Alaska Airlines has a long history with Paine Field. By the late 1940s, after outgrowing its base in Anchorage, Alaska Airlines moved its operating headquarters to Paine Field through an agreement with Boeing. The airline remained there until relocating to SEA in the late 1960s.
The airport is named after Second Lieutenant Topliff Olin Paine (1893-1922), who served in World War I and later became a pilot with the experimental Air Mail Service. His field manager once said: "[He] encountered heavy snowstorm which frosted his goggles and for over a minute he was flying blind. Landed at Salt Lake City nearly exhausted on account of nervous strain. He is the only pilot to make this treacherous run over the Rocky Mountains in such impossible weather."
Today, PAE functions as a hub for Alaska Airlines and sees additional service from Frontier Airlines. Alaska Airlines returned to PAE in March 2019 with up to 13 daily departures at that time. John Kirby, then Vice President of Capacity Planning at Alaska Airlines, stated: “Alaska aims to be the airline the West Coast loves to fly. We’ve put together some great places to go to from Paine Field that we believe will make a lot of people very happy. It’ll be much easier for our guests in the North Sound to catch a flight for business or pleasure, whether it’s for a fun weekend in Las Vegas, a work trip to L.A. or visiting family in the Bay Area.”
Currently there are about 18 daily departures from PAE; most are operated by Horizon Air using Embraer E175 aircraft on behalf of Alaska Airlines. According to ch-aviation data cited in Simple Flying reporting (https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/132293-alaska-airlines-unveils-new-livery-for-widebody-fleet), Alaska operates more than 330 aircraft including Boeing’s latest models and plans delivery of its first widebody jets—17 Boeing 787-9s—each configured with three classes.
The most popular route from PAE last year was Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), serving over 80,000 passengers annually via both Alaska/Horizon Air and Frontier Airlines services using Embraer E175s and Airbus A320neos respectively.
In comparison with SEA’s traffic volumes—where even secondary domestic routes often exceed half a million annual passengers—the busiest route from PAE saw just under one-tenth those numbers.
SEA offers hundreds of connections domestically and internationally through major carriers like Alaska (holding roughly half of all SEA traffic) and Delta (with around one-fifth). Major international routes include Vancouver International Airport (YVR), London Heathrow Airport (LHR), Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN), Taipei Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG).
Travelers can reach PAE from downtown Seattle within about half an hour by car; however public transport options remain limited until Sound Transit extends light rail service out toward Paine Field—a project planned for completion by https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/lynnwood-link-extension2036.
While PAE provides shorter lines at check-in/security compared with SEA—and can be attractive for those traveling regionally or connecting via hubs like Phoenix or Los Angeles—it lacks direct global connectivity found at larger airports like SEA.
SEA remains more accessible overall due its extensive network coverage and proximity/ease-of-access from downtown Seattle; it ranked as America’s twelfth-busiest airport last year according to FAA statistics https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/media/cy24-commercial-service-enplanements.pdf.
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