Anchorage, Alaska PLEASE!!! Alaska has been held hostage by Alaska Airlines for far too long!!!
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Congrats SWA for "potentially" obtaining gates at Newark (EWR)! I am a faithful customer in Sacramento (SMF), and fly SWA whenever possible. I will be making a trip out to New Jersey next year so Newark would be very convenient for me.
Congratulations also on the pending merger with AirTrans! I hope that the aquistion will enable SWA to consider other destinations to add to SWA's expanded network. I am thinking particularily of Alaska. I was born and raised there and most of my family still lives up there. I fly frequently into Anchorage (ANC) on other airlines out of necessity. The problem is and has always been that travel to and from the 49th state is quite expensive because of the fact that so few major airlines serve the state which stiffles any real competition. I can often fly from San Francisco to Europe for less than I can to Alaska! While Alaska Airlines is currently and historically has been the major player in that market, over the years there have been a few other airlines which have made small inroads into the market, however their impact always seems to be dwarfed by Alaska Airlines' presence. What that mrket needs is a player like SWA, which has the spirit to fight the major carriers (just ask American AIrlines!), and the committment to make travel affordable for the average traveler. I promise you that if SWA starts flying to Alaska and offering bargain fares, hordes of folks who have been at the mercy of Alaska Airlines forever will eagerly "abandon ship" and flock to SWA! I know this, because there are multitudes up there who are sick and tired of being gouged by Alaska Airlines and the few other available carrier choices, not to mention the resentment that many Alaskans hold toward Alaska Airlines because they feel that the airline has co opted the State's name and deceptively benefits from the allure of "The Last Frontier" by their use of Alaskana in their aircraft livery and marketing materials, all the while being a Seattle, Washington based company. They should more appropriately be named something like "Rainier Airlines", "Red Apple Air", or "Space Needle Airlines", etc.! My point is that every time I travel up there I hear from fellow passengers, my family, friends and anyone who I talk to about traveling up there just how much they wish that SWA would serve Alaska, and give Alaska Airlines a run for their money! Just my suggestion. I don't know if any of your corporate people ever read these blogs, but if they do, I hope they will take my request seriously. :-)
Your happy customer,
Matt
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