Delta expansion at Sea-Tac should mean lower fares

Delta Airlines is adding new domestic flights at Sea-Tac Airport, a direct challenge to hometown company Alaska Airlines. It should mean lower air fares.

For years, Alaska has helped feed the Atlanta-based carrier’s international flights out of Sea-Tac.

“Delta has decided that they’re going to fly their own domestic flights to feed their own international carrier,” said Steve Danishek, Seattle travel analyst. He said travelers will benefit from more domestic flights and lower fares in the short term. Longer term, he said, the Atlanta-based airline is a threat to Alaska.

“It is very clear that the battle for the hub of Seattle is definitely in play,” said Danishek.

Delta is hiring hundreds of people in the Seattle area and considers Sea-Tac Airport underserved. It will add flights from other cities in the western U.S.

“The effect is going to be that there will be more seats to each destination and that generally will depress the fares but that doesn’t mean we’re going to see deeply discounted fares but it does mean we will see more seats at the lowest normal rates,” predicted Danishek.

If Delta’s strategy is successful, it could lead to a takeover of Alaska Airlines. That could be bad news for customers of Alaska Airlines, which has what Danishek calls the “Cadillac” of mileage plans. That would go away under Delta, which is changing to a mileage plan based on points and dollars spent, not miles traveled.

Any takeover would be a year or two off. An indicator of Delta’s success at Sea-Tac is whether it reduces its daily international flights, an indicator it’s not getting the feed from its own domestic flights that it anticipated, said Danishek.