US value airlines and Southwest harvest benefits from network changes

US value airlines have grown their combined position in the market to nearly 12%. Alaska, through its acquisition of and merger with Virgin America, and JetBlue, through organic growth after opting out of the bidding contest for Virgin America.

Those operators have made some network tweaks during the past year in order to leverage their respective strengths and improve revenue performance. Alaska has made adjustments in certain California markets and JetBlue has placed less emphasis on its focus city in Long Beach, increasing its presence in the US transcontinental market.

Southwest, which is the market share leader in the US and still the country's largest lower cost carrier, is focusing much of its network attention in 2019 on the long-awaited launch of services to Hawaii, which will pressure Alaska and other airlines operating in the market. But Hawaii is a logical extension for Southwest, which is launching service from California airports where it has a strong position.