Good news: AS is beginning nonstop service between SAN and GEG (Spokane) on Oct 1 with a daily EMJ roundtrip! (It's in the schedules.)
Bad news: to the best of my knowledge there has been no announcement by the carrier of this new route. In fact, I have no idea how long the route has been for sale.

Is this part of the new AS? Starting new routes but not bothering to let anybody know about them? How many more new routes are out there but no one has stumbled across them yet?

Can anyone shed any light on this strange occurrence? My only other thought is that this is another case of a premature release (can I say that on A.net?!) of a route before it was supposed to be? I know this has happened before.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to see another new route from SAN, one that has been flown before by the airline and is overdue for reappearance. And I suspected something was coming because the August 26 schedule release of a few days ago left a gap in SAN that meant a new, unannounced route was due. But this is not how I expected it to show up...

bb

Announced today, Bob!

Sorry....not finding much but did find this in the RDM local paper:
https://www.bendbulletin.com/business/6 ... nd-airport

Ummmmm...... ??? Thanks S.

A bit confused... still. You're saying it WAS announced today where? Or maybe it was supposed to be?

And I'm very happy RDM is getting mainline equipment but just what has that to do with SAN-GEG (on an EMJ) -- the topic of this thread?

???

bb

Bob,

I took hiflyeras's comment as a hint that it was just announced... by you!!!
Maybe I'm reading too much into it but that wink at the end of his comment made me think that way!

Wonder what's the hook for SAN-GEG to have flights...

Students going to San Diego for the beach and Mexico? Some industry popping up in Spokane? Or on the contrary, students flying to Gonzaga and side trips to Canada??

AntonioMartin wrote:

Wonder what's the hook for SAN-GEG to have flights...

Students going to San Diego for the beach and Mexico? Some industry popping up in Spokane? Or on the contrary, students flying to Gonzaga and side trips to Canada??

Who knows, but AS has the data to know how many people currently connect in SEA/PDX on the route in order to justify a nonstop.

No one books a ticket by a press release. They go on kayak or the airline website and type in the city pair.

32andBelow wrote:

No one books a ticket by a press release. They go on kayak or the airline website and type in the city pair.

That's what I was thinking - and more directly stated.

Press release is as the name would indiacte for thr press. The news channel and newspaper so that they get the details correct. It's not for the general public. In Spokane this will be news worthy, in SD probably not.

Press releases can also cost upwards of $800 to put it out on the newswire. Im not sure 1 route alone justifies that expense.

Looking at the flight numbers AS3462 SAN-GEG, evening arrival in Spokane, and AS3416 GEG-SAN, morning departure from Spokane, it looks like the plane will be RON in Spokane. I guess there is more room in Spokane than in San Diego for RONing the plane. Also since it is currently an OO flight based on the 3400 series flight number does OO has a maintenance or crew base in Spokane which would also explain keeping the plane in Spokane overnight.

gmcc wrote:

Looking at the flight numbers AS3462 SAN-GEG, evening arrival in Spokane, and AS3416 GEG-SAN, morning departure from Spokane, it looks like the plane will be RON in Spokane. I guess there is more room in Spokane than in San Diego for RONing the plane. Also since it is currently an OO flight based on the 3400 series flight number does OO has a maintenance or crew base in Spokane which would also explain keeping the plane in Spokane overnight.

OO's crew base is in SAN. May possibly have a maintenance base there as well, but nothing in GEG.

SANFan wrote:

Good news: AS is beginning nonstop service between SAN and GEG (Spokane) on Oct 1 with a daily EMJ roundtrip! (It's in the schedules.)
Bad news: to the best of my knowledge there has been no announcement by the carrier of this new route. In fact, I have no idea how long the route has been for sale.

Is this part of the new AS? Starting new routes but not bothering to let anybody know about them? How many more new routes are out there but no one has stumbled across them yet?

Can anyone shed any light on this strange occurrence? My only other thought is that this is another case of a premature release (can I say that on A.net?!) of a route before it was supposed to be? I know this has happened before.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to see another new route from SAN, one that has been flown before by the airline and is overdue for reappearance. And I suspected something was coming because the August 26 schedule release of a few days ago left a gap in SAN that meant a new, unannounced route was due. But this is not how I expected it to show up...

bb

It was just announced internally to employees this morning. I'm sure locals in GEG and SAN will hear something in the next day or two. It's one flight on a OO E175 though, so they're probably not going to make a big deal about it.

