Delta adds new Midwest route from Seattle

Delta Air Lines will add nonstop service between Seattle and Milwaukee, another route that will put it into direct competition with rival Alaska Airlines.

Delta’s Seattle-Milwaukee route will begin March 9, with Delta Connection affiliate SkyWest flying one daily round-trip flight on 76-seat Embraer E175 aircraft. 

“This new service to Delta’s Seattle hub will give our travelers even more ways to travel to the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and beyond,” Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said in a statement about the new Delta destination. “The new route also gives MKE travelers access to Delta’s international network from Seattle, including easy connections to Japan, China, and South Korea.”

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Delta will face direct competition from Alaska Air, which operates one daily round-trip flight between the cities on Embraer E175 jets. Alaska Air’s flights on the route also are operated by SkyWest, which flies as a regional partner for Alaska Air under a separate agreement.

Southwest currently flies nonstop between Milwaukee and Seattle, but its current nonstop service on the route is scheduled to end Jan. 4. That would leave Alaska Airlines as the sole carrier on the route until Delta’s route begins in March.

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Asked if Southwest would eventually resume its nonstop Milwaukee-Seattle route, spokesman Dan Landson told Today in the Sky: “We’re currently evaluating whether there will be enough demand to support the route during peak travel periods.”

Delta and Alaska, of course, have been engaged in a multi-year turf battle at Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA). The carriers were once close partners, but Delta has since developed SEA as a significant hub, adding numerous routes that now compete head-to-head with Seattle-based Alaska.

The competition has sent passenger numbers soaring at SEA, which has reported a number of monthly and annual passenger records since 2010.

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