If you live north of Seattle and dread the drive to Sea-Tac, Alaska Airlines has some good news. The carrier is boosting capacity at Paine Field (PAE) in Everett by roughly half through next spring, thanks to a new route, extra daily flights and bigger aircraft.

The headline addition is a nonstop link between Paine Field and San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) in Silicon Valley, launching April 14, 2027. It'll run twice daily on Embraer E175s with 76 seats. Alaska served this route back in 2019-2020, and it's a smart revival — San Jose is the go-to airport for the southern Bay Area, and Alaska is already the number-two carrier there behind Southwest.

Three more California and Oregon routes are also getting a boost. A second daily departure is being added to both Los Angeles (LAX) and Portland (PDX) next spring, and the LA route will switch from the small E175 to full-size Boeing 737s — a jump of at least 63% seats per flight. San Diego's daily flight goes to a 737 on November 1. San Francisco, served up to three times daily, may get larger planes too, though Alaska hasn't confirmed timing.

The strategy makes sense on two fronts. Paine Field is a far more convenient departure point for anyone in Everett, Bellevue's northern suburbs or the broader Puget Sound area who doesn't want to battle Sea-Tac traffic. And Sea-Tac itself is running out of room — its new Concourse C Expansion literally had to build upward, and a proposed north terminal isn't expected before the early-to-mid 2030s. Meanwhile, Delta, which runs a competing hub at Sea-Tac and is only about half Alaska's size there, doesn't serve Paine Field at all. Alaska is the sole airline at PAE, having outlasted brief stints by United (2019-2021) and Frontier (2025).

For travellers, this is mostly about convenience and choice. If you're flying from the north Seattle area to California or Portland, you can now skip Sea-Tac entirely, with more departure times and roomier planes than before. It also pairs nicely with Alaska's Atmos Rewards programme if you're stacking West Coast miles. The main caveat: Paine Field's schedule is still limited compared to Sea-Tac, so check times before committing — but for a simple hop down the coast, Everett is becoming a genuinely useful option.

Story via The Points Guy.