Plastic cups? We sent ‘em packing. Today, we’re excited to announce the completion of our transition to paper cups for inflight beverages, a move which eliminates more than 55 million plastic cups annually and replaces them with a more planet-friendly alternative.
By partnering with Boxed Water™ and serving beverages in responsibly-sourced paper cups, we’re saving more than 2.2 million pounds of plastic from landfills a year, the equivalent weight of 24 Boeing 737s.
Here are some of the ways we’re eliminating our top sources of plastic waste on board to reduce our impact on the environment and help keep the places we live & fly beautiful:
Eliminating plastic cups on board with responsibly-sourced paper cups.
Replacing plastic water bottles with Boxed Water™.
All inflight beverages on Alaska flights are now served in Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper cups or reusable glassware for most First-Class services. We began the process of eliminating our five largest sources of plastic waste in 2018 by removing plastic straws and stir sticks from inflight service – a first for any airline at the time.
As part of our broader sustainability efforts, Alaska continues to pursue product innovations and supply chain advancements to achieve our 2025 goal of replacing the top five waste-producing items from onboard service and continuing to recycle. In 2021, Alaska established climate goals for its impacts in carbon, waste, and water while defining a five-part pathway to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 to keep the places we live and fly beautiful and viable for generations to come.
In partnership with Intelsat, we intend to be the first global airline to outfit regional jets with high-speed connectivity to create a consistent experience across our fleet
As Alaska Airlines elevates its regional flying experience with an all-jet fleet, we’re excited to become the first major airline to announce plans to offer streaming-fast satellite Wi-Fi on a regional jet aircraft. We have selected Intelsat’s newest satellite Wi-Fi technology to make that happen.
Intelsat’s new system closely aligns with Alaska’s needs for our regional fleet. The new, faster service will utilize an electronically steered array (ESA) which is a small, lighter weight antenna with no moving parts – making it easier to maintain in the unique regional environment. In an industry first, Intelsat’s new system will communicate with both traditional geostationary (GEO) satellites and new low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. With an additional $25 million investment, this upgrade represents a major step forward in the travel experience for our guests, enabling higher speeds and more coverage in the air, particularly across areas in the state of Alaska.
The new system will debut on Horizon Air, our sister airline, in early 2024 and roll out across our regional jet fleet, including on our partner SkyWest, over a two-year period. With nearly all our mainline fleet set to feature satellite Wi-Fi by this April – also installed by Intelsat – we’re on track to provide consistent streaming-fast Wi-Fi across our entire fleet by 2026.
Bringing a streaming-fast satellite Wi-Fi solution to our regional jets is another key investment in modernizing our fleet, emphasizing innovation and taking care of our guests changing needs,” said Sangita Woerner, senior vice president of marketing and guest experience for Alaska Airlines. “With the growth in remote work, we know staying connected at 34,000 feet is more important than ever. Intelsat’s new system will give our guests the peace of mind that no matter whether it’s a short flight or longer journey, there will be reliable, affordable and convenient Wi-Fi. It’s just another way we show care in the air.”
Intelsat’s state-of-the-art satellite Wi-Fi equipment will be the first commercial application of an electronically steered antenna that communicates with both low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites located 22,000 miles from Earth. With LEO at just 300 miles from the Earth’s surface, thousands of small satellites circling the planet ensure stronger connectivity with lower latency, or delay in telecommunications. Being closer to Earth provides a benefit of a shorter delay time as data moves from the ground to satellites to aircraft and back. This unique combination of using both LEO and GEO satellites enables higher speeds and more coverage, particularly across remote areas in the state of Alaska.
With satellite Wi-Fi, you can stream, browse and chat on board using the internet much like you’re used to when you’re on the ground. You can enjoy content on your personal devices from your favorite services such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and TikTok. Or jump online if you need connectivity to get some work done. Another bonus: On our aircraft enabled with satellite Wi-Fi, you can connect from the moment you board instead of waiting for the connection to kick in after the boarding door closes – it’s seamless connectivity from gate to gate.
