SeaPort Airlines’ Expansion to Spokane Makes Seattle’s Boeing Field the New Hub for Regional Air Travel

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 3, 2026--

In Boeing Field, regional travelers have a new and improved option for air travel. On March 9, SeaPort Airlines is expanding with the launch of its Boeing Field-Felts Field shuttle–eight daily flights between Seattle and Spokane that offer travelers time, convenience and peace while expanding their travel options.

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SeaPort Airlines’ Boeing Field air shuttle is making Pacific Northwest travel predictable, easy and fast again as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport frustrates travelers with growing traffic congestion, unpredictable security lines and chronic “flow control” limitations, said SeaPort Airlines CEO Kent Craford.

“The Sea-Tac mega airport has outgrown short-hop travel in the Pacific Northwest. The solution is 100 years old, and it’s under our noses. It’s Boeing Field,” Craford said. “As Alaska Airlines becomes a competitive global airline, SeaPort Airlines is ready to become the Pacific Northwest’s regional airline. Boeing Field-based flights bring fun and ease back to air travel with a simple and vastly superior way of getting you to Portland or Spokane that saves hours per trip.”

SeaPort Airlines’ new Spokane routes build on SeaPort Airlines’ existing schedule of up to 16 shuttle flights per day between Boeing Field and Portland International Airport. SeaPort will offer two morning and two evening roundtrip flights per day between Boeing Field in Seattle (BFI) and Felts Field in Spokane (SFF). Flying in and out of these small, centrally located airports with free parking steps from the plane brings the region’s largest cities closer together at a time when business is increasingly won in person, Craford said.

“We’re bringing back fast, hassle-free travel,” Craford said. “Our customers enjoy free parking and short, easy trips to downtown Seattle and Spokane. They also get to skip the unpredictable, endless TSA lines and frantic security screening. Just check in 20 minutes before your flight. You can predictably get from downtown to downtown in two hours or less. It beats Zoom by about 279 miles.”

Marshal Burgess, Region President of iHeartMedia, said SeaPort Airlines has become an indispensable partner in how he operates across the Pacific Northwest.

“Their reliable, comfortable service between Portland and Seattle allows me to move seamlessly between our markets, stay closely connected with our teams, and remain fully present for our clients,” Burgess said. “The ability to commute with such ease isn’t just a convenience—it’s a strategic advantage. I’m proud to support SeaPort Airlines and the role they play in strengthening regional business and community ties.”

Craford noted Boeing Field and Felts Field are both built for convenience and are even charming with their 1930s era Art Deco terminals, yet offer on-site car rental, rideshare and other services. It's also a privilege to operate out of Boeing Field, the place where modern commercial airliners were born, he said.

“The Pacific Northwest has such a rich aviation history,” Craford said. “This is a unique place to be running an aviation business. That legacy means a lot to us. It’s also practical—it’s actually in Seattle! Paine Field in Everett is too remote. That wasn’t the answer. The solution to the Sea-Tac snarl has been under our noses all along.”

Craford continued: “The big airlines have an unspoken pact to avoid Boeing Field, going back to the 1990s when Southwest Airlines considered it. But we’re not a party to that deal, and neither are you. It’s time to stop reserving this amazing transportation asset for just the private jet-set and start making it available for everyone. That’s what SeaPort’s Boeing Field air shuttle is doing—making Boeing Field the peoples’ airport once again.”

Ticket prices for the new flights between Seattle and Spokane will be similar to the cost of tickets purchased from Alaska Airlines three days in advance of flight, starting at $299 one way. SeaPort Airlines is offering a 32% discount on fares through April using promo code SFF32 in honor of the 1932 Felts Field terminal building.

Reservations can be made at https://flyseaportair.com/#booknow.

About SeaPort Airlines

SeaPort Airlines is a division of the Juneau, Alaska-based Kalinin group of regional airlines, which include Alaska Seaplanes and Island Air Express. The company was started in 1997 and today operates over two dozen aircraft and employs approximately 300 team members. Kalinin Chairman and CEO Kent Craford co-founded the first SeaPort Airlines in 2008 and re-launched it in 2025. The new SeaPort Airlines will finally fulfill its founders' original vision–bringing Seattle and Portland closer together again, and actually getting you home for dinner. It's about time.

One of SeaPort Airlines' Pilatus PC-12s awaits its next passengers outside Felts Field in Spokane, Wash.

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own service weapon during a traffic stop is set to be executed Tuesday evening in Florida.

Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Kearse was initially sentenced to death in 1991 after being convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm.

The Florida Supreme Court found that the trial court failed to give jurors certain information about aggravating circumstances and ordered a new sentencing. Kearse was resentenced to death in 1997.

This is Florida’s third execution scheduled for 2026, following a record 19 executions last year. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The highest number before then was eight executions in both 1984 and 2014, under former governors Bob Graham and Rick Scott, respectively.

According to court records, Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish pulled over Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in January 1991. When Kearse couldn’t produce a valid driver’s license, Parrish ordered Kearse out of his vehicle and attempted to handcuff him.

A struggle ensued, and Kearse grabbed Parrish’s firearm, prosecutors said. Kearse fired 14 times, striking the officer nine times in the body and four times in his body armor. A nearby taxi driver heard the shots and used Parrish’s radio to call for help.

Parrish was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died from the gunshot wounds, officials said. Meanwhile, police used license plate information that Parrish had called in before approaching Kearse to identify the attacker’s vehicle and home address, where Kearse was arrested.

Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Kearse. His attorneys had argued that he was unconstitutionally deprived of a fair penalty phase and that his intellectual disability makes his execution unconstitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Kearse's final appeals Tuesday afternoon without comment.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis, far outpacing Alabama, South Carolina and Texas which each held five executions.

Besides the two Florida executions this year, Texas and Oklahoma have each executed one person so far.

Two more Florida executions have already been scheduled for this month. Michael Lee King, 54, is scheduled to die on March 17, and the execution of James Aren Duckett, 68, is set for March 31.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

FILE - Clouds hover over the entrance of the Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., Aug. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Curt Anderson, File)