Alaska Airlines is ending one of its newest routes from Seattle Paine Field International Airport (PAE).
The Seattle-based carrier filed plans over the weekend to cease flying between Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) in Alaska and PAE, located in Everett, Washington, as first seen in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.
Alaska Airlines last flew this 1,425-mile route during the summer season (it ended Aug. 19, 2024). Originally, the airline had scheduled to resume service May 15, 2025, but that plan is now being scrapped. Alaska’s wholly owned regional affiliate Horizon Air operated the route using an Embraer E175 aircraft.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for the carrier and for flyers who took advantage of this route.
This route was first announced in August 2022, and it seems it hasn’t been as successful as the airline would’ve hoped. For one, the carrier first launched operations with year-round service, but that was turned into summer-seasonal service just over a year later, Cirium schedules show.
When Alaska first announced the route a bit over two years ago, Brett Catlin, Alaska’s vice president of network and alliances, said that “there’s a significant need and demand to connect workers and businesses in the two regions – from the fishing industry to aviation – in addition to the desire for leisure travel.”
Now, the airline confirms in a statement that “we published our exit of ANC-PAE over the weekend. Our last day of flying that route had already happened on Aug. 19 since this is summer seasonal service. The flights scheduled from May 15, 2025, to Aug. 19, 2025, are being canceled. Guests are being moved to the ANC-SEA route.”
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Going forward, Alaska will continue serving Anchorage from nearby Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), the airline’s biggest hub.
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As for Paine Field, this move is bad news for local flyers and the regional airport. Paine Field first reopened to commercial operations in March 2019 and was intended to serve as an alternative for people living north of downtown Seattle. Prior to that, Paine Field had been closed to commercial traffic for decades.
Until March 2019, residents in Snohomish County and the surrounding areas previously had to drive nearly 40 miles south to SEA to fly out of the region.
Since it reopened, Paine Field has seen two airlines, Alaska and United Airlines. United pulled out of the airport during the coronavirus pandemic, leaving it served exclusively by Alaska.
As the hometown carrier based in Seattle, Alaska Airlines likely has an easier time marketing its Paine Field service to the local community, but even so, it seems that not every flight will be a hit.
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