When you’re airborne, staying entertained is important – and that doesn’t mean you need to connect to the internet to do that. We continue to invest in our massive library of entertainment for free streaming to personal computers, tablets and phones. We offer more than 800 movies and TV shows with more to come. And don’t forget about free texting on board.
Ahead of San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade & Festival, Alaska employees share their cherished traditions
As the title sponsor of San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade & Festival, we’re proud to celebrate not only the year of the Rabbit but also the year of the Cat—and all the communities this holiday touches.
For MyHoa Tran and Esther Chan, the New Year means more than turning the page in a calendar. For their families, celebrating the first moon of the Lunar New Year can be a multi-day-long event that goes back generations. It means families getting together, renewal, fortune and delicious dishes steeped in tradition.
Tran and Chan, members of our Air Group Pan Asians (AGPA) business resource group (BRG), share what makes this time of year special for them and how even the name of the holiday differs based on where you are from.
Learn more about the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco on Feb 4, 2023.
While Lunar New Year is the general term for the start of the traditional lunisolar calendar, the holiday also has different names in specific cultures. People from Chinese culture call it Spring Festival, or Chūnjié, Koreans call the New Year Seollal, and Vietnamese refer to it as Tết.
In most Asian cultures that celebrate Lunar New Year, 2023 is the year of the Water Rabbit. However, Vietnam does not have the rabbit as part of their zodiac animals and instead celebrates the Year of the Cat.
San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade will be held on Feb 4, 2023. Learn more
Celebrating Vietnamese Tết
Records analyst MyHoa Tran celebrates Tết from the first day of the first month of the Vietnamese lunar calendar until at least the third day.
It’s about family: “It’s important to me because it’s the only occasion for all family members to get together,” Tran said. “We set aside all the troubles and worries of the past year and hope for a better and happier upcoming year.” In addition to gathering to eat, people wear their best clothes and visit their relatives and neighbors, sharing gifts and special wishes. “The elderly receive wishes for health, the adults are wished fortune and success, and the young and children receive money envelopes,” Tran said.
MyHoa wears an áo dài, a traditional Vietnamese dress
Cleaning the house: Tết starts the month before with a ceremonial cleaning of the house from top to bottom, followed by decorating. “In the South, where I’m from, we use yellow apricot blossoms, which represent the spirit of Tết,” Tran said. “We also use marigolds-symbolizing longevity, chrysanthemums, cockscombs and paperwhites.”
Oh, the food! Food preparation begins a week before the holiday. “We prepare roasted watermelon seeds, pickled onion, cabbage, and small leeks, dried candies, fruit trays, coconut candy, peanut brittle and a big pot of meat stew cooked in coconut juice,” she said.
On New Year’s Eve Day, the whole family gathers to prepare the traditional bánh tét, a savory-sweet rice cake, which takes about 24 hours to cook. “Everyone in the house has a job to do–be it the banana leaves, rice, cooking the meat (pork belly) or rolling and packing the cakes.
A photo of MyHoa’s family celebrating Tết
Ringing in Lunar New Year with loved ones
For software engineer Esther Chan, who hails from Mainland China and Hong Kong, being with family and friends is important.
Red Pockets: At Lunar New Year, it’s tradition to give the gift of a bright red pocket (envelope). They are filled with money and symbolize good wishes and fortune for the year ahead. “When I was a kid, I was most excited about getting red pockets from grandparents, parents, uncles and aunties,” Chan said. Other symbols are the New Year’s Eve firecrackers and red New Year scroll.
Esther Chan
Why it’s special: “To me, spending time with family and friends is the most important thing during the Lunar New Year holidays,” Chan said. “I have many great memories during the breaks and miss celebrating it with my family back in Hong Kong.”
What not to do: “Certain things are taboo during Lunar New Year—such as swearing or quarreling, getting your hair cut (because hair means ‘become rich’ and you don’t want to cut that), wearing white or black clothing (red or gold is lucky), and saying the number four (which can mean death),” said Chan.
