Alaska Airlines Is Planning Big Upgrades To Passenger Experience

According to AFA Alaska, the union representing Alaska Airlines flight attendants, airline management is “considering upgrading first class” to be competitive with other airlines. This is alongside the airline’s other changes and upgrades to the in-flight passenger experience and cabin crew work environment.

Yes, the Alaska Airlines First Class galley is a small space for any flight attendant to work.  Here’s the 737-890 version.

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

Alaska Airlines has, among other values,

“Be remarkable: We create lasting impressions. In creative and unconventional ways, we deliver feel-good hospitality that is thoughtful, genuine, and worthy of sharing.”

Therefore, Alaska Airlines encourages employees to care about the passenger experience. With other airlines flying competitive routes offering more upscale experiences, such as JetBlue and Delta, now seems an excellent time to look at upgrading first class. Granted, to Alaska Airlines, having a reasonable price for a large, reclining seat is better than something overpriced, as stated on their earnings calls.

Nonetheless, Alaska Airlines management is considering passenger experience upgrades in various ways. For instance, a new Bloody Mary cocktail mix is in the works. So is updating the seatback cards to have updated information and a reminder to get receipts from alaskareciepts.com. Meanwhile, the tiny soda cans will remain available for flight attendants to dispense soda to passengers.

Updating the 737-800

A look down the Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737-890 cabin before upcoming renovations

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

The price tag for Alaska Airlines to update its Boeing 737-800s is a cool $20 million investment across the 61 aircraft, which have an average age of over 14 years. According to the Alaska AFA blog, the first one should be available for service “by mid-2023 or sooner”. The goal is to provide passengers with the modern amenities found on the MAX, even after removing a third rear lavatory to bring economy seating up to industry standard 120. The -800s are not as long as the -900s, nor as small as the -700s, which create this “just right” feel about them. One can read more about the differences between 737 models here.

More satellite WiFi is coming to Alaska Airlines, but…

Alaska Airlines’ increasing access to satellite WiFi increases ease of access to inflight entertainment, home e-mail and more.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

Yes, more Alaska Airlines aircraft are being retrofitted with satellite WiFi. According to Alaska Airlines, 80% of the fleet already has Satellite WiFi. Satellite WiFi is available for $8 per flight and 20x faster than basic WiFi with much more connectivity.

However, neither the Boeing 737-700s in the mainline fleet nor the Embraer 175 regional jets that Alaska Airlines’ regional subsidiary Horizon Air is using to replace the de Havilland of Canada Dash-8-400s (aka Q400s) will get satellite WiFi. Pricing will vary by flight.

The 737-700s and E175s have GogoATG4 WiFi onboard, which is air-to-ground WiFi. According to GoGo, such equipped aircraft has four antennas to attempt to connect to multiple Gogo tower sites simultaneously. The WiFi speed maxes out at 9.8MBPS.

One last thing

Yes, the Alaska Airlines flight attendants know that ice isn’t always in as much plentiful supply as pictured here.

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

If you do not like the ice on Alaska Airlines, please do not blame your flight attendant. The Alaska AFA union, as per its blog, is working to stress to management that “Failure of ice provisioning, quantity, and quality has contributed to a lack of confidence by Flight Attendants in the catering operation.“

Do you fly Alaska Airlines first class? Please let us know what upgrades could be made in their first class cabin in the comments.

Source: AFA Alaska, Alaska Airlines WiFi, GoGo