Alaska Airlines announces 2 new cities, 13 routes in latest expansion

Alaska Airlines’ operations are mostly back on track in the wake of a major IT outage on Thursday night. Now, the Seattle-based carrier is moving ahead with a big route network shakeup for 2026.

Next spring, Alaska will fly its planes to two U.S. cities for the first time.

Between March and April, the Seattle-based carrier will launch nonstop service from Tulsa, Oklahoma. It’ll also begin flying to Arcata-Eureka Airport (ACV), located in northern California — just steps from the Pacific coast.

It’s part of a 13-route network shift Alaska announced this week, which included a handful of entirely new routes for the carrier, along with the return of others it hasn’t flown in several years.

The biggest winners in this announcement: Alaska’s fastest-growing West Coast hubs — San Diego International Airport (SAN) and Portland International Airport (PDX) in Oregon.

San Diego will see three all-new routes join Alaska’s network, including nonstop Tulsa flights. It’s the latest in a wave of growth for Alaska in the Southern California city.

Related: San Diego’s new Terminal 1 shines in big debut, comes with new lounges

Even prior to Friday’s announcement, the carrier’s total seats from SAN were set to be up 38% during the first half of 2026 versus 2025, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Alaska will also launch four new or returning routes from Portland, where its early-2026 seats were already set to grow 19%, per Cirium.

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Also included in Friday’s new-route lineup: another link between California and Hawaii, a short flight to California wine country, and a couple of new routes to Alaska’s home base at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

“San Diego continues to be one of our fastest-growing hubs while Portland and Hawai’i are essential parts of our global network,” Kirsten Amrine, Alaska vice president of revenue management and network planning, said in a statement.

In announcing these 13 routes, Alaska did not immediately reveal any associated cuts to its network. However, industry watcher Ishrion Aviation reported the carrier would discontinue service on a handful of routes from other West Coast hubs. TPG has reached out to the airline to confirm these changes.

Read more: Alaska Airlines launches new Summit card with premium perks and a 100,000-point welcome bonus

Alaska’s 13 new and returning routes

Here’s the full rundown of Alaska’s 13 new and returning routes announced this week:

Four of the 13 routes were flights Alaska previously operated. The carrier last flew from its PDX hub to BWI and PHL in 2019. It last flew from Portland to St. Louis in 2018.

And, Alaska operated flights between San Diego and Santa Barbara as recently as 2022.

When it comes to Alaska’s three new transcontinental routes, the new flights to RDU, BWI and Philly will give each East Coast airport a second city on Alaska. Currently, the carrier serves each from its SeaTac home base, but none of its other West Coast hubs.

CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY

Bottom line

These network changes from Alaska come just two months after the carrier debuted its Atmos Rewards loyalty program in conjunction with Hawaiian Airlines, which it acquired last year.

The program maintained Alaska’s popular award chart, which has helped many savvy travelers find cheap flight redemptions. It also left in place direct transfers from Bilt Rewards — a popular way for travelers to turn rent payments into airline points.

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