Alaska Air Group executives said on a call with analysts Tuesday that the airline has cut some high-frequency service in the face of rising jet fuel prices.
Anthony Bolante | PSBJ
By Nick Pasion – Reporter, Puget Sound Business Journal
Apr 22, 2026
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What’s This?
- Alaska Air Group cut capacity by around 1% since early March, due in part to jet fuel prices.
- Alaska reduced seat capacity on its Seattle-Anchorage route by 10.7% in the second quarter year over year.
- Delta, United, American and Southwest also trimmed Seattle service in the second quarter.
Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) said on Tuesday it is trimming some service this quarter in response to elevated jet fuel prices due to the war in Iran.
The cuts are in addition to pre-planned adjustments Alaska made before the war began, a company spokesperson said in an email Tuesday. For example, Alaska has been cutting flights from Seattle to San Francisco International Airport in favor of new service to its San Diego hub.
“Since early March, the only changes we’ve made have been reacting to new information — which decreased capacity by (around) 1%,” the spokesperson said.
Data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that on routes where Alaska has cut service, passenger seat capacity is down 1.3% from a year ago.
The reductions are hitting some routes from Seattle harder than others. The Business Journal looked at routes for all three carriers under Alaska Air’s umbrella: Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and regional airline Horizon.
Most affected in the second quarter is Alaska Airlines’ seat capacity on flights to Anchorage, Alaska, which was down by 26,275 seats, or 10.7%, from the year before. The airline also cut 11,314 seats to Eugene, Oregon; 8,740 seats to Fairbanks, Alaska; 12,695 seats to Pasco; 16,954 seats to San Francisco; and 8,119 to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
SeaTac-based Alaska is the largest carrier at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport by passenger volume.
The airline’s systemwide reductions include “select late-night departures in high-frequency markets,” Andrew Harrison, chief financial officer at Alaska, said on a call with analysts Tuesday.
It’s not just oil prices affecting the changes. In Puerto Vallarta, where Harrison said Alaska is the largest U.S. carrier, civil unrest led the airline to cancel flights in the first quarter. Harrison said Alaska will keep its reduced service in place going into the spring “to better align capacity with demand.”
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Alaska said its overall network capacity is still up 1% year over year, thanks to its expansion of international service, but down from its original projections.
Other airlines have also cut service from Seattle. Edelweiss Air, a Swiss airline, permanently canceled its seasonal service between Seattle and Zurich last week.
Delta, United, American and Southwest are all trimming some Seattle service in the second quarter, though most are still net positive for the period compared with last year, according to Cirium data.