Chan’s daughter visiting Hong Kong for the first time
Alaska Airlines Foundation helps young people discover new skills in Hawai‘i and beyond
Saige Adaro, 18, felt lost in 2020 when the pandemic brought an abrupt end to 10 years of studying dance – until an invitation to join a video class propelled her onto a new creative path. Holden Aniya, also 18, discovered a love for digital storytelling, which has helped her stay closer to her family while she pursues her dream of becoming an airline pilot. For both young women, an innovative digital media program serving elementary through high school students that is supported by the Alaska Airlines Foundation gave them new tools to express themselves and dream bigger.
Adaro and Aniya were among more than 3,300 students in Hawai‘i who participated last year in HIKI NŌ, a PBS Hawai‘i program that teaches students how to create PBS-quality videos telling the stories of their communities. HIKI NŌ, which received a 2022 grant from the Alaska Airlines Foundation, also cultivates professional skills that help students succeed in college and their future careers.
Students’ projects are released on a weekly PBS Hawai‘i broadcast, as well as the PBS Hawai‘i YouTube channel, and 90 schools across four islands participate. “It’s a huge thing for Hawai‘i kids, who are in sort of a little bubble,” said Aniya, who is now a freshman at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “HIKI NŌ is a great way for kids to get out there, speak to different people and share their stories with everyone.”
Adaro loved her work with HIKI NŌ so much that it changed her entire career path. She’s now majoring in screenwriting at Chapman University in California.
Holden Aniya
“Like dance, this was telling stories through movement, but I found that I like telling stories through writing and video because it was a way to highlight people in my community,” said Adaro, who produced a half-dozen videos during her junior and senior years at Pearl City High School – including one reflecting on how the pandemic altered her creative journey. “In our projects, I always loved being the one to craft the script, and this helped lead me to where I am.”
Aniya, who has known since she was in eighth grade that she wants to be a commercial airline pilot, says the program also taught her how to handle criticism and overcome obstacles. And now that she’s far from home studying aviation, she loves making videos to share with family. “It’s amazing to think about how that invitation to focus on telling a story can give you something that you can carry on forever,” she said.
Saige Adaro
The Alaska Airlines Foundation is committed to creating opportunities for young people to inspire the next generation
The Alaska Airlines Foundation, a nonprofit grant-making organization, is dedicated to supporting programs for the next generation of leaders in aviation and beyond, particularly in the West Coast states we call home. HIKI NŌ is among 68 organizations in Hawai‘i, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington that received grants from the Foundation in 2022 to equip and enable young people to pursue their career dreams.
Over the past 23 years, we have invested more than $4 million in grants for communities where Alaska Airlines flies. HIKI NŌ received past support from Alaska Airlines, and the 2022 Foundation grant came in the same year we celebrated 15 years of service to the Hawaiian Islands.
“Programs like HIKI NŌ enable equity and opportunity for students who may otherwise be overlooked and put them on a path to achieve future success,” said Diana Birkett Rakow, Foundation chair and senior vice president of public affairs and sustainability at Alaska Airlines. “The Alaska Airlines Foundation helps great organizations like PBS Hawai‘i do this important and powerful work to inspire young people in our communities and equip them with the tools to dream big.”
Cultivating skills for future careers
Adaro began to realize that filmmaking could be a viable career as she produced HIKI NŌ projects like “Sewing a New Normal,” which told the story of her school’s fashion program. “I loved being able to do a video about how that program has survived COVID and how it’s continuing to grow,” she said. “Just shining a light on something that often goes overlooked, that contributes a lot to students’ lives, was really gratifying and I loved doing it.”
Ryan Kawamoto, a director and vice president for Kinetic Productions in Honolulu, remembers getting his start in a high school video production class. Now, he’s mentored dozens of HIKI NŌ students. “Not all of them will go into the industry and that’s OK,” he said. “But they’re learning valuable soft skills like teamwork, communication, creative problem-solving, speaking skills and writing skills. The list goes on and on.”
