Alaska Airlines is leaning harder into two of its most strategically important stations—Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) and Portland International Airport (PDX)—with seven new domestic routes rolling out between March and June 2026.

It’s not a random scattershot of dots. The additions are tightly focused on (1) peak-season demand to and from Alaska, and (2) building PDX into an even more useful short-haul connectivity engine across the Pacific Northwest, where frequency and convenience often win more than raw aircraft size.

The 7 New Routes At A Glance

Most of these are designed to peak with summer demand, with ANC’s three additions ending August 15, 2026, while PDX gets three year-round adds plus a seasonal run to Jackson Hole.

Anchorage Expands Lower 48 Reach—And Adds A Very Long 737 Mission

Alaska’s ANC summer story is increasingly about making Alaska easier to reach without a connection, especially when cruise season and daylight-chasing tourism hit their stride. The airline says ANC will be linked to 17 nonstop destinations in the Lower 48 and Hawaiʻi next summer—its largest summer lineup from Anchorage to date.

ANC–BOI: A New Link With “Just Enough” Frequency

The all-new Anchorage (ANC)–Boise (BOI) service runs Wednesdays and Saturdays, which is a classic seasonal pattern: enough schedule presence to be useful, but not so much capacity that it becomes vulnerable mid-week if demand softens.

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ANC–BOS: First-Ever Nonstop, And A Long One

The headline grabber is Anchorage (ANC)–Boston (BOS), operating weekly on Saturdays from June 13 to August 15, 2026.

On the map, this is a serious stretch for a narrowbody. The great-circle distance is about 3,383 miles—one of those routes where aircraft assignment matters, especially westbound when winds can add time and fuel burn. Alaska is listing the equipment simply as a Boeing 737, which gives the airline flexibility to swap among variants based on fleet availability and seasonal performance requirements.

ANC–GEG: A Regional Workhorse Returns

Anchorage (ANC)–Spokane (GEG) is slated for twice-weekly (Wed/Sat) flying on the Embraer E175, restoring a nonstop that hasn’t been in Alaska’s schedule for years. This one reads like a practical “reconnect the map” move—giving Eastern Washington a cleaner path to Alaska in peak season without forcing a connection through Seattle (SEA) or Portland (PDX).

Portland Adds Four Routes—Three Built For Year-Round Utility

If Anchorage’s new routes are about peak-season reach, Portland’s are about network usefulness. Alaska is clearly treating Portland (PDX) as a place to (a) hold share in a competitive region and (b) offer a growing number of connection opportunities into the rest of its network.

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PDX–BLI: Daily, Year-Round Starting In March

Portland (PDX)–Bellingham (BLI) starts March 18, 2026 and runs daily year-round. That’s an unusually strong commitment for a smaller Pacific Northwest city pair, and it suggests Alaska sees real utility here—whether that’s local demand, connectivity via PDX, or both.

PDX–PAE: Paine Field Returns As A Daily Option

Daily service also returns between PDX and Everett/Paine Field (PAE) starting June 10, 2026. Paine Field isn’t just “another Seattle airport”—it’s positioned for travelers north of downtown Seattle who would rather avoid SEA’s scale and access constraints.

PDX–PSC: Twice Daily To Tri-Cities

The PDX–Pasco/Tri-Cities (PSC) route comes back June 10, 2026, and Alaska is going big on frequency: two flights per day, year-round. That’s a signal the airline is aiming to make the route functional for day trips and business travel—not just leisure weekend flying.

PDX–JAC: A Summer Seasonal Built For Leisure Peaks

Portland (PDX)–Jackson Hole (JAC) operates Wednesdays and Saturdays from June 10 through September 30, 2026, timing the service squarely for the Yellowstone/Grand Teton summer surge. Limited-weekly flying is typical here—JAC is high-demand in season, but it’s not a market most carriers can sustain daily year-round.

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The Aircraft Choices Tell You What Alaska Is Optimizing For

Embraer E175: The Right Tool For PDX’s Short-Haul Build

Five of the seven routes use the Embraer E175, Alaska’s go-to jet when it wants frequency and schedule utility without flooding a smaller market with capacity.

For passengers, the E175 is one of the more comfortable regional jets in North America:

• 76 seats total

• 12 First Class + 64 Main Cabin

• A 2–2 layout with no middle seats, which is a real quality-of-life win on short hops

That cabin also supports what Alaska is clearly doing at PDX: stitching together a practical web of short routes that feed into longer-haul flying without the economics of a larger narrowbody.

Boeing 737 Mainline: Reserved For The Longer, Heavier Lifts

The two Anchorage routes to BOI and BOS are assigned to the Boeing 737 family, which gives Alaska the legs, payload flexibility, and cargo capability it needs—especially on an ultra-long domestic sector like ANC–BOS.

Why Anchorage And Portland, Why Now

This expansion fits a broader pattern:

• Anchorage (ANC) remains Alaska’s gateway for summer travel—an airport where the airline can add seasonal nonstop routes that “compress” the trip into one flight and keep aircraft productive during peak months.

• Portland (PDX) is increasingly valuable as a connecting point and a competitive lever in the Pacific Northwest. Short, frequent E175 service is one of the best ways to make a hub feel bigger than it is—without requiring the demand that a 737 schedule would need.

In short: Alaska is adding routes where it can be the most useful airline, not necessarily the biggest one.

Bottom Line

Alaska Airlines’ seven new routes out of Anchorage (ANC) and Portland (PDX) for 2026 are a textbook example of targeted network growth: seasonal mainline 737 flying where stage length and demand justify it, and year-round E175 frequency where schedule utility is the product.

For travelers, the biggest wins are straightforward:

• ANC gets a first-ever nonstop to Boston (BOS) and new links to Boise (BOI) and Spokane (GEG) for the peak summer window.

• PDX gets three year-round adds—Bellingham (BLI), Everett/Paine Field (PAE), and Pasco/Tri-Cities (PSC)—plus a summer seasonal to Jackson Hole (JAC).

It’s not flashy growth. It’s the kind that tends to hold up—because it’s built around when and where people actually want to fly.