Alaska Airlines to Discontinue Service to 14 Major Cities Beginning Next Year

Alaska Airlines will terminate twice-daily flights from Los Angeles to Mexico City on November 7, signaling a total exit from an increasingly competitive sector.

“We’re always closely examining our network’s financial performance and decided to discontinue this underperforming route,” the airline said of its Los Angeles-Mexico City trip. “Alaska will no longer offer service to Mexico City.”

Alaska Airlines operates Boeing 737s on the Los Angeles-Mexico City route twice daily.

According to FlightGlobal timetables, Alaska began flying to Mexico City from Los Angeles in August 2005, and expanded with the launch of San Francisco-Mexico City flights in August 2017.

Alaska Airlines canceled the San Francisco trip in May, along with numerous other San Francisco routes. At the time, management described the changes as modifications to Alaska and Virgin America’s merged network.

Alaska’s decision to discontinue its Los Angeles-Mexico City trip, and hence all service to the city, comes after many years of increased competition in that market.

According to FlightGlobal timetables, Alaska competed on the Los Angeles-Mexico City trip with just Aeromexico, Mexicana, and United Airlines, which carried a total of 38,000 seats each way on the route ten years ago.

Today, Alaska competes with Aeromexico, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Interjet, United, and Volaris on the route.

These airlines supply approximately 64,000 monthly tickets each way between Mexico City and Los Angeles, while records suggest that United will also quit the market in October.

Alaska claims the shift will allow them to grow further, citing its planned Seattle-Columbus trip as an example.

“Changes such as this give us the opportunity to redeploy our resources to launch new routes where we think we can be more successful,” a spokesperson for the airline told FlightGlobal.

Alaska Airlines said it will continue to service eight additional Mexican locations.


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