Alaska Airlines is cutting back on service from one of its main focus cities.
The Seattle-based airline filed plans this weekend to shorten its two longest routes from Boise Airport (BOI), as seen for the first time in Cirum’s schedule.
Alaska will end service from Boise to Chicago on January 7, 2024, followed by flights to Austin this summer. The carrier confirmed the cuts to TPG with the following statement:
“We are always looking for the best ways to maximize our flight schedule. Occasionally we have to make adjustments, including in Boise… In 2024, we hope to further connect Boise to destinations throughout the West.”
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Without these two routes, Alaska will offer approximately 30 daily peak flights from Boise to destinations in the West, including Las Vegas, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. The full map of Alaska’s Boise network for July 2024 can be found on the map below.
Boise is one of Alaska’s focus cities – not necessarily big enough to be considered a hub, but a strategic position the airline wants to maintain. Boise’s second-largest airline, Delta Air Lines, operates about 18 peak flights daily; this makes Alaska the market leader for locals and visitors who flock to the Idaho city.
Over the years, Alaska has expanded its Boise operations with new routes to cities like Los Angeles and Missoula, Montana. The airline began flights to Austin and Chicago on June 17, 2021, as part of a mid-pandemic growth spurt for the city.
These two flights represented the airline’s longest flights out of the city and a new direction – eastward – for the airline’s route map from Boise. These longer flights may have been slightly more expensive to operate, and without a full recovery in business travel, Alaska no longer appears to think they are commercially viable.
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In fact, service to Austin and Chicago doesn’t really fit into the airline’s recent network strategy to increase service on longer leisure flights. During the past few earnings calls, Alaska executives have shared that the airline will shift its focus from business routes, such as Seattle to New York, to leisure-oriented flights, such as the new service from Seattle and Los Angeles to Nassau, Bahamas.
These two Boise products hit Austin and Chicago, two markets with an abundance of business travelers.
Without the Alaska flights, Boise remains connected to Chicago thanks to United Express. Meanwhile, fliers heading to Austin will have to book one-stop connections through nearby hubs.
As for what’s next for Alaska’s focus city of Boise, expect more routes to destinations in the West next year.
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