LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Alaska Airlines will benefit from two recent Boeing 737-800 converted freighters to open its first dedicated cargo service south of Seattle, starting in April, said Adam Drouhard, managing director for cargo.
The newly modified aircraft will help Alaska Air Cargo broaden its market reach in Alaska, speed up deliveries and reduce stress on the airline’s three Boeing 737-700 converted freighters that currently serve the state.
By bringing on the brand new 737-800 cargo jets, “we’re ensuring we’re getting reliability in our schedule, getting more balanced with our fleet. Nevertheless it’s going so as to add quite a lot of capability and growth. There will probably be about 70% more capability in our network overall for the state,” Drouhard told FreightWaves on the AirCargo 2024 conference here this week. He spoke on the exhibit floor, where Alaska Airlines (NYSE: ALK) had a booth to showcase its transport service to freight shipping intermediaries.
In November, Boeing delivered one 737-800 passenger aircraft for all-cargo operations and is putting the ending touches, including upgrading galley fixtures and applying a brand new paint job, on the second aircraft. Touch work on the planes, which got here from Alaska’s passenger fleet, was done by Boeing’s airframe repair partners in Costa Rica and Canada.
The primary plane is currently grounded for scheduled maintenance. Each cargo jets will probably be ready for service by mid-March, the cargo chief said.
The conversions were originally scheduled to be accomplished last 12 months, however the aerospace industry remains to be tormented by shortages of expert employees and provide chain challenges which have delayed production across the aftermarket freighter industry.
With five freighters within the fleet, Alaska Air Cargo will probably be higher in a position to deliver medicine, household goods and fresh food to communities in Alaska, a lot of which have limited road access, while also moving seafood and other export commodities to cities across North America with passenger services that connect in Seattle and Los Angeles.
Each 737-800 freighter can carry 10,000 kilos greater than a 737-700. With a configuration that also holds more containers, the -800s could have 40% additional space than their predecessors.
Widespread dependance on air service means the Alaska Airlines freighters make about seven departures per day, which is more taxing on the airframe and engines than flying at a continuing speed and altitude. The 737-700s on some routes will make three to 5 stops between Anchorage and Seattle. The planes also run about 10 hours per day. By reducing every day operating time to eight hours and the variety of cycles, Alaska Air Cargo can extend their longevity, Drouhard explained.
“The individuality of that market up there may be high cycle for us. In order we add two more aircraft to our fleet, it helps us right-size capability so we’re not trying to unravel so many stops off of 1 plane,” he said. “It also allows us to unbundle markets, in order that way markets get rather more dedicated capability that’s not shared. We’re in a position to spread that schedule across more aircraft.”
Los Angeles will probably be the latest marketplace for the freighters, which currently don’t fly beyond Seattle within the Lower 48 states. Alaska Airlines averages three every day departures from Seattle to Alaska.
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The brand new Los Angeles destination will initially be connected to Alaska through Seattle, but management expects to launch direct flights between Los Angeles International Airport and cities in Alaska in 2025.
“As the brand new expansion gets going, we wish to maintain near Seattle rotation-wise. It makes it easy for us. As we get this set in place, we’ll be taking a look at opportunities to go direct to Anchorage, or other places like King Salmon, Bethel, Nome or the Alaska North Slope,” said Drouhard.
The brand new freighters are also within the means of becoming certified for flying long distances over open water. The aircraft’s expanded range will allow the cargo team to explore recent routes, comparable to a possible nonstop from King Salmon to Seattle.
Cargo revenue at Alaska Airlines was about $130 million in 2023, nearly flat with the prior 12 months. The revenue performance was significantly better than that of most airlines, which experienced revenue declines of 25% to 50% last 12 months due to tepid freight demand and overcapacity. The difference is that almost all airlines operate within the international freight market, where the downturn was most severe, whereas Alaska operates domestically.
Drouhard said he expected to generate 10% to fifteen% more cargo revenue in 2024 due to larger cargo fleet.
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