On social, Steve says he is a “dad, husband, Seattle sports fan and employment attorney” who is “funny once a year. Twice in leap years.” 

Funny and employment attorney are not terms you typically see together, but Steve, director of  Employee Relations, Mediation, and Investigations (ERMI), has made a name for himself at Alaska as a leader who cares and doesn’t take himself too seriously.  He’s also a leader with a visible disability.  

“My story in a nutshell is that I’m profoundly deaf,” Steve said. He lost most of his hearing during infancy, which affected his speech development at an early age. It’s been a life-long disability. “I don’t remember life before hearing loss, as it’s all I’ve known,” he said.  

Steve hears with cochlear implants (surgical devices near his ears, which help with sound perception). “I rely on lipreading to supplement my hearing. I also lean heavily on closed captioning in video calls,” he said. 

Steve leads a team of Employee Relations professionals at Alaska who investigate violations of our People Policy. It’s pretty heavy stuff, but something Steve believes he was meant to do.  

“I strongly believe my life experiences with deafness have led to a major part of my (and my team’s) philosophy, which is helping employees feel heard and validated through what can be a very traumatic process,” he said.  

He speaks from experience, having seen bias as a kid growing up as teachers didn’t know how to accommodate his learning.  He overcame those odds, graduating from high school, getting a law degree, and passing the bar exam. 

“There’s still a stigma about disability today, but it’s less overt than it was when I was a kid,” he said.  It’s why today, he regularly reaches out as an advocate for people with disabilities on social media. He wrote a series of articles on LinkedIn titled “Flying while disabled: what works well, and what airlines can improve.” Steve is also part of ACCESS, a Business Resource Group (BRG) focused on disability advocacy for our business and encourages employees with disabilities to pursue leadership opportunities. 

He says of the 250+ directors and above at Alaska, he doesn’t know of many with a disability. “That’s not a knock on Alaska,” he said. “But rather, it’s a reflection of the reality that disabled folks are significantly underrepresented in employment in general, and those numbers drop even more as you get higher into the leadership ranks.” 

Alaska has taken several measures in the last year to do better, including being the first airline to set up a Disability Office to coordinate on all areas of disability advocacy for employees and guests, achieving our goal of 7% for representation of employees who self-identify as having a disability and creating more accessible employee spaces for corporate and airport employees. 

Steve fully recommends Alaska as an employer that is doing the right thing to help employees with a hearing disability feel whole at work.  Things like having people turn their cameras on in meetings so he can read their lips and closed captioning for live meetings are game changers for employees with hearing loss. 

He regularly tells his training classes about his disability, addressing it with his signature humor. “Talking about it upfront helps people unfamiliar with a significant hearing loss like mine to see me as a fuller person and not just as “the guy with those big hearing aids.” 

The Kraken are back for another season of hockey excitement, and Seattle’s hometown airline and official sponsor of the team is getting in on the fun.

Getaway Goals

Starting with the first Kraken home game on October 17, Kraken fans can score a discount of 32% off Alaska flights when the team scores 5 goals or more in a home game. Each game unlocks a different mystery location, so follow along all season long to fill your travel calendar.

When you see the Kraken score 5 goals, head over to the Kraken social media accounts to find out where the discount code will take you and how to use it. Discounts will only be available for 24 hours, so act fast.

Priority Boarding

Just like last season, wearing your Kraken pride on your sleeve will get you priority boarding whenever you’re departing Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) or Seattle-Everett International Airport (PAE).

What does priority boarding mean exactly?  Guests sporting a Kraken hockey jersey will skate their way to the fast lane, following group C. Just be sure to listen closely to your gate agent’s announcements!

Julio spent every summer with his sister in Mexico to visit family. On one of his flights, the flight attendant asked if he wanted to say hi to the pilots. He said yes, and up they went to the flight deck. The pilots gave Julio a pair of wings, asked him his name and let him press a button. And in that moment, an aviator was born.

“Even though I was only up there for a minute I thought – ‘Oh my gosh, this is what I want to do with my life,”’ said Julio.

That moment also subconsciously conveyed a message that would shape his future. Julio saw possibilities for himself, even if he couldn’t fully comprehend it as a child. “The crew all looked like me because we [my sister and I] were flying a Mexican airline. I didn’t know it at the time, but I thought, well, I could do this,” he said.