Ryan Kawamoto
Kawamoto offered Adaro a summer internship after her experience with HIKI NŌ. “It definitely opened so many doors for me,” said Adaro, who plans to pay it forward by becoming a future HIKI NŌ mentor. “For students all over the state, it allows them to explore an artistic side of the media industry, and it allows them to explore their passions. I owe a lot to it.”
The Alaska Airlines Foundation is now accepting new grant requests for 2023. More information on applying for a Foundation grant can be found here.
Alaska Airlines and Bank of America announce enhanced benefits to our Visa Signature® card
Cardholders now enjoy new ways to earn double miles on everyday purchases,priority boarding, expanded free checked bag privileges; for a limited time,new cardholders can receive 70,000 bonus miles after making qualifying purchases
A new year reveals new reasons to celebrate what makes the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card, co-branded with Bank of America, better and more valuable than ever.
Our current and new cardholders can now take advantage of enhanced benefits when they use the card while traveling with us and while making everyday purchases – from earning more miles in new ways to boarding their flight earlier to continued savings with a free checked bag and Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™.
Cardholders will enjoy these new benefits:
Earn Double Miles: Cardholders now earn 2 miles for every dollar spent on eligible purchases made every day – including gas, local transit including ride share, cable bill and select streaming services. Alaska miles don’t expire so they can be redeemed at any time.
Relationship Bonus: A 10% rewards bonus on all miles earned from card purchases with an open, eligible Bank of America checking, savings or investment account.
Priority Boarding: Early group boarding when tickets are purchased with an Alaska Visa Signature® card.
Expanded Privileges for Authorized Users: Authorized users added by primary cardholders will now receive additional savings and convenience when the Alaska Visa Signature® card is used to purchase a ticket. Authorized users can continue to book their own travel with the card but will now also gain access to a free checked bag and priority boarding even when they’re not traveling with the primary cardholder (previously, authorized users needed to travel with the cardholder on the same reservation to receive a free checked bag).
Alaska Lounge+ Membership Discount: Cardholders can enjoy $100 off the price of an Alaska Lounge+ membership every year when purchased with their Alaska Visa Signature® card.
With our newly enhanced Visa Signature® credit card, we strived to add benefits that mean the most to our cardholders – from adding value to their travel experience when using the card to earning more miles on things we buy all the time,” said Sangita Woerner, senior vice president of marketing and guest experience at Alaska Airlines. “All those earned miles with the card can be redeemed in our award-winning Mileage Plan program for flights on Alaska, our fellow oneworld member airlines and our additional global partners.”
Cardholders will also continue to enjoy the card’s additional benefits:
Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™ Every Year: Current cardholders will continue to receive a companion fare that allows them to book a companion flight from just $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) when bought with their Alaska Visa Signature® card. The companion fare becomes available annually after their card anniversary and it’s valid on all flights booked on alaskaair.com. New cardholders must spend $6,000 or more on purchases within the prior anniversary year to receive the annual companion fare.
Continuing Ways to Earn Miles: Cardholders will still earn 3 miles for every dollar spent on eligible Alaska purchases and 1 mile for every dollar spent on all other things they buy.
20% Inflight Rebate: Cardholders get back 20% on onboard purchases such as food, beverages and Wi-Fi when they pay with their Alaska Visa Signature® card.
Low Annual Fee: Just $95 annually.
Now’s a great time to get the card. For a limited time, in addition to all the benefits above, new cardholders receive 70,000 bonus miles with this offer. Those bonus miles alone are more than enough for a roundtrip ticket anywhere Alaska flies. To qualify, cardholders need to make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening their account.
“We are thrilled to work with Alaska Airlines in order to offer customers enhanced benefits on their Visa Signature® credit card,” said Jason Gaughan, Head of Consumer Credit Card Products at Bank of America. “With these new changes we’ve created more opportunities for customers to optimize their credit card rewards and get the most out of every dollar spent travelling or for everyday purchases. In addition, eligible Bank of America checking, savings or investment account holders can earn an additional rewards bonus.”
Alaska Airlines and Bank of America will launch similar enhanced benefits for the Alaska Airlines Visa Business card this spring.