This is a good test of the flexibility that the E175 offers within the AS system. Too long for a Q4, too thin for a 737. Might be a winner.

gmcc wrote:

Looking at the flight numbers AS3462 SAN-GEG, evening arrival in Spokane, and AS3416 GEG-SAN, morning departure from Spokane, it looks like the plane will be RON in Spokane. I guess there is more room in Spokane than in San Diego for RONing the plane. Also since it is currently an OO flight based on the 3400 series flight number does OO has a maintenance or crew base in Spokane which would also explain keeping the plane in Spokane overnight.

Does this flight support Alaska's two main banks that have the EWR and MCO flights?

There's some history on GEG-SAN.

WN flew it two summers ago and the 73G was just too big of a plane.

ExpressJet flew it during the branded days with 2x on a 45X. Route did well (as did SMF-GEG, ONT-GEG) via a couple of folks from back then who were privy to ExpressJet. GEG was among the XJ markets that actually performed well during the stand alone experience.

The E75 is the perfect plane for GEG-SAN and I'm surprised it took this long for AS to announce it. I would expect additional E75 GEG-California flying from AS. It'll be harder to win though with WN jumping on GEG-SMF/SJC in last several months.

SAN is a O&D city for AS not a connection hub. Anyway there is no way that AS is going want to connect anyone on EWR-SEA-GEG. Look it up on gcmap it's a rediculous amount of miles from the northeast corner down to the southwest corner back up to the northwest corner.

So it sounds like a MX rotation that AS believe they can fill. As long as they make 0 dollars and lose not a lot I think they’ll be happy

slcdeltarumd11 wrote:

SAN is a O&D city for AS not a connection hub. Anyway there is no way that AS is going want to connect anyone on EWR-SEA-GEG. Look it up on gcmap it's a rediculous amount of miles from the northeast corner down to the southwest corner back up to the northwest corner.

You'd be surprised. When I fly the SEA-SAN-MCO, I have run into people making connections to EWR via SAN. Also I have seen people connecting in SEA to go to SJC and OAK. Granted they are very far and few between...but it happens. Even Avgeeks would do it. But I do see your point. GEG-SAN-MCO or GEG-SAN-Hawaii/Mexico is more like it.

As an avid Avgeek, I would do the SEA-GEG-SAN route to (1) increase my mileage, and (2) it's what Avgeeks do.

AS announcement tomorrow morning.

100% incorrect.

32andBelow wrote:

So it sounds like a MX rotation that AS believe they can fill. As long as they make 0 dollars and lose not a lot I think they’ll be happy

n7371f wrote:

100% incorrect.

32andBelow wrote:

So it sounds like a MX rotation that AS believe they can fill. As long as they make 0 dollars and lose not a lot I think they’ll be happy

Yah that 1x RON turn is gonna be what then? Lol. Come on bro.

32andBelow wrote:

n7371f wrote:

100% incorrect.

32andBelow wrote:

So it sounds like a MX rotation that AS believe they can fill. As long as they make 0 dollars and lose not a lot I think they’ll be happy

Yah that 1x RON turn is gonna be what then? Lol. Come on bro.

I think what N7371f is saying it is that it can't be a MX rotation without a OO maintance base were the plane is RONing. From the OO website, linked below there is no maintenance base in GEG, were the plane will be parked overnight.
http://www.skywest.com/about-skywest-airlines/facts/
Now if this was a QX flight then we might have a winner as QX does have a maintenance base in GEG
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/about ... ir-history

All of this curiosity about "why SAN-GEG?" and nobody's bothered to post the DOT traffic stats. Until now. The average pax traffic for all of 2017 between SAN and GEG was 130 PDEW! That's an extremely healthy number of pax, especially for a 76-seat EMJ! (And probably explains why WN even made an attempt at it last summer.) I have no idea what the 'hook" (connection) might be between SAN and GEG but there obviously is one since ~130 people fly the route each day in each direction!

I've posted a lot about this topic on several threads except this one since it didn't see any interest until this evening. And there seems to be an indication that the official AAG announcement will be tomorrow. It's quite possible that other routes will be announced as well. At least we already have a thread ready to go!

