Alaska Airlines (AS, Seattle Tacoma International) has taken delivery of its first B737-8, with Boeing handing over N801AK (msn 67802) on December 27, 2023, and the aircraft making the short ferry flight from Seattle Boeing Field to Oakland International later on the same day.
Alaska Airlines has another nine B737-8s on order. They will join sixty-five B737-9s already operating for the carrier. In addition to the yet-to-be-delivered B737-8s, Alaska Airlines is awaiting a further twenty-three B737-9s and forty-eight B737-10s. The B737 MAX types will gradually replace the existing B737NG fleet, which presently comprises eleven B737-700s, fifty-nine B737-800s, twelve B737-900s, and seventy-nine B737-900ERs.
The ch-aviation schedules reveals N801AK will enter into service on February 15, 2024, initially operating twice-daily roundtrips on the Portland International - Los Angeles International city pair. As more B737-8s ferry in, the aircraft will begin operating on additional routes out of the carrier's Los Angeles and Seattle Tacoma International bases.
ch-aviation has contacted Alaska Airlines for comment.
