Delta Vs Alaska: The New Airline Rivalry

A couple of Delta A330neos at SeaTac (Jamsheed Motafram).

This week, the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks renew their rivalry on Sunday Night Football and I felt like this would be the perfect week to go into airline rivalries. And what better way to start this series off than with Delta vs Alaska which like GB vs SEA became more intense in the 2010s.

Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers shakes hands with former Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Just like the rivalry between these two, Delta and Alaska have a lot of bad blood between the two (NFL).

But instead of controversial calls and epic collapses/comebacks, there would be hostile takeovers and a similar amount of badmouthing between the two. And as someone who lived in both Wisconsin and Seattle, I find these similarities fascinating. Both rivalries also peaked in the 2010s as well so now it’s time for takeoff (or kickoff)! 

Origins

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 in Seattle (Jamsheed Motafram).

Starting in the 2010s, Alaska Airlines wanted to expand their influence on the market. Initially, Alaska and Delta were close partners with Alaska feeding routes into Delta’s international network by flying passengers into Seattle which allowed Delta to expand their operations in Seattle. So much so that it was rumored that Alaska was subject to a potential hostile takeover by Delta and as a result, the Seattle-based carrier felt threatened. Because of this, Delta decided to compete with Alaska on their bread-and-butter routes on the West Coast.  So what did Alaska do as a response to this? 

Alaska Acquiring Virgin America

An Alaska Airlines 737 at SFO. Thanks to the merger with Virgin America, Alaska were able to establish SFO and LAX as hubs (Jamsheed Motafram).

With Delta threatening Alaska’s reign in Seattle, the carrier decided to set its sights on Virgin America to cement its status as the top dog on the West Coast. This allowed Alaska to gain access to Virgin America’s operations at SFO as well as LAX. This showed the market that Alaska was serious about competing with the big 4 (Delta, Southwest, United and American). Even though at first glance Alaska overpaid, the merger would eventually pay dividends for the airline with their SFO and LAX hubs. However, this upset Virgin founder Richard Branson when he said that “the merger resulted in the brand being castrated by a company like Alaska.” This got Richard Branson closer to Delta by having Virgin Atlantic join SkyTeam in 2023. 

Virgin Atlantic Joining SkyTeam

A Virgin Atlantic Dreamliner in Seattle. Thanks to a joint venture with Delta along with the Alaska-Virgin America merger, this forced Virgin Atlantic to become a part of the SkyTeam Alliance (Jamsheed Motafram).

In 2013 Delta Airlines acquired a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic which allowed the carrier to have more access into London Heathrow. With this option, frequent fliers of both airlines are able to use miles on either carrier when flying into London. This gave fliers in Seattle more options to choose from for transatlantic travel. So one can use Delta to fly within the US and the miles they acquire would allow them to fly transatlantic on Delta or their partners due to Virgin being a part of the SkyTeam Alliance. Branson’s pettiness towards Alaska motivated him to become closer with Delta and their partners which resulted in the aforementioned move of joining SkyTeam in 2023. But the GB-SEA rivalry has another new wrinkle added to keep things interesting. 

Delta Announcing Direct Flights from Green Bay and Milwaukee to Seattle 

A Delta Airlines A220 in SNA. This would be an ideal plane for Delta to use for flights between Seattle and Milwaukee/Green Bay (Jamsheed Motafram).

Due to Green Bay playing Seattle next Sunday, Delta Airlines thought it would be a perfect opportunity to fly Packer fans to the Emerald City by announcing flights between Milwaukee/Green Bay and Seattle on the weekend of the big game. Delta already had success with these services for other road games with Green Bay fans and this game against Seattle could test the waters for regular service between Seattle and Milwaukee or Green Bay.

An Alaska E175 in San Diego. Alaska missed an opportunity to flights between Seattle and Green Bay this year for Sunday's matchup. Hopefully with more matchups in the future, Alaska will have a service between the two cities with this aircraft (Jamsheed Motafram).

Alaska on the other hand already flies year-round to Milwaukee but not to Green Bay and truth be told, they could deploy a Horizon E175 flying between Seattle and Green Bay for Packer fans who need to go to the game. But also, if the route is successful for Delta, they could announce year-round flights to Milwaukee adding more connectivity with their pacific hub by utilizing an A220 during offseason and a 737 NG series during the summer months. So regardless of who wins on Sunday, the biggest winner will be the airline industry. 

Conclusion

The Jackie Robinson Delta 757 at SNA (Jamsheed Motafram).

In summary, the Alaska-Delta rivalry is a throwback to the old airline rivalries in the past between Pan Am and TWA and it’s fascinating to watch it blossom in the Pacific Northwest. It makes the airline industry dynamic and the industry needs these rivalries that would result in more options for the consumer. But what do you guys think? Will the bad blood between Alaska and Delta continue? Be sure to let me know in the comments below and keep looking to the sky.