Alaska Airlines suspends red-carpet ceremonial fly-out of first Copper River king salmon

Alaska Airlines has stopped rolling out the red carpet for the opening of Alaska’s salmon season.

The airline has paused a 15-year-old program that celebrates the Copper River salmon run, one of Alaska’s earliest commercial salmon fisheries, the company confirmed by email.

For more than a decade, Alaska Airlines observed the unofficial opening of Alaska’s salmon season by flying a king salmon from Cordova to Seattle, where it was presented to chefs in a red carpet photo opportunity known as the First Fish event.

Last year, the company switched things up with an event in Boston, instead of Seattle. This year, the company didn’t publicly mark the start of the salmon season.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/05/29/alaska-airlines-suspends-red-carpet-ceremonial-fly-out-of-first-copper-river-king-salmon/