Captain Ryan McNelis and First Officer Bethany McNelis have each piloted Make-A-Wish flights over their careers with Alaska Airlines. Welcoming kids into the fight deck and showing them the bells and whistles brings joy to families dealing with a child’s critical illness. 

They never in a million years imagined they’d be on a Make-A-Wish flight for their own family.  

Yet, this week they were—seated not in the flight deck, but in row 21 with their daughter Maeve and her brother Rowan, thanks to Make-A-Wish of Alaska & Washington.  The smiles on their faces and excitement for their trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida concealed what they had endured the last two years—when their lives were tipped upside down by their baby girl’s illness.  

Trusting her “mom sense” 

The McNelises first noticed that something was different with Maeve when she was learning to walk.  “She’d take a step or two and would gingerly sit down, as if in pain,” Bethany said.  

Several trips to the doctor diagnosed her with anemia, and then an ear infection. But Bethany’s ‘mom sense’ said it was something more. Ryan and Bethany persisted, and a blood test and very observant nurse practitioner finally led them to Seattle Children’s Hospital.  

There they were given the news no parent ever wants to hear. Maeve had neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer. 

Overnight, the hospital became Maeve’s new home as she braved chemotherapy, surgery, two stem cell transplants, radiation and immunotherapy. Ryan and Bethany wore down their tire treads making the trip between Gig Harbor and Seattle over the next two years. 

Taking care of our own 

As the McNelises were caring for Maeve, their Alaska Airlines family cared for them. “The company took care of us,” Bethany said.  She was able to take leave and stay with Maeve, while Ryan got a break in his schedule.  

“We are just so appreciative of the support. It eased our stress level,” she said. 

In a stroke of serendipity, one of Maeve’s nurses at Children’s happened to be the daughter of Dave Mets, Alaska VP of flight operations.  “She and Maeve had a special bond, it was so amazing,” Bethany said, noting that Maeve often talks of her nurses and plays “hospital”-caring for her stuffed animals–attaching strings as make-shift IVs for their ‘icky’ medicine. 

But on Tuesday at the airport, there wasn’t a needle or nurse to be seen.  

As the McNelis family walked to their gate, there was a party waiting—a country farm backdrop with whimsical cows and horses, pink cowboy hats and gifts for Maeve and her brother—thanks to the wish fairies of Make-A-Wish.  

But perhaps the biggest surprise came when the boarding door opened, and Maeve met the pilot—her Uncle Joey!  First Officer Joey McNelis. Ryan’s brother and a fellow pilot at Alaska, was flying their plane. 

All in the family 

Aviation runs in the McNelis family. In addition to Joey, Ryan and Bethany working for Alaska Airlines, their father Jim is a retired captain, mom Joleta is a retired flight attendant and Uncle Scott Willott is a maintenance controller.  

So, the natural question is—does Maeve want to be a pilot? “Nope,” she said as she hugged her new stuffed horse that she had already named ‘Spirit.’  “I want to be a cowgirl.” 

Behind the scenes, making sure everything was in order, was Alaska’s own Teresa Jean-Baptiste, lead customer service agent.  Jean-Baptise has been greeting Make-A-Wish families at Sea-Tac with her friendly smile and easy manner for over two decades. In fact, she trained her coworkers on the art of breezing the families through check-in, security and helping them board. 

Jean-Baptise, a mom of three, held back tears as the family boarded—“This is just the best part of my job,” she said.  

Medicine for the spirit, and not the icky kind 

Maeve’s is the 8,000^th wish granted by Make-A-Wish Alaska & Washington. Alaska Airlines has been a proud Make-A-Wish partner since 1986, when we flew our first wish trip–a little girl and her family headed to Disneyland.   

Wishes fill a vital need for children facing critical illnesses,” said Make-A-Wish’s Kathryn Mueller.“They give hope and joy to families after long hospital stays and grueling treatment regimens. Wishes allow children to believe anything is possible. We can’t thank Alaska Airlines enough for helping bring dreams to life.” 

You can help support Make-A-Wish Alaska & Washington using Alaska Airlines miles. These miles are used to send wish children and their families, like Maeve, to the destinations of their dreams. Donate miles now at alaskaair.com/donatemiles. And read more at Make-A-Wish® Alaska & Washington. 

Hockey is back in Seattle! And it’s time to rally & look fly doing it! All season long, if you’re flying out of Seattle, Everett or Palm Springs and wear a Seattle Kraken or Coachella Valley Firebird jersey, you’ll score priority boarding!

Now, through the end of the hockey season, Kraken fans who wear the teams’ jersey can board early on all Alaska flights departing from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Paine Field (PAE). American Hockey League fans of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Palm Springs’ (PSP) new professional ice hockey expansion team of the Seattle Kraken, can also board early if they’re wearing Firebird gear.

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.  

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?

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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.