A couple of comments. First, I see that some people seem to see no purpose for a press release for this new route. That's irrelevant since AS always issues press releases for new routes. That's why I was confused as to why there was none today when the flight appeared in the schedules. The PR lets airports, potential pax, potential freight shippers, and anyone else who might be interested, know that there will now be a nonstop roundtrip between 2 particular cities.

There is no mx on either end of this route. The a/c will fly from GEG to SAN every morning then fly to STL and be worked into the network, getting to an mx base at some point. There is a SkyWest domicile in SAN so the crew will change there.

And yes, SAN is pretty well filled up regarding RON spots for AAG -- 13 currently and all summer -- so this schedule was put together to RON the EMJ somewhere else - namely GEG.

bb

SANFan wrote:

All of this curiosity about "why SAN-GEG?" and nobody's bothered to post the DOT traffic stats. Until now. The average pax traffic for all of 2017 between SAN and GEG was 130 PDEW! That's an extremely healthy number of pax, especially for a 76-seat EMJ! (And probably explains why WN even made an attempt at it last summer.) I have no idea what the 'hook" (connection) might be between SAN and GEG but there obviously is one since ~130 people fly the route each day in each direction!

I've posted a lot about this topic on several threads except this one since it didn't see any interest until this evening. And there seems to be an indication that the official AAG announcement will be tomorrow. It's quite possible that other routes will be announced as well. At least we already have a thread ready to go!

A couple of comments. First, I see that some people seem to see no purpose for a press release for this new route. That's irrelevant since AS always issues press releases for new routes. That's why I was confused as to why there was none today when the flight appeared in the schedules. The PR lets airports, potential pax, potential freight shippers, and anyone else who might be interested, know that there will now be a nonstop roundtrip between 2 particular cities.

There is no mx on either end of this route. The a/c will fly from GEG to SAN every morning then fly to STL and be worked into the network, getting to an mx base at some point. There is a SkyWest domicile in SAN so the crew will change there.

And yes, SAN is pretty well filled up regarding RON spots for AAG -- 13 currently and all summer -- so this schedule was put together to RON the EMJ somewhere else - namely GEG.

bb

I can think of a couple of hooks for the flight.
1) The air force survival school is right next to GEG at Fairchild Air Force base. I can see the US Navy using the school for some training.
2) A west coast conference school on each end of the flight. While the Gonzaga basketball teams typically travel by charter the other teams, baseball, volleyball, soccer, tennis and golf, typically fly commercial so from August through May you could get boost in traffic from the team travel.

Keep an eye on Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/AlaskaAir

Update: the official announcement is out (about 5 this morning) so I'm a happy camper! Here's the link:
https://newsroom.alaskaair.com/2018-06- ... Washington

Nice to see more growth in SAN in 2018! Keep it coming AAG.

bb

slcdeltarumd11 wrote:

SAN is a O&D city for AS not a connection hub. Anyway there is no way that AS is going want to connect anyone on EWR-SEA-GEG. Look it up on gcmap it's a rediculous amount of miles from the northeast corner down to the southwest corner back up to the northwest corner.

I think you meant EWR-SAN-GEG.

You might be surprised at allowable routings EWR-GEG. They can control seat count thru fare bucket availability and married segment availability. AA allows EWR-PHX-GEG as a single fare component. PHX is not exactly on a Great Circle route. They even allow double connections: EWR-DFW-PHX-GEG.

Get bear-y excited! @AlaskaAir has announced new nonstop service from Spokane to @SanDiegoAirport. This daily year-round service will start October 1. Tickets are available at (link: http://www.alaskaair.com) alaskaair.com or by calling 800-252-7522. (Photo: @sandiegozoo) #alaskaair #sandiego #spokane

https://mobile.twitter.com/iflyspokane/ ... 1480031233

MIflyer12 wrote:

slcdeltarumd11 wrote:

SAN is a O&D city for AS not a connection hub. Anyway there is no way that AS is going want to connect anyone on EWR-SEA-GEG. Look it up on gcmap it's a rediculous amount of miles from the northeast corner down to the southwest corner back up to the northwest corner.

I think you meant EWR-SAN-GEG.

