Second Airline Begins Service 80 Years After Operating The First Commercial Flight At The Airport

Paine Field's Passenger Terminal added to its commercial flight offerings as United Airlines' first passenger flight arrived from Denver and its first departure left for San Francisco last Sunday. United's launch comes just one month after Alaska Airlines inaugurated commercial service at the terminal, owned and operated by Propeller Airports under an innovative Public Private Partnership with Snohomish County.

The new service will provide additional flexibility and options for Seattle-area travelers, with United offering four daily nonstops to San Francisco and two daily nonstops to Denver. Today's launch represents a homecoming for United – the first airline to operate a commercial flight from Paine Field when the airport opened nearly 80 years ago.

Sunday is also an opportunity for Propeller to celebrate its first month operating the new passenger terminal, on which the company finished construction in late 2018. Paine Field has seen strong passenger demand from day one and expects that to continue with the introduction of United's service. From Paine Field, travelers are able to reach every major west coast city with easy connections to anywhere in the world.

"The success of Paine Field is the realization of years of hard work and more than a decade of commitment by Propeller to the idea of privately developing a commercial airport in a major metro area with a hub that is at capacity," said Brett Smith, CEO of Propeller. "For the flying public, United's new service is about more options, convenience and value. We're excited that our next partner has begun to serve our customers."

To mark this special occasion, aviation legend Clay Lacy joined United Managing Director of West Coast Sales Marie Downey and Propeller CEO Brett Smith to cut the ribbon for United's first departure to San Francisco. Clay Lacy began flying at the age of 12 and joined United in 1952 where he flew nine aircraft types including the DC-3, Boeing's 727 and the iconic 747. Clay holds 29 world speed records, including a 36-hour, 54-minute, 15-second around-the-world record in 1988 flying a Boeing 747 that raised money for children's charities. He has flown more than 300 aircraft types, logged more than 50,000 flight hours and has accumulated more miles flying jet aircraft than anyone on Earth. Clay retired from United with seniority No. 1 in 1992 after more than 41 years of incident-free flying.

"We are excited to offer our Seattle and Northwest Washington area customers with four daily flights to San Francisco and two daily flights to Denver," said United's Managing Director of West Coast Sales, Marie Downey. "This new service from Paine Field will give our customers in Northern Seattle, Snohomish and Northern King County areas access to hundreds of destinations while making their travel experience more convenient."

"We are so proud to be part of such a strong partnership that delivered a vital new resource to the Puget Sound region: a state-of-the-art passenger terminal that will benefit our economy as much as passengers," said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers.

United's entry to Paine Field is the latest in a wide array of partners to ramp up operations at the airport this month, including Uber, Lyft, Avis Rent A Car, Enterprise Holdings, and Beecher's Cheese. Beecher's, the exclusive concessions vendor, will be opening a full-service restaurant in the terminal later this year.

(Source: Propeller Airports news release)

FMI: www.flypainefield.com