Alaska and Delta’s relationship unravels. Deciding when a partnership is over is a big call

Alaska Air Group began 2014 facing an imbalance of supply at its headquarters and largest base Seattle. It was created by an unlikely but now familiar foe: its largest codeshare partner by revenue Delta Air Lines.

Throughout much of 2013 Delta blatantly touted its build-up in Seattle that includes numerous new flights into key domestic markets served by Alaska. Delta is building Seattle into a major US gateway on the west coast to Asia, and has decided it would rather feed passengers into those long-haul flights on its own metal rather than leverage its long-standing relationship with Alaska.

Alaska continues to field questions about the status of its partnership with Delta and how it intends to compete with a much larger enterprise in Seattle. Alaska believes it is well-equipped to withstand both the competition and the diminished relationship with Delta. One major part of its strategy is a capacity shift to ameliorate the oversupply in Seattle.