Not so: "Northwest flew scheduled non-stop service between the West Coast and the Orient with the 320. There was the occasional Anchorage fuel stop when winds aloft were unfavorable."  Fact is, that Northwest Orient was the dominant air carrier player in long haul east/west regular scheduled air service for decades, long before the age of the turbo jet, they continued doing this long after the jets. Northwest used Anchorage as a scheduled intermediate and fuel stop with their DC-6s at Elmendorf, even before the our International Airport was completed here. They were so dominant in Anchorage they captured most of the airport's concession contracts early on, like the bar, gift shop, restaurant, in flight catering, and international air carrier in flight servicing. For decades, the regular scheduled air line here with passenger rights to Tokyo from Anchorage and to the US East Coast as well as SEA-ANC. Pan Am never had SEA/ANC scheduled authority, only FAI /SEA via Whitehorse and Juneau.