Navigating the dualities of two worlds growing up

Julio is the proud child of immigrants – his parents, seeking a brighter future, arrived in the US in the late 80s during the Reagan era. They navigated the complexities of immigration and were granted amnesty which helped guide their process to becoming citizens.

Julio was the first in his family to be born in the US and grew up in a diverse neighborhood in Southern California. In his early years, Julio shied away from speaking Spanish, his first language, both at school and in everyday interactions.

He longed to fit in and not stand out, but he also struggled to find his place among the Latino kids at school who conversed in Spanish. “I just wanted to be like everyone else, so I only spoke English,” said Julio.

Like generations of immigrants before them, children of immigrants often become “language brokers” – those who linguistically translate for family members who do not fluently speak the language of the country they live in. This additional responsibility was no different for Julio and his sister. 

“My sister is four years older than me, and we just had to figure things out on our own. I remember any time we had a parent-teacher conference, or we had to go to the doctor, or anywhere, I felt like we had to be the adults because we had to translate everything for them,” said Julio

Chasing his aviation dreams

With dreams of becoming a pilot, Julio was uncertain how to begin. His parents consistently encouraged him to do well and stay in school, but being unfamiliar with the American higher education system, it was up to Julio to chart his own path.

“I didn’t know any pilots, so in my junior year of high school everyone’s asking, ‘oh where are you going to go to college?,’ and honestly, I just started Googling ‘aviation’ and ‘how do you become a pilot?’,” Julio laughed as he shared this. In his searches, one school always popped up – Embry-Riddle – and he talked to his counselor, applied in his senior year and was accepted.   

Julio flew to Daytona Beach to tour the campus and had his schedule. The final step was securing finances to pay for it. “I remember thinking, wow, this is so expensive I can’t afford this, and I would never want to put my parents in a situation where they’d have to sign a house mortgage for me to go to school,” said Julio.

His counselor suggested he take Embry-Riddle’s online course, which he did for two years, but financial constraints still kept him from affording flying lessons. So, it was on to plan b. On the brink of turning 21, Julio applied to be a flight attendant. It was also during this time that he began to embrace his Mexican heritage openly.

“I was hired as a bilingual flight attendant and flew all over. I’d help people fill out their immigration forms or ask them about their connections and help them get through the customs process,” said Julio. “In that moment, I really embraced being proud to speak Spanish because I knew that’s what my parents went through [having someone translate for them]. I thought to myself – this is who I am, and it’s cool that I’m bilingual and Mexican, instead of hiding it.”

On layovers with crew he shared with the pilots he’d always wanted to fly planes. They consistently urged Julio to chase his dream and that propelled him to go back to college and finish his last two years. After six years, he left his career as a flight attendant to dedicate himself to pilot training full-time. He got his ratings and then became an instructor before moving to a regional airline. Today, he’s a first officer for Alaska.

Julio’s journey to becoming a pilot was different from the typical route, but his serves as an inspiring reminder of the power of perseverance and believing in one’s dreams. His parents were also a big inspiration – watching them work so hard their whole life, and never giving up.

“I wouldn’t really share this with a lot of people, but after my first experience meeting those pilots that summer, every candle I blew out on a birthday cake, every penny thrown in a fountain, anytime 11:11 was on a clock, or whenever I saw a shooting star, I always wished to be a pilot. My whole life – please let me be a pilot one day,” shared Julio.

His words of wisdom: “If you have a goal, just do whatever it takes to make it happen. Because one day, your dream will come true.”

Expressing empathy and solidarity in the wake of last month’s devastating wildfires in West Maui is challenging, as the losses were profound. As the community embarks on a long journey of recovery and rebuilding, our employees continue to show their unwavering commitment to supporting others in their time of greatest need. This spirit of dedication and compassion is the DNA that unites us at Alaska Airlines. It’s ingrained in our very essence to care for and serve our communities, shaping who we are as a company. 

Here are just a few of the stories of how employees helped at ground zero of the devastation on Maui — from a dispatcher vacationing when the fires broke out, to a captain flying in who worked in a relief kitchen and our local team who rushed to the airport to help — in their own words. 