Alaska and Bank of America announced last year an extension of our co-branded credit card agreement through 2030 to continue offering best-in-class benefits to our customers.
Mileage Plan miles earned by using the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card can be redeemed for free flights on Alaska and more than 20 of our fellow oneworld member airlines and additional global partners to more than 900 destinations around the world. Our guests can also use their miles to book hotel stays and upgrades on their flights.
For information about rates, fees, other costs and benefits associated with the use of this credit card, please see Terms and Conditions. This credit card program is issued and administered by Bank of America, N.A.
5 places to visit to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s life & legacy
One of the ways you can honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Is by traveling to the places he once walked and trailblazed activism. Below are five places Alaska and our airline partners can take you to behold his soaring vision to create a beloved community where everyone is cared for, absent of poverty, hunger and hate.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial is located along Independence Ave SW near the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument where MLK gave his infamous “I Have a Dream” Speech.
Washington D.C.
Standing 30-foot tall in West Potomac Park, next to the National Mall, stands a granite statue of Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr., carved by sculptor Lei Yixin.
Nearby is the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, which will remain open to the public on Monday, Jan. 17, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. From Jan. 13 to Feb. 27, the museum will have a special showing of King’s original “I Have A Dream” speech from the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in the “Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom” gallery.
Atlanta is the birthplace and final resting place of Dr. King. It has some of the largest Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Sites spread over 35 acres and has been listed as a national historic site since 1980. There, you can visit Martin Luther King Jr’s childhood home and the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he was baptized and preached for many years.
The Motor City has many important ties to the civil rights movement, including being the home of Rosa Parks and the Walk to Freedom. The walk was a mass march that drew in crowds of 125,000 or more people and was known to be one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in the nation’s history up until that point. King gave an impassioned speech, a precursor to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech given weeks later in Washington, D.C.
Civil Rights Leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., went to Memphis to support better housing, wages and workplace safety for sanitation workers.
Memphis
For a compelling and moving experience, visit the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was murdered. To honor his life, there will be an all-day celebration on Jan. 16, 2023, with free admission to the museum from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
Did you know you can earn and redeem Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles on flights with American Airlines? You can earn and use Alaska miles to fly American to Memphis.
On March 7, 1965, police attacked hundreds of civil rights activists on the Edmund Pettus Bridge—who were beginning a march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capitol in Montgomery to change voting rights. The bridge has become a symbolic civil rights landmark. Two days after the brutal attack, Martin Luther King Jr. led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators, including clergy, to kneel and pray on the bridge, avoiding confrontation.
Montgomery, Alabama
In 1965, after a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, Martin Luther King famously led thousands of people to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, to campaign for equal voting rights. Montgomery also has a stunning museum where people can gather and reflect on America’s history of racial inequality called the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. It’s free admission on MLK Day.
American Airlines flies to Montgomery Regional Airport.
How can you make MLK Day a “day on, not a day off”
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service. Here are some ways you can give back to communities we serve:
If you’re ditching alcohol for “Dry January,” a popular trend where you abstain from alcohol during the first month of the year — or not — we’re sharing some of our favorite mocktail recipes we’ll still be using way past January! Enjoy these non-alcoholic beverages on your next flight or when you pop into some of our lounges all month long and beyond.
Depending on what you’re looking for, many of these canned mocktails and non-alcoholic spirits taste and look like the real deal.
Onboard your flight:
Sparkling mocktail anyone?
Create your own non-alcoholic flavored sparking water or tonic! Order a sparkling water or tonic water and add in some citrus flavor with one of three true citrus flavors including lemon, lime and grapefruit for a refreshing sparkling mocktail.
Looking for something comforting to sip on during your flight?
Order a Teavana Mint Majesty. It’s free of caffeine and full of soothing mint flavor.
Want something smooth & sweet?
Try a can of coke over ice with creamer.
In the lounge:
“Cranberry Mule”
Ginger Beer, Cranberry Juice, Garnish with Lime | Recommended by lounge team @ LAX and PDX.
