PAL seeks wider Alaska Airlines tie-up
Chicago will not be the final stop in Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) aggressive expansion in the United States this year, as the flag carrier now moves to expand its codeshare partnership with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines.
In an April 21 application filed with US regulators seen by the Inquirer, the carriers said the expanded arrangement would build on a 2016 deal that allowed PAL’s code to be placed on select interisland flights in Hawaii operated by Hawaiian Airlines, now part of Alaska Air Group.
Under the proposed setup, Alaska Airlines would place its code on PAL-operated flights linking Manila with key US gateways, including Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and Chicago.
This proposed deal would also extend beyond Manila, as Alaska Airlines eyes placing its codes on PAL flights to domestic destinations such as Cebu and Laoag, as well as regional routes to Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Seoul.
In return, PAL plans to place its code on Alaska-operated flights within the United States, connecting its gateway cities to major destinations such as Las Vegas, New York, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Orlando, Miami and New Orleans, as well as interisland routes in Hawaii.
More travel options
“The authority requested herein is in the public interest because it will benefit consumers by providing additional travel options and make productive use of rights available to US carriers under the US-Philippines Agreement,” the joint application filed with the US Department of Transportation read.
Codesharing, which both carriers have been exploring since May 2025, allows airlines to sell seats on each other’s flights. This effectively expands their network reach without having to add capacity.
This arrangement would allow PAL passengers arriving in the US to access a wider domestic network through Alaska, while giving Alaska customers additional long-haul options to Manila and other Asian destinations.
On its own, Alaska Airlines operates routes to Manila via its US gateways, including Seattle and Los Angeles, while PAL has a broader US network covering Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Guam, Saipan and, just recently, Chicago.
