Alaska Airlines has unveiled plans for a new world-class, super-size training facility in Renton, United States (US).
Alaska Airlines purchased the 19-acre property for $85.75 million, which includes a 600,000-square-foot (55,700-square-meter) facility that Boeing purposefully built to house an aviation training facility.
The new facility, which is part of the 173-acre Longacres campus, will act as a centralized training hub for pilots, cabin crew members and more.
Alaska already houses nine full-motion flight simulators in the facility, with plans to add a tenth in the next few years.
An additional $100 million investment will be used to renovate the new space that will include a mock aircraft for in-flight simulations, classrooms, an auditorium, a production studio and significant office space.
Customer service agents and other employee groups will also share the facility.
“Our remarkable operations team members will, for the first time in our history, all come together and train under one roof,” Constance von Muehlen, COO at Alaska Airlines, said. “We’re excited to build on Alaska Airlines’ culture of safety, performance and care in this purposefully designed space worthy of our frontline team’s contributions to every guest and every flight.”
While pilots already train on the campus using the existing simulators, other employee groups will begin moving into the facility following renovations towards the end of 2025.
The Alaska Airlines corporate headquarters will remain at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
“We’re thrilled to invest in our Puget Sound home,” Shane Jones, Senior Vice President of fleet, revenue products and real estate at Alaska Airlines said. “The growth opportunity this purchase provides us cannot be overstated, and it really feels like a perfect match.”
Jones added: “Having access to a facility that was purpose built for aviation training that we then get to customize was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. As Longacres continues to be built out, our employees will have access to amenities that will truly make this a world class training experience.”
Alaska purchased the new facility from Unico Properties.