“Resolution Solution”
Pomegranate Syrup, Sparkling water and sugar | Recommended by our lounge team @ ANC.
“Frostbite”
White Grape Juice, Pineapple, Lime, Garnish with Blueberries | Recommended by our lounge team @ PDX.
“The JFK Dream”
Sour Mix, Pineapple Juice, Pomegranate mix and a splash of soda | Recommended by our lounge team @ JFK.
Cranberry “Sangria”
Cranberry Juice, Ginger Beer, Lemon Lime and Orange | Recommended by our lounge team @ SEA.
“Shirley Ginger”
Lime juice, grenadine, ginger beer & splash of club soda (left).
“Cucumber Cooler”
Muddled cucumber, lime juice, simple syrup & club soda (right).
Are just some of our favorites @ SFO Lounge.
If you’re looking for a non-alcoholic beer, we have those too—like the Clausthaler (pictured above at our) at our SFO Lounge—check out more n/a beers below:
Brooklyn Brewery
Non-Alcoholic Special Effects: Hoppy Amber, IPA and PILS | Recommended by lounge team @ JFK.
Athletic Brewing Co.
Non-Alcoholic Run Wild IPA| Recommended by our lounge team @ SEA.
Athletic Brewing Co. Non-AlcoholicLiteand Sam Adams Just the HazeNon-Alcoholic IPA | Recommended by our lounge team @ ANC.
Alaska Airlines named official airline of Portland Trail Blazers
Alaska Airlines announced an expanded partnership with the Portland Trail Blazers organization, which includes being named the official airline of the NBA team. Portland is a crucial part of Alaska’s future, operating as a key West Coast hub where they serve the most nonstop cities of any airline.
The expanded partnership means Trail Blazers fans will see a lot more of Alaska during games and outside of basketball. Elements of this expanded partnership include sponsorship of Moda Center Theater of the Clouds, presenting “The Trail” docuseries that will soon be available in-flight, expansion of the popular “Wear in the World” promotion, new in-game features and social programs.
“Being a part of the Portland community for so many years is something we greatly value,” said Eric Edge, managing director of marketing and advertising. “Between our loyal guests and the thousands of our employees who live and work in Portland, we’re dedicated to creating strong connections with organizations throughout the region. We believe that sports can strengthen a community, and we look forward to seeing all the exciting things we can do together with the Trail Blazers.”
“We are thrilled to name Alaska Airlines the official airline of the Portland Trail Blazers,” said Andrea Bailey, EVP & Chief Revenue Officer, Portland Trail Blazers. “Alaska is a leading brand in Portland and has continuously invested in the Portland community. We’re excited to partner with them on various initiatives including bringing our fans closer to the team via the new docuseries, The Trail.”
Alaska Airlines in Portland
Throughout the year, we offer up to 105 daily flights from Portland to 45 cities across North America, the most of any airline. Guests can also reach hundreds of international destinations through our fellow oneworld member airlines and additional global partners – including destinations like Reykjavik, Iceland and London, England nonstop from Portland. Over the next three years, Alaska plans to invest in a new terminal and lobby at Portland International Airport as well as a new 10,000 square foot flagship lounge.
Q&A with SFO-featured Artist Anne Neely about sustainability: responsibility and stewardship for the next generation
What do an airline and an artist have in common? A desire to keep growing, learning, and creating paths to keep the places we love beautiful and be more sustainable for the long term.
A powerful painting in blues and greens called Offshore by Artist Anne Neelyis proudly displayed in Alaska’s San Francisco airport lounge, inviting guests and employees to take a moment to reflect on our collective responsibility to live and fly more sustainably.
It is an honor to host this piece, a symbol of our commitment to making our business and industry more sustainable, to care for our guests and the places where we live and fly for the long term. Alaska is on a path to net zero carbon emissions by 2040, a path that will require us to listen, learn, collaborate and create new solutions for the future.
Anne’s work is about sparking conversation and reflection; we sat down with her to discuss her focus on water and our work on sustainability.
Diana: Could you talk about your journey as an artist and how you came to this work?
