With plans to launch a dozen intercontinental routes with 787s, Alaska’s CEO intends to transform the once-regional airline into a global player.
Alaska Airlines is following a well-worn road with its new service to Europe.
The Oneworld alliance carrier launched its first flight across the Atlantic on 28 April, connecting its Seattle base with Rome. Next up: London Heathrow from 21 May and Reykjavík from 28 May.
The new European routes are part of Alaska Accelerate, a three-year, multi-billion-dollar expansion that aims to lift Alaska into the realm of global carriers. Chief executive Ben Minicucci aspires to transform the West Coast brand into the “fourth US global carrier”. At least 12 intercontinental routes are planned from Seattle by 2030, flown by a mix of Boeing 787-9s and -10s.
“We want to make sure that we are the airline that takes Seattle to the world,” Minicucci said ahead of the airline’s inaugural flight to Rome in April.
The move by the 90-year-old airline is far from unusual — it just took longer than for most. Many airlines, once reaching a point of maturity, look abroad for growth. Recent examples include Azul, which after launching as an all-domestic Brazilian airline in 2008 added intercontinental flights to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando in 2013. JetBlue Airways similarly flew exclusively in the Americas from its launch in 2000 until its first transatlantic service to London’s Heathrow airport in 2021.
Further back, defunct Continental Airlines and US Airways both turned to long-haul international flying for profitable growth in the 1990s.
“The riskiest element of Alaska’s plan is the international expansion, though leveraging one’s domestic heft in order to expand into further-flung long-haul destinations is a natural evolution in the typical airline’s lifecycle,” wrote JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker in July 2025. “That doesn’t mean it succeeds, just that it’s not a shocking development to us”.
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Why now?
Alaska’s global turn comes after a decade of domestic growth. Since 2016, the airline has bought two carriers — Virgin America in 2016 and Hawaiian Airlines in 2024 — and nearly doubled its capacity. It leapfrogged rivals to become the largest carrier by seats along the US West Coast and to Hawaii from 2016 to 2026, Cirium Diio schedules show.
Then, in acknowledgment that many of its most-loyal customers fly internationally, Alaska joined the Oneworld alliance in 2021.
Minicucci, at an investor event in December 2024, said Alaska’s international growth was aimed at boosting its “relevance and loyalty” among its core West Coast customers.
Today, he sings a slightly different tune, more aligned with the US political climate.
“A lot of Americans are flying globally, and we’re not flying the proportion of Americans based on our metal – it’s [foreign] competitors’ metal,” Minicucci said during an interview after the first Rome flight. “When I look in the Pacific Northwest – we have the largest hub here, we have this massive following… We have this opportunity to do something really good in our largest market’s hub and take people from this region globally.”
His words echo those of United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby — not to mention the Trump administration’s rhetoric — of a “trade imbalance” between US airlines and foreign carriers, where the latter fly more travellers on international flights than the former.
US airlines flew 49.6% of the scheduled seats to and from the country in 2025, Cirium Diio schedules show.
How much Alaska’s long-haul expansion actually moves the needle is unclear given the volatile nature of airline competition. Spirit Airlines closed its doors on 2 May, eliminating a sizable amount of US-Latin America capacity, and several European airlines, including Edelweiss Air and Norse Atlantic Airways, have cancelled some US flights, citing fuel prices.
Weighing Alaska’s odds
Alaska’s new intercontinental flying requires a step outside its comfort zone. While it inherited long-haul know-how from its Hawaiian acquisition, Alaska at its core has been a solidly middle-class airline. The carrier made its name on being a better-than-most midsize carrier with deep hometown roots, regional brand loyalty and Pacific Northwest sensibilities.
That changes with intercontinental flying. Alaska is pitting itself against global carriers with decades of long-haul experience, not least of them being Delta Air Lines, with its own global hub in Seattle.
That inexperience showed on the inaugural to Rome. The meal service in its “Alaska Suites”-branded business class took 3h start-to-finish – longer than typical for a transatlantic flight. The new 787-9 lacked inflight connectivity (though the airline plans to soon begin offering Starlink wi-fi) and its seats were Hawaiian-vintage, with teal highlights. New 787 interiors are not expected until 2028.
“The journey we have over the next three years is to get the product really up to spec – and the lounges – so [we] realise the vision of a premium global carrier”, says Minicucci.
He calls the service on the first Rome flight a “great success” but acknowledges some needed “minor tweaks”, including shorter meal services. Inaugural flights are generally considered special affairs and not typically great measures of an airline’s onboard product.
Onboard offerings alone will not determine Alaska’s intercontinental success. Its network and partnerships will play large roles. On network, Minicucci is mum on where the airline will go beyond the 12 intercontinental destinations planned from Seattle by the end of the decade.
Alaska’s Oneworld membership helps with international partnerships. The airline remains a largely unknown brand in Europe, while in Asia it is building on Hawaiian’s existing sales relationships.
Minicucci says Alaska would consider deepening its relationship with American Airlines, to “make sure Alaska is as successful as we can be as we launch global flights”. The carriers already have a codeshare and loyalty tie up.
He does not provide additional details, such as whether a deeper relationship with American could mean joining one of its joint businesses with British Airways, Japan Airlines or Qantas Airways. Such memberships would allow Alaska to tap into those airlines’ sales and marketing networks abroad, and let it coordinate schedules and fares with partners.
Alaska is already seeing some global success. The Seattle-Tokyo route it launched in May 2025 turned its first monthly profit ahead of schedule in March. And average load factors to both Seoul and Tokyo exceeded 90% for the first time that month.
Elevated fuel prices are not leading Alaska to shift course, says Minicucci. “We’re not going to hold back and delay our strategy for a short-term impact.”
What’s next?
Alaska does not plan any new long-haul destinations this year, Minicucci and other senior executives say. For one, the airline needs to digest its growth this summer — the new European flights are driving almost all of its capacity expansion in 2026. Also, it can only grow as fast as Boeing can deliver new 787s.
The carrier flies six 787-9s — five to operate its schedule to London, Rome, Seoul and Tokyo, plus one spare — and does not expect any additional deliveries this year, its latest fleet plan shows. A seventh 787-9 is due in 2027, four 787-10s in 2028 and its seven remaining 787 orders from 2029-2032.
Alaska’s Hawaiian-branded Airbus A330s will remain based in Honolulu.
Installation of new long-haul cabins, including a new premium-economy product, are scheduled to be done by 2028. The airline also plans that year to open a new premium lounge at Seattle-Tacoma International airport.
All of this is to say: Alaska expects its intercontinental growth will be steady in the coming years as it focuses on refining and maturing its product.
“My competitors all have a great international product, don’t get me wrong. But I think we want to bring a little bit of our uniqueness to the skies”, Minicucci says.
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