Friday, November 16, 2018

Alaska Airlines adds more flights to Paine Field after Southwest pulls out

Alaska Airlines plans to launch commercial airline service at the new Paine Field air terminal in Everett on Feb. 11, after a one month delay beyond its control, the airline said.

Alaska has begun ticket sales for Paine Field flights to eight West Coast cities, and the airline has added five extra flights a day after acquiring landing gate slots from Southwest Airlines.

Southwest has decided to delay its Paine Field flights "indefinitely" and transferred its slots to Alaska, said Brett Smith, chief executive officer of Propeller Airports, which is building and operating the passenger air terminal for Snohomish County.

"It's not our decision, but all in all, it makes it easier for us to operate, so I'm not unhappy about it," Smith said.

The extra slots acquired from Southwest mean more flights to several of the previously announced destinations Alaska will serve from Paine Field, including: Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Orange County, California; Phoenix; Portland; San Diego; San Francisco; and San Jose, California.

Alaska is offering a two-day sale on fares to and from Paine Field to celebrate the new airport's launch.

The flights will start slowly at Paine and increase over time as the operation gets up to full speed to ensure smooth flight operations. Only Las Vegas will be served the first day, and only Los Angeles and San Jose served the second day.

The full details on flight schedules in the first month can be seen here.

Alaska also said its Mileage Plan members who fly on all nonstop flight to and from Paine Field through March 31, 2019, will earn double miles after they register for the promotion.

The service from Paine Field will be provided by Horizon Air flying the Embraer 175 regional jet aircraft featuring both first class and economy cabins and onboard entertainment.

"We're tremendously honored to be a part of this historic moment with the opening of a brand new commercial airport," Andrew Harrison, Alaska Airlines' chief commercial officer, said on the airline's blog.


(Andrew McIntosh - Puget Sound Business Journal)

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