:55 a.m. | 5:13 p.m. | Daily | E175 |
| April 13 | Wichita-Seattle | 6:10 p.m. | 7:55 p.m. | Daily | E175 |
| May 11 | Seattle-Indianapolis | 9:55 a.m. | 5:10 p.m. | Daily | 737 |
| May 11 | Indianapolis-Seattle | 6:10 p.m. | 7:59 p.m. | Daily | 737 |
| All times based on local time zones |
Alaska will fly to Indianapolis with fuel-efficient Boeing 737 aircraft. Onboard, customers will get to enjoy more of what they love with free and premium entertainment downloaded direct to customer devices, Pacific Northwest-inspired food and beverages, as well as custom leather seats with power outlets to charge laptops and personal devices for each customer.
Alaska will fly to Wichita with 76-seat E175 jets, operated by SkyWest Airlines, which feature 12 seats in first class, 12 seats in premium class and 52 seats in the main cabin. The E175 boasts cabin dimensions on par with a narrow-body jet. Onboard amenities include Wi-Fi Internet access, and Alaska Beyond Entertainment, which includes free and premium entertainment direct to customer devices and power outlets in the first class cabin.
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Man.. I wish they would fly out of Tulsa..they fly out of OKC but 110 mile drive one way isn’t worth it..
Alaska is still expanding which sounds good but they will have some challenges.
First, they overpaid for Virgin and I doubt they will hold on to their investment grade status. Secondly, if Delta is still committed to Seattle I suspect sometime in the next couple of years Delta will make a deal with SeaTac to get more gates. Ultimately, Alaska’s margins will probably get compressed in Seattle from this.
Long term…I think another merger would be the best for everybody. Alaska/Virgin/JetBlue would be a wonderful airline. JetBlue’s product would satisfy most Virgin flyers and be an upgrade for Alaska customers. Give it three years and we will see what happens.
With this, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them wind up at CMH. Apparently, there’s interest from both sides.