Anne: Growing up, I spent much of my time in the natural world. The wonderment I felt grew into visual expression and I became a landscape painter. About 2000, I started living on the coast of Maine and became acutely aware of the daily changes in water – levels, temperatures, currents. My paintings began to tell a story about water, and through color and mark making, I created a visual imaginative language. My hope is that these paintings will awaken the viewers’ curiosity to think about water differently.
Diana: What led you to focus your work on water and climate issues?
Anne: Marq De Villiers’ book, “Water, Our Precious Resource” was pivotal and introduced me to ideas which captured my imagination, like underground aquifers, foreign to us visually.
Water is a living force – it has moods with the weather, tides, waves and river currents that keep it in constant motion. Living with water – next to, surrounded by, always dependent on it – makes one aware of both its power and fragility, a very humbling concept.
I have always been interested in the interconnectedness of all things that science seeks to understand but, for me, the difference is, through my paintings, I try to reveal the unseen and the wonder of the universe that engages me, especially the critical role water plays.
Diana: What is your hope for this painting?
Anne: Painting, for me in general, is to experience an issue or an idea and transcend it visually into an experience for the viewer. It’s not about the literal picture, and it is not a decorative object but a place to discover something, explore and learn from it.
In Offshore, there is both beauty and foreboding. My hope for this painting is that the viewer will be taken, perhaps in a moment of reverie, by the scene’s beauty, and imagine what is happening, and think about their responsibility and stewardship.
In my work on water and climate, there is a balance, often fragile, of beauty and a problem we must consider. I appreciate that Alaska recognizes its responsibility as a company and as people. I am grateful to see flight attendants sorting the recycling and working to reduce waste. That’s just one example. But we also need new solutions to tackle the challenges facing our climate to mitigate some of the human impacts on our planet for future generations.
We are so often busy in life – we don’t have time to let our minds wander. But sitting in the airport, we do have a few minutes. We are in between things. So, I hope people will take a few minutes to get in touch with their imagination, to wonder what this painting means to them.
A note from Diana:
When I was younger and actively painting myself, I came across a quote by artist and dancer Agnes DeMille that resonated with me. She said, “living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what’s next or how … The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after a leap in the dark.”
Art prompts us to expand our thinking – to imagine and discover new possibilities. That is also needed on the path to net zero. Solutions like sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to decarbonize aviation are known and proven by partners like SkyNRG, Neste, and others – but there is not enough available. Further action and expansive thinking, and significant support from public policy, are required to reduce cost and scale supply. Other, newer like electrified aircraft, fuel produced from recaptured carbon dioxide, and removing carbon from the atmosphere are also needed – and at greater scale. We’re grateful to partners like ZeroAvia, Twelve, and others we connect with through our venture arm, Alaska Star Venture, who’re working to bring new innovations to life.
Diana and Anne with Neely’s “Offshore” at Alaska’s San Francisco Lounge.
Anne Neely continues to make and share her art from her studios in Boston and in Jonesport, Maine. She has won multiple awards for her work and worked in artist residencies in the United States and Europe. Her work can be found in the collections of The National Gallery in Washington DC, The Whitney Museum and the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, and numerous others. She also taught art to high school students from 1974 to 2012. About her painting style, Neely wrote in 2014: “The marks help define the passage of time in both the work and in the course of making it.” Learn and see more of the artist’s work at anneneely.com.
Alaska Airlines plans to hire more than 3,500 employees in 2023
If you’ve ever thought about working for an airline, 2023 might be your year. Alaska Airlines is announcing plans to hire more than 3,500 new employees this year in a variety of roles and functions. As we continue to grow and bring dozens of new airplanes into our fleet, we need thousands of people to join the Alaska family.
From maintenance technicians to contact center agents, flight attendants to pilots, customer service agents to software engineers, we will have jobs available for anyone who wants to be part of our team.
Most of the new jobs are based at our hubs in Seattle and Portland, as well as locations up and down the West Coast. Benefits like the ability to work from home and flexibility of schedules are also available with some roles. Many of the positions do not require previous airline experience, so it’s the perfect time to try a new career. The openings will be posted at careers.alaskaair.com throughout the year.
