The newest location of Alaska Airlines’ Company Store is in “The Hub,” a 6-story office building the carrier opened near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) in July 2020, just as the world was going into lockdown due to the pandemic.
That’s why there’s been little publicity about this great avgeek shopping destination.
Until now.
The store is filled with all manner of branded gear for fans of Alaska Airlines and its sister regional carrier, Horizon Air.
During our visit before Thanksgiving, we found lots of great gifts at very reasonable prices.
Here are some snaps of just some of our purchases, which are also available online.
An old, stale sandwich locked away in a Washington state museum is drawing fresh attention to an aviation daredevil and the 90th anniversary of a record-setting flight.
The sandwich is said to have traveled with Clyde “Upside-Down” Pangborn. But when? It could have been in 1926, when he was wowing spectators as a stuntman in a flying circus, doing aerial stunts such as loops, flying upside down, changing planes in midair, and completing auto-to-airplane transfers. Or it could have been in October 1931, when Pangborn and co-pilot Hugh Herndon, Jr. set a transpacific record by flying nonstop from Misawa, Japan, to East Wenatchee, Washington, in 41 hours and 13 minutes (some say 15 minutes).
(Photos courtesy of the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center).
Alaska Airlines unleashes the Kraken plane
In Seattle, the home base of Stuck at The Airport, we have a new hockey professional ice hockey team, called the Kraken.
The city is pretty darn excited. And so is Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which is the Kraken’s official airline.
To celebrate, the airline is flying a custom Kraken-themed plane on routes to the team’s away games in cities Alaska Airline serves.
And here’s a nice perk: now through the end of the hockey season, Kraken fans who wear the teams’ jersey can board early on all Alaska flights departing from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Paine Field (PAE).
Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport Moves a Mural
A large 3-part mural by Paul Coze that has been greeting travelers inside Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for decades has a new home in the airport’s Rental Car Center.
Here’s a time-lapse video of the move.
“The Phoenix,” is a triptych 75 feet wide and 16 feet high and is believed to be the first piece of public art commissioned by the city that was chosen through a public process. The mural debuted when Terminal 2 opened in 1962.
The imagery in the mural includes depictions and symbols that relate to the area’s first inhabitants, the Hohokam, as well as modern tribes and Latino heritage. Also represented are wagon trains, railroads, cattle ranching, mining, and technology. Besides paint media, 52 different materials, including glass and ceramic mosaic tiles, soil and sand from around the state, plastics, aluminum, and gemstones, are used in the mural construction.
So you can imagine that moving this mural was a delicate undertaking. But it looks like it worked out just fine.
We stopped by the new Alaska Airlines lounge in Terminal 2 at San Fransico International Airport (SFO) to see for ourselves what the space was like.
Sadly, the sourdough toast cart wasn’t open for business during our visit. Instead, we indulged in a made-for-us Americano and treats from the serve-yourself candy bar. There are jars filled with Ghirardelli chocolate, Jelly Belly beans, and fortune cookies from the Oakland Fortune Cookie Factory. We tried them all.
Besides the great airfield views, the best part of this lounge may be the San Francisco Giants-themed children’s play area. This space has adorable, kid-sized baseball-inspired furniture. There’s a wall of baseball bobbleheads. And an interactive display of different types of pitches.
A heatwave in the Pacific Northwest and some other parts of the country is adding another challenge to air travel as we head into a holiday weekend.
As a result, some airlines, including American Airlines and United Airlines, are offering fee-free travel waivers. And Alaska Airlines has put a ban on pets traveling as cargo to and from more than a dozen cities until at least after the July 4th weekend.
Here are some of the details, and useful links to policies as of Monday evening, June 28:
And while Alaska Airlines isn’t offering change fee waivers as of Monday evening, it is pre-canceling some flights.
“While we never want to let our guests down, only a small fraction of our flights have been pre-canceled and we are doing our best to re-accommodate those guests,” the airline said on its website, “
And, because of the heat, through July 7, Alaska Airlines is not accepting animals for travel in the baggage departments to or from most of the affected airports listed above. Ticketed pets are still permitted to travel in the cabin with their owners.
A historic heat wave is impacting travel in the Pacific Northwest & beyond. Read about the proactive steps we are taking to get ahead of the challenges and keep the safety of our people and operations at the forefront: https://t.co/Mv31CnTQjM
American Airlines’ change fee waiver offer is in effect for ticketed travelers through June 29 for trips to, through, or from the cities below. The airlines’ website notes that this information was current as of June 25, 2021, so if record-breaking heat continues in these areas, the waiver could be updated or extended. Check the website for details.
We are totally loving Alaska Airline’s newly decorated Pride-inspired plane supporting the LGBTQ+ community. It’s the first of its kind in the United States and will be flying throughout the airline’s network for the next year.
“Of the 376 primary mainland airports in the country as defined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) only 32, including T. F. Green Airport, did not have the city, region or state in its name,” the airport explains in a statement. And adding the geographical identifier “will better position Rhode Island’s main airport to support the state’s economy and tourism sector.”
New name, same great way to fly! We're changing our name to Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport, positioning us to better support Rhode Island’s economy and tourism sector. Click here for more information: https://t.co/zCfV3Wnggtpic.twitter.com/sRCPZtdfEz
— Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport (@IFlyRhodeIsland) June 16, 2021
Las Vegas’ McCarran Int’l Airport renamed for Harry Reid
Since 1968, the airport in Las Vegas has been named for Nevada’s late U.S. senator, Pat McCarran. He helped get the airport built, but left a legacy of racism and anti-Semitism. But earlier this year, Clark County commissioners in Nevada voted to change the name of the airport to Harry Reid International Airport, to honor the man who served as a Democratic senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017.
The name change isn’t quite official with the FAA just yet. But it looks like it is a pretty darn close because the name change is already being reflected on FAA charts.
New Art Gallery at Indianapolis International Airport
Called the KIND Gallery after the airport’s international airport code, the new gallery will feature rotating temporary art exhibits curated and coordinated in partnership with the Arts Council of Indianapolis.
The first gallery show is titled “Pareidolia.” The term refers to “the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern” and each artist in the show used clouds as their prompt to set their creativity into motion.
