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I had never before been to an airport where I could arrive 20 minutes before my flight, park for free, walk straight into the terminal and board a nine-seat plane without passing through the typical commercial airport security process.
But that’s exactly what happened when I flew SeaPort Airlines between Spokane, Washington, and Seattle this summer.
What is SeaPort?
“Please don’t tell anyone about this,” fellow passenger Ken Batali pleaded, moments after we disembarked a SeaPort Airlines Pilatus PC-12 turboprop plane, grabbed our bags off the cart and walked through a silent terminal to an empty curb.
Along with five other passengers — more people than usual, according to our pilot — we had flown on one of SeaPort’s fairly new scheduled flights between Felts Field (SFF) airport in Spokane, Washington, and King County International Airport – Boeing Field (BFI), just 5 miles south of downtown Seattle.
Instead of flying from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Spokane International Airport (GEG), SeaPort Airlines operates between smaller general aviation airports (which primarily serve private, corporate, charter and other non-major-airline flights); these airports are often much closer to city centers than their larger, commercial counterparts.
So, no one had to show up more than 20 minutes before the Spokane-Seattle flight, pay for parking or pass through Transportation Security Administration-style security screening. There was no limit on liquids, and each passenger could bring up to 50 pounds of baggage, including a small pet in a carrier, for free.
Batali, who lives about 30 miles north of Seattle, has been flying to Spokane regularly for work. He loves that the SeaPort flights from small airports save him time and hassle when compared to typical commercial flights.
How do the prices compare?
Batali said he noticed that trying to book a flight weeks in advance on SeaPort usually costs more than booking in advance on either Alaska Airlines or Delta Air Lines (which fly larger planes between the larger airports, SEA and GEG). When we compared commercial versus SeaPort prices, there was about a $50 difference.
However, it’s the last-minute bookings — a reality of business travel — where Seaport has made Batali’s life much easier. “Booking last minute, as I usually do, I can always get a seat, and the ticket price is the same as last minute on Alaska,” he said.
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If word about SeaPort gets out, he’s worried it will be more difficult (and more expensive) to make a last-minute reservation on a nine-seat aircraft.
And word does seem to be getting out.
On our flight, a three-member finance team from a major Spokane company was testing the time and cost benefit of SeaPort’s approximately one-hour, Spokane-to-Seattle flight between the two general aviation airports.
“The ticket price was pretty much the same, we all had time to have dinner at home, we got free parking, and we’ll have lower Uber fees in Seattle because we land closer to downtown,” one team member told me.
SeaPort Airlines — a Juneau, Alaska-based carrier — began offering scheduled flights between Seattle’s Boeing Field and Spokane’s Felts Field in March 2026.
Flights between Boeing Field and the general aviation provider next to Portland International Airport (PDX) began in May 2025. (A previous incarnation of SeaPort served that route between 2008 and 2016). And this summer, SeaPort offered seasonal service to the general aviation terminal in Redmond, Oregon, near Redmond Municipal Airport (RDM).
Related: First look: Alaska Airlines’ new Portland lounge is a love letter to the Pacific Northwest
What was it like to fly SeaPort?
In August, I became curious about this tiny airline whose tagline is: “It’s about time.” So, I took scheduled flights between all four Pacific Northwest cities that SeaPort Airlines serves.
Out of habit, I showed up an hour before each flight, which I discovered was far too early since there’s no metal detector, formal identification check or other security screening. All bags get weighed, but otherwise, the preflight experience consisted of the pilot and co-pilot greeting passengers in the waiting area, checking names against a list, walking the group out to the plane and loading the bags into a netted area at the rear of the plane.
Walking the few steps from the terminal to the plane for the first flight, I stopped and took a step back. Not just because I wanted to snap a photo of the airplane, but because I realized it’s been a very long time since I’ve flown in a small plane — and this Pilatus PC-12 turboprop plane looked very small.
I followed my very calm-looking fellow passengers onto the plane and took a seat by the exit door. While not fancy, there was a definite private-jet feeling. The pilot swiveled around from the cockpit to give the safety briefing before takeoff.
Like Batali and the finance team from the Spokane company that requested anonymity, my fellow passengers on each flight were mostly business travelers.
On my flight from Redmond through Portland and home to Seattle, I met first-time passenger Brian Hayvaz. Hayvaz is the vice president of operations for Aircare International, a Tacoma, Washington-based company that provides emergency training for the crews that staff business and private jets.
The SeaPort Airlines flight had popped up in his regular commercial flight search, and he’d booked a seat right away.
“I assumed SeaPort was going to be too expensive, but the pricing was competitive. It’s easy and convenient,” Hayvaz said. “I’d fly this airline to other destinations if I could.”
In addition to company executives, Andy Kline, SeaPort Airlines’ marketing manager, said the passenger makeup is proving a bit surprising. “We get electricians, roofers, project managers and contractors,” Kline said. “It’s a lot of people who need to get to job sites in other cities and a lot of people who charge by the hour.”
It’s certainly a different, more convenient and often less expensive way to travel regionally.
No security screening?
The “no TSA-style security screening” aspect of SeaPort Airlines’ service is, for some, one of the more appealing and intriguing aspects of the flight experience.
Airline staff watches for hazardous materials and issues, such as passengers who may be unfit for travel, Kline said. He also added that relaxed security screening is allowed because the airline is a Part 135 carrier under Federal Aviation Administration regulations, which govern scheduled service carriers operating planes carrying nine or fewer passengers, with some exceptions.
But as Hansford Smith, vice president of risk management at Silver Air Private Jets, noted: “The absence of a traditional checkpoint does not mean there is no security screening.”
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There are a variety of reasons why TSA-type screening may or may not apply to passengers on flights operated by other Part 135 operators offering scheduled service, such as Cape Air, JSX, Boutique Air, Tradewind Aviation, Mokulele Airlines and Kenmore Airlines.
“In many, if not most, instances, it is a case-by-case determination by the TSA as to what the required security protocols will be,” Mark A. Dombroff, partner and aviation attorney at Fox Rothschild LLP, said.
He notes that the determining factors may range from the airports involved and whether passengers board or deplane through the sterile or secure areas of the airport, to the maximum certificated weight and seating capacity of the aircraft.
