In April 2026, Alaska Airlines commenced its first-ever Alaska-branded widebody flight when it began flying the Boeing 787-9 from Seattle to Rome. Since then, the carrier has begun operating 787s to London and is now branding nonstop flights to Seoul as Alaska Airlines (previously branded as Hawaiian Airlines).

It was a major milestone, as the carrier had only ever operated narrowbody aircraft in the past, and it aims to operate 17 Dreamliners in the future, including the larger 787-10 variant. The 787s are particularly important for Alaska Airlines because it boosts the carrier’s competitiveness against Delta Air Lines.

Over the past decade, Delta has been building up Seattle as a major hub, and its key advantage has traditionally been its long-haul flights. Until recently, Alaska Airlines had no long-haul flights (although it remains the market leader by far), and the 787s will essentially erase Delta’s advantage in this field. However, Alaska Airlines’ 787s aren’t perfect, because they lack what has become an airline’s most lucrative cabin class.

Alaska Airlines’ 787 Fleet & Network

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The 787-9 is new to Alaska Airlines, but these aircraft were originally ordered by Hawaiian Airlines, and the carrier took four of them beginning in 2024 before being acquired by Alaska Airlines. When transferred to Alaska Airlines, the airline kept the same interiors as before with the same configuration, and subsequent 787-9 deliveries will also feature the current seats.

Meanwhile, the Boeing 787-10s will likely also feature the same seats. Hawaiian installed 300 seats on its 787-9s, which is fairly dense for a Dreamliner. In addition, these planes feature a relatively large business class cabin with 34 seats, based on the well-regarded Elevate Ascent reverse herringbone suite. There are also 266 economy seats, with standard pitch and seat width for a 787, while 79 of these are designated as ‘Premium Class seats.

However, they’re merely economy seats with added legroom, equivalent to American’s Main Cabin Extra, Delta Comfort, or United Economy Plus. What these aircraft lack, however, is a true premium economy cabin.

Premium economy itself has been extremely popular with customers in recent years, and demand for premium seats as a whole has also been generally rising, particularly in North America. In part, the massive number of Premium Class seats seems to be a placeholder to offer a large number of mid-range seating products in place of having a separate premium economy cabin, but this doesn’t work with how Alaska Airlines is now using these planes.

Alaska Airlines’ Plans With The Boeing 787

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Hawaiian Airlines based all of its 787-9s out of its hub in Honolulu, and these planes were meant to complement its older Airbus A330-200 fleet on existing routes. Some routes were on the long side, such as services to Sydney and New York, but these planes were also rotated onto shorter domestic routes where demand for premium economy is lower. What’s more, these planes were first ordered in 2018 and were meant to start arriving in 2021, before the current rise in demand for premium seats.

Alaska Airlines, however, has shifted the 787-9s away from leisure-heavy Honolulu to Seattle, and is now placing them on major business routes to Asia as well as Europe. The 34-seat business class cabin is well-sized to capture corporate traffic, but the lack of a premium economy is a glaring drawback. Premium economy’s mid-market appeal makes it popular with business travelers seeking a comfortable product priced lower than business class, as well as with the increasingly large premium leisure segment.

In addition to its market popularity, premium economy also performs well for airlines. Carriers can regularly charge double the economy price, and premium economy fares are often quite close to those of business class. In part, this is due to scarcity, as many airlines still operate with small premium economy cabins.

However, premium economy seats also don’t take up much more space inside the plane than economy seats. Furthermore, given the high price premium, airlines are repeatedly reporting that premium economy is their most profitable cabin on a square-foot basis.

Alaska Airlines’ Retrofit Plans

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The lack of a premium economy cabin means that Alaska Airlines is earning less revenue than it should on its long-haul flights and slightly limits the carrier’s appeal to consumers. Recognizing this opportunity, Alaska Airlines will be retrofitting the 787-9s with a true premium economy beginning in 2028. This will include larger recliner seats, likely configured seven abreast, and will also come with an elevated soft product. While few details have been revealed, one can expect at least three rows.

