Alaska Airlines has long been a successful airline that focused on its region of strength, the Pacific Northwest, but even as it faces increased competition from Delta Air Lines in its main hub and has completed a merger with Hawaiian Airlines, the carrier continues to grow in its core region. In 2026, Alaska Air Group (which includes Hawaiian and Alaska Horizon) will fly to 142 destinations, while significantly boosting its California network. In addition, the carrier is upping capacity out of Anchorage, and of course, 2026 will see the carrier begin flying to Europe.

The majority of Alaska’s network growth is happening on the US West Coast, as it seeks to establish itself as the region’s local airline. Nearly all of its hubs are located on the West Coast, and Alaska also advertises itself as being the only airline based in the region. In addition, Alaska’s growth goes beyond just strengthening its hubs, as it’s also expanding flights from smaller hubs and opening new point-to-point routes. While the biggest headlines are the intercontinental flights, Alaska Airlines is as focused on the West Coast as ever.

Overview Of Alaska Airlines’ Network And Fleet

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Alaska Airlines is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is its biggest hub. During the summer, there are over 350 daily departures flown by Alaska, Alaska Horizon, and Hawaiian Airlines, which also makes it the largest US airline hub west of the Rocky Mountains. In addition to Seattle, Alaska is rapidly growing its hub in Portland International Airport, located slightly south in Oregon, and then you have the recent addition of Honolulu, home to Hawaiian Airlines.

The Honolulu hub came from the carrier’s acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, but a relic of Alaska’s earlier acquisition in the 2010s, with Virgin America, is its California network. San Diego International Airport is now Alaska Airlines’ fourth-largest hub, and the carrier also maintains significant operations at San Francisco International Airport as well as Los Angeles International Airport. Alaska’s hub in Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport is the smallest of its hub airports.

There are 247 aircraft currently flying in the Alaska Airlines livery, the majority of which are Boeing 737NG and Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The carrier finished taking delivery of its 80 737 MAX 9s in 2025, and is expecting to receive 11 new 737 MAX 8s along with 168 737 MAX 10s. In addition, Alaska has four Boeing 787s, with another 13 on the way, to be used for new long-haul services. Furthermore, there are 89 Embraer E175 regional jets operated by either Horizon Air or SkyWest Airlines and branded as Alaska Horizon.

More Alaska Airlines Flights Out Of California

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San Diego International Airport is receiving quite a bit of love from Alaska Airlines in 2026, as the carrier will commence five new routes from here to begin in the spring. The longest of these will be daily Boeing 737 services to Raleigh-Durham, while the busiest will be the new route to Oakland, flown four times per day with the Embraer E175. In addition, Alaska will also connect San Diego to Dallas/Fort Worth with the Boeing 737, as well as to Santa Barbara and Tulsa with the Embraer E175. All five routes will be year-round.

One notable addition is the carrier’s new daily summer seasonal service from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Honolulu. While Honolulu is a Hawaiian Airlines hub, this route is to be flown by Alaska Airlines Boeing 737s, and is essentially a point-to-point route, as Burbank is not an Alaska Airlines hub. Meanwhile, the most unusual route is the one from Ontario to Santa Rosa. This route, using the Embraer E175, connects two spoke airports and is to be flown daily year-round, coming shortly after Alaska began winter seasonal flights from Santa Rosa to Palm Springs in December 2025.

Rather curiously, Alaska’s 2026 expansion does not include any additions out of LAX or SFO. The carrier faces high costs and heavy competition from larger legacy carriers out of these airports, as SFO is a large United Airlines hub, while LAX is home to hubs for all three legacy carriers. San Diego’s largest airline, however, is Southwest Airlines, and Alaska Airlines is number two, which means that it captures more of the market overall, a classic case of being a big fish in a little pond. The point-to-point routes also avoid direct competition.

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Alaska’s Expansion In The Pacific Northwest

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The Pacific Northwest is Alaska’s bread-and-butter region, with its operations in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Portland International Airport. Seattle-Tacoma is becoming more constrained, and Alaska has been slowing down its growth rate here, but it’s still been able to add year-round daily routes to Arcata-Eureka and Tulsa, both of which are new cities. Portland International Airport, meanwhile, is getting eight new routes, six of which will be flown year-round and two of which are summer seasonal.

With Alaska running out of room to expand at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, it’s adding more capacity at Portland International Airport, which has fewer flights, less competition (as Seattle also hosts a growing Delta operation), and is located relatively close. Portland is increasingly serving as a reliever connecting hub to Seattle. As such, Portland is getting service to Bellingham, Jackson Hole, Everett, Pasco, and Idaho Falls, all nearby cities, as well as to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and St Louis.

Unlike in California, Alaska Airlines has yet to announce any new point-to-point routes within the Pacific Northwest for 2026. In late 2025, however, the carrier did add several point-to-point routes to or from this region, some of which were for the winter season, but most of which are year-round. This included new services from Burbank to Eugene, Pasco, and Redmond, along with a new route from Alaska’s Boise focus city to Ontario. In addition, Spokane received a new connection to Orange County.

Alaska Airlines’ Expansion Out Of Alaska

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Alaska Airlines is named after the US state of Alaska, and as such, it has a significant operation within the Last Frontier. Central to Alaska Airlines’ operations within the state is its hub in Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport. While it’s a critical part of the carrier’s network in Alaska, it’s a relatively small operation within Alaska’s network as a whole, with Alaska Airlines only scheduling slightly above 50 daily departures during the summer season, and fewer during the winter.

Alaska Airlines has announced three new routes out of Anchorage to commence in 2026. It will connect Anchorage to Boise Airport twice per week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with a Boeing 737. In addition, Alaska will connect Anchorage to Spokane International Airport, also on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with the Boeing 737. Both of these routes will only operate during the summer season, and the route to Spokane is technically a service resumption, as this route was previously flown 10 years ago. The route to Boise is brand new.

The most noteworthy addition out of Anchorage is the new route to Boston Logan International Airport. This route will only operate during the summer season, and only on Saturdays. As a whole, all of the routes out of Anchorage are low-frequency, low-risk additions, as Anchorage ultimately has relatively low travel demand from the continental US. It does, however, see a spike in tourism during the summer season, and so Alaska Airlines is attempting to capture this demand with as little risk as possible.

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The Intercontinental Additions From Seattle

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The main benefit of Alaska Airlines’ acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines is Hawaiian’s long-haul operations. Alaska Airlines has committed to keeping Hawaiian’s route network out of Honolulu and will refurbish the carrier’s fleet of Airbus A330-200s, which will all be based out of Honolulu, while Hawaiian’s Boeing 787-9s are being transferred to Alaska Airlines for long-haul flights out of Seattle. The 787s are currently flying to Tokyo-Narita and Seoul-Incheon, but 2026 will see Alaska launch flights to Europe.

On April 28, Alaska Airlines will launch summer seasonal daily flights from Seattle to Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport with the Boeing 787-9. On May 21, Alaska Airlines will commence year-round daily flights to London Heathrow Airport with the Boeing 787-9, and on May 28, the carrier will begin summer seasonal daily flights to Reykjavik with the Boeing 737 MAX 8.

By 2030, Alaska Airlines intends to operate 12 long-haul routes out of Seattle. While no further announcements have been made, in practice, this means that Alaska will significantly grow its presence in both Europe and Asia, a move which should be aided by the carrier’s oneworld membership. This will also represent the most significant response to Delta’s challenges in Seattle, as Delta already operates seven long-haul routes out of Seattle and will commence services to Rome as well as Barcelona in the summer.