Need evidence of the growing influence of the Southern states over Washington state business? Look no further than Alaska Airlines.
The Seattle-based airline announced three new routes this week that service the growing tech centers in the South. Tech companies and Boeing were the principal drivers behind Alaska Airlines' decision to create the new routes.
The new daily routes, beginning this fall, will be daily nonstop flights between Seattle and Charleston, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina.
All three cities are generating increasing business travel with Seattle due to corporate facilities there and the growth of technology industries on both coasts, said John Kirby, Alaska Airlines vice president of capacity planning.
“These really fit from a business synergy standpoint. They present themselves as opportunities to expand the breath of our Seattle service,” he said.
The new routes are part of Alaska’s growing array of nonstop flights radiating from its Seattle hub. This has been a strategy for the carrier to combat its much-larger competitor Delta Air Lines, by offering nonstop flights where Delta doesn’t.
Delta flights connect to all three destinations from Seattle, but the carrier does not offer nonstops.
When the Alaska Airlines routes start this fall, the airline will be serving 83 destinations from Seattle.
Charleston is the smallest of the three, but the Boeing 787 facility there and the expansion of ancillary Boeing activity such as engineering, has generated 15-to-20 percent cumulative growth of air traffic with Seattle over the last two years, Kirby said.
“What we’re seeing is strong growth, plus strong traffic with Boeing (people) going back and forth” he said. “Something is happening that is driving more traffic. The synergies are building.”
The Raleigh/Durham area, best known as the “technology triangle,” is also generating strong business-related air travel growth with Seattle, he said.
Microsoft runs a gaming and computer center there and Amazon operates a distribution center, he said. In addition, GE Aviation is building a plant to manufacture carbon composite jet engine parts.
And while Nashville is best known for music, advanced manufacturing and technology is rapidly growing there, he said.
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