Dear readers,
I enjoyed Alaska's product showcase last week in Seattle at its investor day, during which the airline showed off new premium seats, renderings of future lounges, and detailed plans for a four-class Boeing 737 Max to fly between the West Coast and New York.
Of course, I wonder if Alaska only spent a fortune on those cabin mockups (which by now you’ve seen all over social media and on blogs) to sway our attention from its mediocre near-term financial outlook.1
Now that I’ve made that dig, I’ll remind you this is not a newsletter for investors. When I attend events for investors, what I’m looking for is the next micro-trend, even if it's not as sexy — nor as lucrative — as premium products. I love that Alaska is adding flatbeds to a bunch more airplanes, but that’s not a new trend; it’s the airline following a very established path.
Today, I will share with you a new micro-trend. Well, scratch that: it’s not new. In another installment of what’s old is new again, Alaska again is excited about the debit card business.
Weird, right? More than a decade after Bank of America canceled its Alaska co-brand debit card blaming crummy economics, Alaska will return to the business next year when it launches a new card managed by a different partner. According to Brett Catlin, Alaska’s senior vice president of network, loyalty, & partnerships, this new deal should be very profitable.
“For the next five years or so, when we hit run rate, we see this as being a nine-figure opportunity,” he told me in an interview.