Alaska Airlines Highlighting History At Paine Field In Everett

Photo courtesy Alaska Airlines

This hangar now houses part of the Flying Heritage Collection. Photo courtesy Alaska Airlines

Here’s an excerpt from an article published by Alaska Airlines on their blog yesterday.

When we announced we’d be flying out of Paine Field Snohomish County Airport in Everett, Washington, we heard your cheers. What you may not realize is how loudly we’re cheering with you – and why.

By offering new commercial service, subject to government approval, from the North Puget Sound region in early 2019, we’re returning to our roots. Flying out of Paine Field is a homecoming for Alaska Airlines.

In the late 1940s, we outgrew our home at Merrill Field in Anchorage as we added World War II surplus aircraft to our fleet. We needed a bigger base for charter flights, so airline President James Wooten made a deal with Boeing to house our operating headquarters at Paine Field – at the Boeing Service Center in the northwest corner of the airfield to be exact.

In 1953, we moved our corporate headquarters to downtown Seattle but kept a maintenance hangar at Paine Field. Snohomish County officials built a hangar for Alaska at the southern end of Paine Field three years later.

It wasn’t until 1963 that we moved our maintenance team to Sea-Tac airport. Since that time, the Paine Field hangars have been used by Paul Allen’s Aviation Flying Heritage Museum.

There’s more to the history including how Paine Field got its name and how it came to be in the first place. Click here to visit the Alaska Airlines Blog for the full story and photos.