EVERETT — Alaska Airlines announced Thursday it will grow its seat capacity at Seattle Paine Field (PAE) by 50% starting this fall and running through summer 2027, adding a new twice-daily nonstop to San Jose Mineta International Airport beginning April 14, 2027, and extra flights and larger aircraft on several existing West Coast routes.
Horizon Air will fly the route twice daily on 76-seat Embraer 175 regional jets, giving north Puget Sound travelers a direct link to Silicon Valley and the South Bay. Los Angeles service will rise to two daily flights, both operated with larger Boeing 737s rather than the smaller regional jets now used on one of the frequencies.
Portland will also move to two daily flights and Alaska will add seats on its San Diego and San Francisco routes; schedule data show the San Diego flight switching to a 737 in November.
“Paine Field is an important part of our Puget Sound network, giving guests a simpler, more convenient way to access Alaska’s West Coast flying,” said Andrew Harrison, Alaska’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer.
Brett Smith, CEO of Propeller Airports, which operates the passenger terminal, called the added flying a response to “strong demand for more convenient air service from Paine Field.”
Paine Field sits in unincorporated Snohomish County between Everett and Mukilteo, about 25 to 31 miles north of downtown Seattle and well north of Sea-Tac. Commercial passenger service returned in March 2019 when a privately financed terminal opened under a public-private partnership between Snohomish County and Propeller Airports.
The three-gate, 44,000-square-foot building features floor-to-ceiling glass, lounge-style seating, fireplaces, glass jet bridges, valet parking and locally sourced food. Travelers consistently describe it as feeling more like a private club than a typical airport.
Alaska Airlines is currently the primary commercial carrier at PAE. Year-round destinations include Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego and San Francisco, with seasonal service to Honolulu and Palm Springs. The new San Jose flights will bring the network to 10 cities, all on the West Coast or in Hawaii.
Frontier Airlines briefly offered low-cost service to Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix in 2025 before exiting in January 2026.
PAE has collected a string of passenger-experience awards. Monocle named it the world’s best regional airport shortly after opening. Newsweek’s Readers’ Choice Awards placed it among the top three small U.S. airports in both 2024 and 2025. The Washington Post ranked it fifth among U.S. airports in a 2025 analysis that weighed security wait times, food, comfort and access. In 2026 it won Best Regional Airport in the Best of the Northwest Travel & Life Awards. The 2019 public-private partnership that created the terminal also received the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships’ Innovation Project Award.
Author: Mario Lotmore
