Alaska Airlines Will Fly Between JFK & San Jose From This Summer

a plane flying in the sky

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Alaska Airlines has announced a new route it will be offering flyers from summer 2018 as it launches flights between New York’s JFK airport and San Jose, California. The airline has also now offered up a timeframe for the opening of its new Alaska Lounge at JFK so travelers will have somewhere to rest/work before their flights.

Alaska Airlines New York – San Jose Service

a city skyline with a body of water

From 6 July 2018 Alaska Airlines will offer a daily service between New York JFK and San Jose on the following schedule:

AS1037 JFK 16:45 – 20:23 SJC
AS1036 SJC 07:05 – 15:43 JFK

The route will be operated using Virgin America’s A320 aircraft offering the following cain configuration:

  • 8 First Class seats
  • 18 Main Cabin Select seats
  • 159 Standard Economy Class seats

The good news here is that the Economy Class cabin offer seats with 32″ of pitch (leg room) and almost 18″ of seat-width so, as transcon Economy Class goes, the experience shouldn’t be too bad.

Main Cabin Select is a good option if First Class is too expensive or full as it offers a massive 38″ of seat pitch (the same as you’ll find in a lot of international Premium Economy cabins) and seats that are almost 18″ wide.

With First Class only housing 8 passengers I suspect awards will be hard to come by on this route….but at least the seats will be good.

Virgin America A320 First ClassVirgin America A320 First Class

It’s worth noting that Alaska Airlines plans to add more seats to these aircraft as it further integrates Virgin America into its operations so the number of seats available in each section of the aircraft as well as the seat pitch is likely to change.

Alaska Airlines Adds A Daily Flight To New York – Seattle Route

As well as adding a new service to San Jose Alaska Airlines is adding another daily flight to its New York – Seattle route from 6 July 2018.

Space Needle skyline with a tall towerImage Jerry Meaden via Flickr

This will take the number of daily flights on this route up to 3 on the following schedule:

AS7 JFK 07:22 – 10:34 SEA
AS349 JFK 09:37 – 12:49 SEA
AS1021 JFK 18:55 – 10:26 SEA **New Service**

AS1020 SEA 07:05 – 15:35 JFK **New Service**
AS110 SEA 14:05 – 22:42 JFK
AS18 SEA 21:40 – 06:02+1 day JFK

The new service will be operated by Virgin America’s Airbus A320s just like the new service to San Jose but, according to ExpertFlyer, the number of flights on this route will only remain at 3 until 3 November 2018.

At this point the early flight tout of JFK and the red-eye out of Seattle disappear from the schedule.

JFK Alaska Lounge Update

Alaska Airlines has confirmed that it will open the new Alaska Lounge at JFK’s Terminal 7 in “late April”.

The lounge will be located on the upper level of Terminal 7 and, according to the airline, will offer….

[A] premium lounge experience featuring signature touches like a barista for custom crafted coffee drinks and a relaxing living room feel that embodies the airlines’ cool, West Coast vibe.

Alaska has also pointed out that BA’s $65m investment in Terminal 7 is “enhancing the food and retail concession experience while providing new seating areas near the gates for an improved customer experience”.