Alaska Airlines unit Horizon Air today operates the last of its De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s flights after Alaska earlier this month retired the last of its Airbus A320 fleet as part of its accelerated fleet transition announced last year.
The Oneworld carrier in March last year outlined its plan to retire its A320, A321neos and Dash 8s by the end of 2023, as it focused its regional fleet on Embraer 175 jets and its narrowbody operation on a mix of Boeing 737 classics and Max jets.
In its fourth quarter 2022 results announcement today, Alaska says it retired 10 A320s during the three months ending December 2022 and has since retired its remaining A320s after carrying out its last revenue flight with the type on 8 January. It also retired nine Q400s in the fourth quarter and today flies its last services with the turboprop.
Alaska now retains just 10 A321neos of its outgoing types in the fleet, which will be phased out by year-end. The airline hopes to deploy the type at a single base this year.
“We have retired over 60 aircraft in the last few months, paving the way to more cost efficient and more productive operations in both our regional and mainline business,” said Alaska Airlines chief executive Ben Minicucci in a full-year results call on 26 January.
Alaska in October 2022 ordered 52 more 737 Max jets and secured delivery positions on an additional 105. The airline took delivery of four 737-9s in the fourth quarter of 2022, bringing its Max fleet to 37, alongside a large fleet of 737NG narrowbodies.
The group’s regional unit Horizon Air brought its E175 fleet to 33 aircraft after acquiring three of the regional jets in the last quarter of 2022.
