Twenty years ago Alaska Airlines seriously considered eliminating first class altogether, but determined that they could better monetize the product instead. Now they’re betting more heavily on premium.
They don’t have lie flat seats even for cross country flights, and they eliminated Virgin America’s superior first class product after the merger, but they’re planning to add a row of first class to Boeing 737-800s and add a row of extra legroom coach (“premium class”) to their 737-900ER and 737 MAX 9s.
| Aircraft | First Class | Premium Class | Number of aircraft being retrofitted | Timing |
| 737-800 | Increasing from 12 to 16 seats | 30 seats will remain | 59 | Conversions will begin in early 2025; to be completed by summer 2026 |
| 737-900ER | 16 seats will remain | Increasing from 24 to 30 seats | 79 | Conversions will begin in fall 2024; to be completed by summer 2025 |
| 737-9 MAX | 16 seats will remain | Increasing from 24 to 30 seats | 80 | Conversions will begin in spring 2025; to be completed by summer 2026 |
The news isn’t all new here. We already knew that Alaska would increase first class on 737-800s back to 16 seats. And it’s not all good news, either. Space on an aircraft has to come from somewhere! For instance,
- The Boeing 737-9 and MAX 9 will have the same number of rows as before, with all of the changes in front of the emergency exit. That means the space comes by squeezing premium seating for the three inches needed to convert a row of regular coach to premium.
- While Alaska is going from 12 to 16 seats in first class on the Boeing 737-800, we’ll almost certainly see reduced legroom in first class to fund it.
They may also gain space with their new Recaro first class seats on the 737-800, which I assume will be less padded while “boast[ing] the most legroom and features include a calf rest, new seatback device holder, 6-way headrest with neck support and USB-C charging capabilities.”
Coach on that aircraft gets “new device holders with built in cup holders, USB-C charging and a 6-way headrest with dedicated neck support.” 737-900s get an “interior refresh” with device holders for coach seats.
Alaska is largely matching some of its competitors as it adds premium seats in a world where that’s the product that more and more customers have wanted to buy. Just as American Airlines has missed out on consumer demand for long haul travel, having retired too many widebody aircraft during the pandemic, and Southwest has missed out on customers wanting to buy more than just a standard coach experience, Alaska found itself missing out on the ability to sell customers what they were looking for.
Where Alaska really does shine is in its onboard catering, at least relative to its U.S. competition. Meals in first class on Alaska are generally better than on Delta, American or United.
We’ll see how these turn out for travellers
I’m seeing more and more flights with the extra legroom seats on AS completely full weeks before the flight goes out. I’m glad this will happen.
Alaska just had a decent second quarter. I love this quote. “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,” Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci said in a news release.
Be interesting to see how the introduction of Hawaiians aircraft fits into their plan…..It will be their first exposure to “real” First Class configurations and 8-10 hr flights that require it
Most the time I found Alaska First class catering to be crap
The melted ice cream couldn’t salvage the situation either
As bad as American is I still found it somewhat better and occasionally very good
Since joining one world and since COVID I found they disappointed me in their business behavior despite nice flight attendants and kind folks in their call centers
All fault lies in corporate cost cutting imo
I was loyal for 5 years but no more.
This is lame. Bring back the Virgin America F seats then we’ll talk.
Alaska killed everything appealing and unique about Virgin, only to morph into a smaller, personality and comfort-free American Airlines.
The term Underwhelming would be an understatement… So lame.
Let’s see if the merger with HAL will make ASA grow up – but I doubt it.