For now, Premium Class on the Boeing 787 is the closest product that Alaska Airlines currently offers. While it’s largely the same as the extra legroom options sold by American, Delta, and United, Alaska Airlines does elevate the experience to align it slightly closer with premium economy. Alaska Airlines offers its Premium Class passengers upgraded catering and complimentary alcoholic beverages, along with an amenity kit. The seat, however, is identical to a standard economy seat apart from the legroom.

In addition to the 787s, Alaska Airlines will be refurbishing the Hawaiian Airlines-branded A330-200 fleet beginning in 2028. The A330-200s will receive premium economy, as well as new business class seats and upgraded seatback entertainment systems. Currently, the A330-200s feature relatively old interiors, while business class is configured six-abreast. Alaska Airlines is reported to be planning a new suite with sliding doors that will be a significant upgrade..

Alaska Airlines’ Strategy With The 787

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Alaska Airlines currently operates five 787-9s and has seven more on order, to operate 12 787-9s. In addition, Alaska Airlines holds orders for five 787-10s, bringing its Dreamliner fleet to 17 examples. The carrier operates from multiple hub airports, but the 787s are intended to serve Seattle and are flown to London, Seoul, and Rome. In addition, they also serve one domestic route between Seattle and Honolulu.

In addition, Alaska Airlines also serves Reykjavik (using the Boeing 737 MAX 8) and Tokyo Narita (using the Hawaiian A330, which will inevitably shift to the 787 in the future). Seoul and Tokyo-Narita were initially launched using Hawaiian-branded widebodies, while Rome was the first destination served with the Alaska-branded 787.

Rome has traditionally been a lower-yielding leisure market from most US hubs, but demand for the Mediterranean has exploded in recent years, and yields have soared due to the increase in premium leisure travel. Meanwhile, London is home to fellow oneworld member British Airways, while Reykjavik is an opportunistic addition.

Alaska Airlines aims to operate at least 12 long-haul routes out of Seattle by 2030, ambitious plans for an airline that had none at the beginning of the decade. It’s unclear which routes the carrier is targeting, but the airline is a full member of oneworld and is seeking increased cooperation with its partners. As such, the value of specific partnerships will likely guide Alaska Airlines in launching new long-haul destinations, although it will undoubtedly launch routes to destinations without a local partner as well.

Alaska Airlines’ Biggest Competitor

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Delta Air Lines first declared Seattle as a new hub in 2014, and it has since spent over a decade building its operations while advertising itself as the city’s global airline. So far, however, Alaska Airlines remains by far the airport’s largest airline, holding around a 50% market share, while Delta is about half the size. However, where Delta won was by operating long flights on widebodies, where Alaska Airlines traditionally could not compete.

This boosted Delta’s relevance to the local Seattle market, filling up the long-haul and domestic flights. However, but with the Hawaiian merger, Alaska Airlines inherited a sizeable widebody operation and is now growing its Seattle long-haul operations. As it stands, Delta Air Lines currently operates nine long-haul routes out of Seattle, and Alaska Airlines therefore has the potential to overtake Delta depending on how the Atlanta-based carrier responds.

Delta recently responded to Alaska Airlines’ European expansion by adding service to Rome as well as to Barcelona. In Asia, the airline also began serving Taipei in 2024, while also adding transpacific services from Los Angeles as well. The two are competing more fiercely than ever in many markets, but Alaska Airlines is also stronger than it was before.

As it continues to grow its European and Asian network, Delta’s key competitive advantage (its own long-haul network) shrinks. Given that Delta is already significantly smaller in Seattle on the domestic side, these developments will make it much harder for the carrier to grow profitably. Right now, the airline appears focused on matching Alaska Airlines’ network (with the Rome and Barcelona adds) while also generally growing the transpacific network.