Alaskan Airlines Pushes to Become a Major Player in Airline Industry

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Alaskan Airlines has been making news in the last month with big changes, new flights and new amenities pushing the once-regional carrier further into the industry as a top contender in flights.

Beginning with the purchase of Virgin American Airlines, Seattle-based Alaskan Airlines becomes the fifth largest carrier in the U.S. The acquisition of the California-based Virgin expands Alaskan’s offerings 1,200 departures from Los Angeles and San Francisco.

With this expansion, Alaskan Airlines will become the first to offer a connection from the West Coast to Cuba when it began its flights between Los Angeles and Havana over the weekend.

As flights expand, so do amenities, as the carrier also announced last week the addition of a new Premium Class service. The new service provides more leg room, snacks and wine starting at $15 per upgrade.

Announced this week is another amenity passengers will love: Free Chat. The new complimentary service will provide GoGo-equipped flights to provide free WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and iMessage to passengers from 35,000 feet.

Stay tuned for even more changes to come from Alaskan Airlines in 2017.

–Lissa Poirot



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