Alaska Air Group, the head company of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America, have agreed to merge both airlines together under Alaska. In merging, Alaska Airlines will be in a position to provide more flight destinations while increasing competition among other big air rivals.
Although both airlines have two distinctive cultures among their fliers, Alaska will try to incorporate both cultures in traveling in this new merger. Virgin America is an airline that is known as being very entertainment orientated. They have touch screen entertainment for their passengers which is focused more on the young, hip business travelers who travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Alaska is aimed towards the blue-collar class and is known for providing reliable services.
The vice president of the marketing for Alaska Airlines said they want to bring the vibe that Virgin America has created into Alaska. In attempts to bring the same culture from Virgin to Alaska, they are going to plan to keep as many features Virgin offers.
Alaska is willing to keep the entertainment aspect of Virgin by planning to have a permanent promotion of movies and T.V. shows. This would allow passengers access to two hundred or more movies and T.V. shows while flying.
They are, also, aiming to increase the numbers of the first-class and premium class seats by 50 percent, another aspect Virgin is known to have in their carriers. Next year, Alaska plans to redesign the cabin which includes the seats, the transitioning blue colors onto the Virgin America planes and the uniforms.
By combining both Alaska and Virgin America, there will be an increase in carriers with a fleet of 286 planes and with 118 destinations to travel to. Making Alaska the fifth largest carrier behind the American, Delta, United and Southwest.
The merger between the two airlines will help expand Alaska’s presence in California as well as allow room for flight route opportunities besides traveling in the Pacific Northwest area.
Despite the changes that Alaska is going to be making, their main target will continue to be fliers who are looking for affordable fares and reliability, which both airlines have been recognized and awarded for their customer services. Another target they will be aiming for is a travel group such as the “leisure enthusiast.”
Even though there has been an agreement to merge the airlines, nothing has been finalized since there are other contributing factors that could make it possible or not.
