Employee aims to make Alaska the airline of choice for the Hispanic community
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Bertha has worked at Alaska Airlines for 26 years and is part of our reservations team in Phoenix.
Growing up in Mexico City, Bertha enjoyed running outside to watch planes fly overhead, dreaming about where they were coming from or going to.
“I was born and raised in Mexico City. I’ve worked for many companies, from non-profit to exports, music business until Alaska introduced me to the airline business and stole my heart,” said Bertha, a reservations supervisor based in Phoenix.
In the 26 years she’s been with us—as an agent, trainer, translation expert, and advocate for our Spanish-speaking guests and employees—she says it has all been a phenomenal ride and a dream come true.
“Every position I’ve held during these years has been a true learning experience, and the amazing individuals I’ve met have inspired me to grow,” she said. “Today, as a reservations supervisor, I hope my journey will inspire and encourage agents and others to continue learning and pursue a long career with Alaska. The past 26 years have flown by because I truly love what I do.”
As a longtime member of our employee-led Latin Culture Resource Group (LCRG), Bertha says the group helps advocate for our Spanish-speaking guests and employees to better serve them traveling to/from any of our Mexico and Latin America destinations. The group also contributes to where we should fly within our network.
We wanted to serve more and more cities, in the U.S. and beyond, where we could have our Hispanic communities experience our service and give us the opportunity to earn their loyalty,” she said. “Working with our LCRG team, we continue to look for opportunities to extend our wings to more and more Latin communities in cities we already serve.”
Alaska has a long history of flying to Latin America, starting with the launch of service to Mexico more than 30 years ago—with routes to Cancun, Guadalajara, Loreto, Los Cabos, Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta and Zihuatanejo. Bertha says she’s flown to most of the destinations; next on her list is Loreto.
“I usually travel to Mexico two to three times a year to visit my mom and family. Plus, one or two additional trips with my husband and kids for fun,” she says. “The beauty of those places always takes my breath away and makes me feel happy. They offer what I enjoy most—history, traditions, beautiful beaches, delicious food, and lots of sunshine.”
‘My goal is to become the airline of choice for the Hispanic community.’
Bertha also helped create our internal Spanish proficiency assessment, which assesses employees’ skills in reading, writing mechanics, and listening en Español. She conducts these assessments for all newly hired bilingual reservations agents. In addition, she collaborates with our Contact Center team to find an effective and efficient way to serve our guests who prefer to speak Spanish.
“I’ve contributed to developing important resources and updates to our policies and procedures for our Spanish-speaking guests to help deliver the service they expect and deserve. My goal is that by continuing to advocate for resources, additional service and support for our bilingual agents, we can become the airline of choice for the Hispanic community within the U.S. and beyond,” said Bertha. “We offer competitive fares with the best service, and most of all, we have the best people in the industry. I have no doubt that once they give us the opportunity to serve them, they’ll love our service.”
Why is Hispanic Heritage Month important to you?
“It is who I am! I’m proud of my roots and having an entire month to celebrate our history is a great opportunity to share who we are, where we come from and where we want to go. I believe you need to know where you come from to know where you are going. Our culture, history, our beautiful language, and traditions are vast, ancient and such a big part of who we are.”
As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, Alaska Airlines continues to strive for progress to increase diversity, equity and inclusion from both within our teams and the industry overall. We are excited to recognize and honor employees like Bertha and celebrate the contributions and influence they have have within our network and beyond.