With much of the West Coast facing horrific smoke and smog from wildfires, Alaska Airlines is temporarily suspending flights to Portland and other cities.
Alaska Airlines: No Flights To Portland + Six Other Airports Due To Wildfires
After cancelling 74 flights at Portland (PDX) on Monday, Alaska Airlines is suspending operations into Tuesday, citing hazardous air quality. The move also stretches to six other airports.
Alaska Airlines Service Suspensions In Oregon
- Eugene (EUG)
- Medford (MFR)
- Portland (PDX)
- Redmond/Bend (RDM)
Alaska Airlines Service Suspensions In Washington
- Pasco (PSC)
- Spokane (GEG)
- Walla Walla (ALW)
Flights will be suspended until at least 3:00PM today. Thus far, Alaska Airlines (including its Horizon subsidiary) is the only airline to suspend operations at Portland and Spokane.
In a statement, Alaska Airlines said:
“Across the West, fires are creating thick smoke and haze, causing very poor air quality conditions in the Portland and Spokane areas. We made the difficult decision to stop our operation so that our employees and guests can remain safe.”
Alaska also warns that Portland and Seattle could clear up this week, but that smoke and airport closures may move south:
“Improving weather conditions in the coming days could begin to dissipate smoke in Portland and Spokane. However, other airports in the West could be impacted by drifting smoke.”
CONCLUSION
If your flight is cancelled or delayed, you can take advantage of Alaska’s general waiver to re-schedule your flights. Refunds will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
To all my West Coast readers, particularly in the Pacific Northwest: stay inside and stay safe. I’m thankful only to have incredibly poor air quality in my Los Angeles neighborhood. I can only begin to imagine how devastating these wildfires have been for those who have been forced to evacuate or even lost tier homes. Hopefully those Santa Ana winds will stay away…
image: Alaska Airlines
So is United and Delta ignorant or uncaring? Or is Alaska stupid? Or Alaska is the one who is smarter and more nimble to be able to make fast decisions?
We’ve been in Anchorage since last Thursday, wasn’t sure if we might be spending another day or two here before we could fly home to Portland. Glad to see flights have resumed. One hiking place we just visited burned to the ground. Loss of life and memories is sad.
Read about the closure last night and made sure we could spend another night in our room if needed. Upgraded at Residence Inn and Embassy suites on this trip [Play/Diamond] – Embassy suites has been doing made to order omelettes, pancakes, etc with various starches and breakfast meats. Residence only continental and a prepack burrito or biscuit.
It’s been lovely, sunny and the roads fairly empty, a COVID test was well worth the price of admission to Alaska. It’s been a great place to social distance with all the open space.