Retiring “Peedee”: Portland’s favorite celebrity
Portland International Airport’s carpet is the best kind of celebrity — it’s always around for pictures, supports the community and never gets caught in a scandal. After nearly 30 years, the PDX carpet is retiring and Portlanders are cherishing every moment until the final foot of carpet is pulled up at the end of this…
Flying fish: This is how Alaska Airlines delivers the catch of the day, every day
To help kick off the summer fishing season around Bristol Bay, Alaska Airlines on Sunday will resume its daily Boeing 737 flights to deliver hundreds of sport fishermen and commercial seafood processors to the tiny Alaska towns of Dillingham and King Salmon. Every year, Alaska launches seasonal jet service to support the workers and tourists…
Making an EMPACT: When disaster strikes, flight attendant goes
When a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal April 25, Alaska Airlines flight attendant Sil Wong-Underwood knew it was time to get packed. She’s been a rescue operations volunteer with disaster response nonprofit EMPACT Northwest for the past five years, and when the United Nations asked for search and rescue teams to gather in Kathmandu,…
Here there be Vikings: Petersburg’s Little Norway Festival brings fun, shenanigans to Southeast Alaska
Tucked beneath the clouds that often cover Southeast Alaska is the small fishing town of Petersburg, located on Mitkof Island. With a population of 3,209 year-round residents, there are three canneries that bring in an additional 800 people during the summer months. And at first glance, there appears to be more boats in the harbor…
Alaska inspires future aviators at seventh annual Aviation Day
More than 1,000 high school students learned about careers in aviation from industry professionals at the seventh annual Alaska Airlines Aviation Day on Saturday in Seattle and Portland. “Each year at Aviation Day we hope to inspire youths to pursue careers in aviation,” said Captain William Korin, Aviation Day coordinator. “With our event, we can…
Ben’s wish: Boy going blind sees the northern lights and makes a lifetime of memories
Ben Pierce, of Dallas, is only 9, but after a trip to Alaska last week, he now has lifetime of visual memories. Born premature, weighing just over a pound, Ben had suffered numerous setbacks in his young life, chief among them being the gradual loss of his eyesight due to scar tissue from surgery. His…
Port Jobs developing Sea-Tac workforce
Students take notes at an Airport University class. Photo courtesy Don Wilson, Port of Seattle. Connie Aguilar is nothing if not ambitious. She works full-time at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where she’s tackling the added responsibility of a recent promotion, takes college-credit classes through a special program for airport workers, has two grown children, spends her day…
Alaska launching Apple Watch app
The mobile team at Alaska Airlines is all about saving travelers time and hassle. So when they received the developer kit for Apple’s brand-new Apple Watch – launching tomorrow – back in November, they couldn’t wait to get started. Four months of planning, customer interviews, field trips to the airport and many, many sticky note…
Video: Alaska flight attendant gets big surprise with inflight marriage proposal
Alaska Airlines flight attendant Brandy Hollenbeck began her March 18 flight from Seattle to Juneau, Alaska like any other. As she worked the flight, the first leg of Alaska’s ‘milk run’ through Southeast Alaska, she had no idea that behind the scenes her boyfriend and her fellow flight attendants were scheming to give her a…
‘Have an ice day’ at the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska
A pirate ship, a superhero scene, a faucet with a round, glistening drop of water. These are just some of the otherworldly ice sculptures on display through the end of the month at Ice Alaska: 2015 BP World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska. Artists travel from all around the world for the chance to…
Wine tasting notes: balanced, crisp and best at 35,000 feet
Hal Landvoigt doesn’t care what flavors you can identify in a Walla Walla merlot. He just wants you to enjoy it. “I don’t really care what wine you want to put with food or how you want to drink it. I just want you to drink wine,” says Landvoigt, director of winemaking at Seattle’s Precept…
Throwback Thursday: the golden what?
Three-quarters of a century after the cries of “Gold! Gold! In the Klondike!” a quirky little airline with deep roots in the state of Alaska decided to pay its own tribute to the gold rush. Alaska Airlines’ “Golden Nugget Service” era launched in the early 1960s, and passengers would not soon forget it.
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