Alaska Airlines broke ground Thursday in Seatac on what it's calling the “Hub,” a six-floor office building with 128,000 square feet.
Alaska Airlines executives and politicians touted the move as doubling down on their presence in Western Washington while battling with Delta Air Lines for supremacy at SeaTac.
“To me, this building says that we have stuck it out through thick and thin,” CEO Brad Tilden said Thursday. “The second thing it says is we are Seattle, we love Seattle.”
Tilden touted the company's 8 percent annual growth over the past five years -- now with about 8,000 employees in our region.
KIRO 7 asked Governor Jay Inslee his thoughts on the significance.
“With their acquisition of Virgin (America), they're going to have more employees,” Inslee said. “This means more employment. And you can't overstate how this confirms our statement that this is a great place to do business.”
With the Virgin America acquisition, Alaska Airlines now has 300 daily flights out of SeaTac. Delta, its biggest competitor, is adding three destinations this summer to total 174 daily flights out of SeaTac. An Alaska exec told KIRO 7 we can expect more expansion from the airline.
“You know, I'd say there's a long list of cities we want to fly to,” Alaska Airlines VP Mark Eliasen said. “It really depends on where customers want to go. We're always aware of where people are flying and want to fly.”
The new building is part of a long-term development project that could include up to four buildings.
The Sandstone Inn will be torn down for the new building. But before that, Alaska Airlines partnered with Habitat for Humanity to salvage all the reusable furniture, and donated it to Habitat and Goodwill.
Construction is now ready to start and is slated to be done by December 2019.
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