Alaska Airlines Beefs Up Schedule at Seattle’s Newest Airport Paine Field

Alaska Airlines is continuing its commitment to the northwest U.S., and the west coast in general, with a slate of new flights from the Seattle area’s newest airport, Paine Field.

Starting June 17, Alaska will boost its schedule from 16 peak daily nonstop departures to 18, its full allotment of departures at the airport.

The schedule will include four daily nonstop to San Francisco, which starts a month earlier on May 19, along with departures to Boise, Las Vegas, Orange Country, Palm Springs, Phoenix, San Diego, and more. Most of Alaska’s service will be flown on its sister carrier Horizon Air.

“Paine Field is a popular option for our guests flying in and out the Puget Sound region with its beautiful facility, compact size and ease to navigate – the terminal feels luxurious,” said Brett Catlin, vice president of network and alliances at Alaska Airlines.

“We have many Mileage Plan members and elite flyers who live north of Seattle. We want to offer destinations that appeal to them while also being a convenient alternative to possible congestion to the south.”

The airport, one of the newest airports not just in the northwest but in the country, reopened in 2019 with a brand new, state-of-the-art terminal with two departure gates, about 20 miles north of downtown Seattle. It is easier to reach for many travelers, especially for those who live north of Seattle and can typically spend 90 minutes in city traffic getting to the airport.

Pain field has a storied history—it briefly had civilian flights in the late 1930s before being used for military and industrial purposes.  Boeing also used the airfield starting in the 1960s; the first 747 took off from the facility in 1969. However, several local groups passed resolutions opposing any commercial flights out of the airport. The matter inevitably landed in court, and the legal battle was only resolved in 2016 when a federal court denied the opponents the chance to appeal the reopening.