According to Alaska Airlines, they are establishing a 787-9 hub in Seattle that will deploy as many as seventeen 787s across their global network. In addition to an existing 737 pilot base, the airline will open a new pilot base to support 787 operations beginning next spring. The company currently has four Dreamliners in the fleet.

At 3,142 nautical miles (5,828 km) each way, Alaska's new route will be the longest passenger-carrying MAX flight of any US operator to date. When all 737 models are included, it will also be the type's longest nonstop service ever by any US carrier. Of course, it won't be short enough to make the US's 10 shortest European flights list.

Alaska Airlines is set to launch two nonstop routes from Seattle to London Heathrow and Reykjavik, Iceland. The new routes mark the fourth and fifth of at least 12 intercontinental destinations that the carrier says it will serve from its hometown airport of Seattle by 2030.