ALK News & Events

Boeing (BA) announced that Alaska Airlines (ALK) has signed a formal license agreement for Boeing's Virtual Airplane during the World Aviation Training Summit held in Orlando, Florida. Alaska Airlines has been a key development partner throughout the creation and development of Virtual Airplane, providing valuable feedback that helped shape the innovative training platform. Virtual Airplane is a device-agnostic, modular training solution that enables pilots to practice high-fidelity, authentic procedures within the Procedures Trainer app, anytime, anywhere. The solution supports realistic, repeatable practice while also offering a free-play Flight Management System for authentic data entry and exploration, so operators can standardize training, reduce simulator familiarization time, and accelerate pilot readiness.

The shutdown of Spirit Airlines (FLYY) resulted in the loss of 17,000 jobs and disrupted the plans of tens of thousands of travelers, but experts say it is not yet clear whether the company's absence will have a significant impact on the industry, travelers, or the U.S. economy, Niraj Chokshi of The New York Times reports. Airlines will likely have an easier time raising fares and many will absorbs Spirit's assets in airports, but the effect may not be huge, since Spirit shrunk a lot recently and was in its second bankruptcy in two years. Publicly traded companies in the airline space include Alaska Air (ALK), American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Frontier Group (ULCC), JetBlue (JBLU), Southwest (LUV), Sun Country Airlines (SNCY) and United Airlines (UAL).