“I was aware of the ongoing brush fires in Lahaina and Upcountry Maui for a few days. But, it wasn’t until I received a 2 a.m. phone call from the Lieutenant Governor’s office that I fully comprehended the extent and severity of the fire. I went to the Maui airport to do what I could, unloading supplies that Alaska was shipping in – water, food, etc. From the outset our Hawai‘i team was at the forefront, answering urgent calls and rallying our airline industry allies. Their dedication went beyond merely supporting our passengers; they were deeply committed to caring for the communities we serve. From our public affairs group to our operations team and our invaluable partners at Unifi, everyone united to ensure supplies reached those in dire need. Witnessing everyone’s heartfelt effort, driven not by obligation but by genuine compassion, was deeply touching. I’m proud to be part of a company that unwaveringly supports our Maui and Hawai‘i communities.” – Jacob

“This one was hard. Really hard. This is my home state.” 

–  Sil, flight attendant and volunteer rescue worker

“We landed on Maui on Saturday, Aug. 12. I was part of an assessment team of Empact International (NW). My job (in addition to being a flight attendant) was to assess the need for more of my team members to join us. It was very apparent from the moment I hit the ground that the need for help was immense. A couple of days later, four more of my team members joined me. While in Lahaina, my team helped relief & recovery efforts in two ways. We relieved Maui fire fighters who were part of the difficult task of searching for remains. We also were in command of a county supported distribution point. My team distributed over 100 tons of aid (food/water & necessities), over 9,000 people served, coordinated over 500 volunteers. I was so proud to see box after box labeled, ‘Alaska’ on them as they came through the station. This is my 19th major disaster. This one was hard. Really hard. This is my home state.” – Sil  

“We were a teaspoon of help in an ocean of need.”

– Sandi, captain, who piloted flights into Maui and volunteered 

“Sara and I were pilots on a flight to Maui on the early morning of Aug. 9, mere hours after the fire had begun. We got a birds-eye view of the devastation. We saw the immediate response of the community, everything from the locals opening homes to strangers (as if there was ever a stranger in the islands😌) to relief flights to get people off the island. Sara and I decided on the way home that we would figure out a way to do whatever we could. When we returned on a flight days later, we rented a car and headed for the docks where a local organization was running supplies via boats into Lahaina. We helped there where we could then we returned to the hotel and picked up Flight Attendants Maranda and Suzanne. The four of us volunteered at the War Memorial Gym Shelter until 7 p.m. that evening. It was an emotional day for everyone and in the big scheme of things, a teaspoon of help in an ocean of need. But our hope was to be there for Maui and acquire info for others should they also choose to help. I was, and still am, humbled by how people drop everything to take care of people in need. We are blessed that when all is said and done, we don’t worry about our differences – we see, focus and value our similarities, inclusiveness and humanity.” – Sandi 

“I’ve never been prouder to be a part of this company. The very first question I was asked was “How can we help, what do you need?” within hours I had more support and supplies than I could’ve ever imagined. Immediately we began assisting our local airport community, employees, and guests, we had over 2,000 passengers overnighting at the airport with only the clothes on their backs, we were able to provide them with food, water, and blankets. My team showed up day in and day out despite many of them losing much more than material items, their desire to provide service and care for our guests and each other was truly remarkable. For weeks following the fires we made daily supply runs to Lahaina, upcountry and various other distribution centers, and neighborhoods across the island and we are continuing to have a presence in the community to this day. Meeting some extraordinary people along the way, those who lost everything were stepping up to help a perfect stranger, it was humbling to see the compassion and care for others. Maui is my home; I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to be a part of something much greater than myself.” – Kelsey  

“We didn’t want to be a burden, so we stayed and helped as we could.” 

– Brad, dispatch manager, who was visiting Maui with his family when the fires hit 

“Our family arrived on Maui the day before the worst of the fires. It was 11:30 p.m. when we received the alert to evacuate because of a fire close to us. The suggestion was to go to Maui High School, so we went there first. It was packed, so we figured we’d just strike out on our own. We ended up spending the rest of the night in our minivan in the cell phone lot at the airport. Checking in with my co-workers, I learned that Alaska was adding extra sections to help folks get off the island. There were a lot of people sleeping in the airport, on the floor, on baggage carousels, everywhere. We didn’t want to be a burden or in the way of recovery efforts or go to the airport and add ourselves to that problem – or taking seats from people who needed to get off the island wouldn’t help either. So, we hunkered down and did what we could to be of assistance. My parents volunteered at a church shelter. My wife worked at the War Memorial Gym shelter for the Red Cross, and also at the Humane Society. I was on childcare duty while also helping with the company’s response in the initial days after the fires as best I could. Our story is nothing compared to many others. We were just visitors, trying not to be a burden and helped as we could. We were able to get on an airplane and return as a family to our home. Others don’t have that option.”  – Brad