Blog

It has only been a month since Southwest Airlines’ first planes touched down in Sonoma County, but an airline turf battle is brewing in California’s wine country.

Now, the region is getting three new routes from Alaska Airlines, its longest-serving carrier.

Alaska on Thursday announced it’ll launch service this fall from Sonoma to three western cities: Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho.

Each of the new routes will begin on Nov. 1

The move comes just weeks after Southwest Airlines launched service from Santa Rosa and mirrored Alaska’s long-standing “wine flies free” policy. The policy allows flyers to check a case of wine (up to 12 bottles) for free — a setup clearly meant to benefit tourists visiting Sonoma wineries.

Here’s the rundown of Alaska’s three new routes from Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport (STS), each of which will be seasonal service that will run during the winter months.

Fast air service growth in Sonoma County

Even before Alaska’s expansion in Sonoma County, the airport had seen a notable increase in air service this year.

During the first half of 2026, the total number of departures from STS was set to be up nearly 20% versus last year, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Come November, Alaska will link a dozen cities to Santa Rosa.

Southwest — which didn’t fly there until April — now has nonstop STS service from Denver, Las Vegas, San Diego and Burbank, California.

Suffice it to say, if you want to visit Sonoma (or even Napa Valley) and skip the traffic of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose or Sacramento, there’s a rapidly increasing number of flight options from which to choose.

Alaska returns to Long Beach

Alaska also had route news in Southern California this week.

The Seattle-based carrier on Thursday revealed plans to return to Long Beach for the first time in more than a decade.

On Sept. 8, Alaska will launch nonstop service from Long Beach Airport (LGB) to its Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) home base.

Alaska last flew to LGB in 2015, per Cirium.

The service will offer a key link to Hawaiian Airlines, now part of Alaska Air Group, which flies from Long Beach to Honolulu and Maui.

Alaska will operate its SEA-LGB service with one of its Boeing 737s.

Bottom line

Alaska’s new routes bolster its long-standing West Coast network. But the reveal comes just about a week after the carrier took the latest step toward becoming a true global airline with its first service to Europe.

Related reading:

• When is the best time to book flights for the cheapest airfare?
• The best airline credit cards
• Which US airline is best? TPG’s latest rankings
• Flight delayed or canceled? Here’s what to do
• The best credit cards to reach elite status
• What are points and miles worth? TPG’s monthly valuations
• How your points and miles are shaping where airlines fly