It’s an exciting time to join our team, and we’re eager to welcome more great people to Alaska,” said Andy Schneider, senior vice president of people at Alaska Airlines. “We offer a wide variety of positions, and we pride ourselves on nurturing talent and providing opportunities to learn new skills and move into new, challenging roles. Come join our winning team!”
Here’s a look at the approximate number of new hires for each role we’ll be looking to fill this year.
550 Pilots
1,000 Flight Attendants
1,000 Customer Service Agents
100 Ramp Service Agents
240 Contact Center Agents
135 Maintenance Technicians
500 Management
3,525 Total Employees
Why work for Alaska?
Creating an airline people love starts with our commitment to creating an airline where kind, remarkable and hardworking people can love what they do and who they work with. The work is exciting, we support each other and operate as one team, and you can travel the world. It’s unlike any other work environment.
We provide travel privileges to explore and connect with family and friends; competitive pay and unique bonus programs to reward you when the company does well; and strong benefits for your health and wellness.
We commit to providing career development in an inclusive workplace where you can grow your career. Many of our management employees began their careers in frontline positions and then took an opportunity to move into a supervisor or corporate role. The opportunities are endless.
Whether you’re thinking about traveling to a beloved spot or finally checking off a bucket list destination, the question is not whether to take a trip, but rather where to go. We’ve got just the places for you to visit this year and the best way of getting you there!
Austin, Texas
Austin is packed with things to do like paddling next to the magnificent city, live music, outstanding places to eat, and enjoying its general weirdness.
With a growing list of spots to grab a bite, entertainment and more, El Paso is worth getting to know. It’s also a gateway to some pretty cool places, just under four hours, including White Sands National Park, Big Bend and Marfa, an eccentric small town, known for its art installations like Prada Marfa and mysterious lights at night.
Don’t miss spring’s wildflowers in Grand Teton National Park and hit the slopes at nearby ski resorts open November-April, best ski days tend to be February-March.
Located in southern Oregon, Medford has many paths to take to adventure from excursions down the Rogue River to sights at Crater Lake National Park and it’s also a great starting point to drive the scenic highway to the Redwood Forest.
Sitka has dozens of superb hiking trails in the Tongass National Forest that offer unique opportunities to spot eagles, bears, spawning salmon, and the breath-taking vistas of “wild” Alaska, it’s actually the largest national forest in the United States.
For some of the best epic fluffy powder runs for downhill skiing and snowboarding, head to Steamboat Springs from November to April, with the best time usually being right after the holidays and February through mid-March.
Zihuatanejo or Zihua — as the locals call it — is where you go to unwind when you want to leave the world behind for a bit. It’s a sleepy off-the-beaten-path beach town on Mexico’s Pacific Coast full of sea life, pristine beaches and serene views.
Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon Air has named 27-year industry veteran Jason Berry as senior vice president of operations.
Berry rejoins Alaska Air Group after two years as vice president of cargo at Air Canada.
“We couldn’t be happier to welcome Jason back,” said Horizon Air President Joe Sprague. “Adding talented operational leaders like Jason is great for our business and it’s important for our long-term success at Horizon and Alaska. On a personal level, he is a fantastic person, he ‘gets’ Horizon and he knows our culture, and I’m excited to work with him again.”
Jason Berry returns to Alaska Air Group as Horizon Air’s senior vice president of operations.
Horizon Air has a reputation for operational excellence and led the regional industry for schedule completion rate in 2022.
In 2019 and 2020, Berry served as president of Alaska Airlines’ wholly owned subsidiary McGee Air Services, where he was president with oversight for all aspects of aviation services ground handling, aircraft grooming, airport mobility services, check-in and gate services.
From 2012 until June 2019, he led Alaska Air Cargo with direct responsibility for all aspects of cargo operations and compliance including revenue growth.
In 2022 he was named Air Cargo World’s “Executive of the Year.”
Berry graduated from Central Washington University and earned an Executive MBA at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.