You might be surprised at allowable routings EWR-GEG. They can control seat count thru fare bucket availability and married segment availability. AA allows EWR-PHX-GEG as a single fare component. PHX is not exactly on a Great Circle route. They even allow double connections: EWR-DFW-PHX-GEG.

Also, if you have ever flown SEA-SAN, you will find tons of people making connections through SAN...yes, even from SEA and PDX, though they have nonstops.

MIflyer12 wrote:

slcdeltarumd11 wrote:

SAN is a O&D city for AS not a connection hub. Anyway there is no way that AS is going want to connect anyone on EWR-SEA-GEG. Look it up on gcmap it's a rediculous amount of miles from the northeast corner down to the southwest corner back up to the northwest corner.

I think you meant EWR-SAN-GEG.

You might be surprised at allowable routings EWR-GEG. They can control seat count thru fare bucket availability and married segment availability. AA allows EWR-PHX-GEG as a single fare component. PHX is not exactly on a Great Circle route. They even allow double connections: EWR-DFW-PHX-GEG.

Agreed. And if the price is right, I'm sure there's plenty of people who will do it to save a buck.

This was just announced today Wednesday June 14
https://newsroom.alaskaair.com/2018-06- ... Washington

I predict you will see more OO West Coast flights. They need to place the 5 aircraft that are doing the DCA/LGA flights somewhere...

You can bet the 737 - 700 will be used soon as an upgrade.

dc10lover wrote:

You can bet the 737 - 700 will be used soon as an upgrade.

How many 700s are still flying in the lower 48? It seems like they are flying most of the intra alaska flights these days.

dc10lover wrote:

You can bet the 737 - 700 will be used soon as an upgrade.

It's a tough bet with only ~10 remaining pax 700s in the fleet

amcnd wrote:

I predict you will see more OO West Coast flights. They need to place the 5 aircraft that are doing the DCA/LGA flights somewhere...

They may hold off to see what happens to PAE. Maybe some of those 175's will replace the CRJ's flying within Alaska's system right now.

32andBelow wrote:

dc10lover wrote:

You can bet the 737 - 700 will be used soon as an upgrade.

How many 700s are still flying in the lower 48? It seems like they are flying most of the intra alaska flights these days.

I think they'll use an -800. That's what happened to SEA-OMA and SEA-SBA. But there are a few -700's still roaming the lower 48.

wedgetail737 wrote:

amcnd wrote:

I predict you will see more OO West Coast flights. They need to place the 5 aircraft that are doing the DCA/LGA flights somewhere...

They may hold off to see what happens to PAE. Maybe some of those 175's will replace the CRJ's flying within Alaska's system right now.

I assume those 5 EMJs flying to DCA and LGA were earmarked to go to PAE; now that that's on hold, AAG shouldn't have too much trouble finding uses for them. (And I'd be happy to make suggestions if they can't come up with any ideas themselves:. a second SAN-STS r/t, 3 or 4 r/t between SAN & OAK -- a glaring missing route on AS's intra-CA network, SAN-ELP, I could go on... Heck, there might even be some possible routes not involving SAN that might work!)

bb

Does AS own the OO ones or does OO own them? Are they with AS forever?

SANFan wrote:

wedgetail737 wrote:

amcnd wrote:

I predict you will see more OO West Coast flights. They need to place the 5 aircraft that are doing the DCA/LGA flights somewhere...

They may hold off to see what happens to PAE. Maybe some of those 175's will replace the CRJ's flying within Alaska's system right now.

I assume those 5 EMJs flying to DCA and LGA were earmarked to go to PAE; now that that's on hold, AAG shouldn't have too much trouble finding uses for them. (And I'd be happy to make suggestions if they can't come up with any ideas themselves:. a second SAN-STS r/t, 3 or 4 r/t between SAN & OAK -- a glaring missing route on AS's intra-CA network, SAN-ELP, I could go on... Heck, there might even be some possible routes not involving SAN that might work!)

bb

They need to replace the Q400's on the STS-LAX and STS-SEA routes with E-175's. Plus they need to replace the unimpressive CRJ-200's with the E-175's.

wedgetail737 wrote:

They need to replace the Q400's on the STS-LAX and STS-SEA routes with E-175's. Plus they need to replace the unimpressive CRJ-200's with the E-175's.

CRJ-200 service ends this month