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Leading our South Korea Operations with Heart and Seoul

As Hawaiian marks its 12th anniversary of Honolulu-Incheon service, South Korea Country Director Soojin Yu reflects on the highlights of her career.

The rich history between Hawai‘i and South Korea dates back 120 years to Jan. 13, 1903, when the first Korean immigrants entered the United States by steamship on the shores of Honolulu.

Today, more than 50,000 Hawai‘i residents identify as Korean, and it's because of this deep-rooted relationship that Soojin Yu, Hawaiian’s South Korea country director, was determined to keep Hawaiian's Honolulu-Incheon service operating throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We thought it would be easy to resume passenger service since we had maintained cargo service throughout the pandemic and we were the only carrier connecting Hawai‘i and Korea at the time," Yu said. "I knew how important it was to provide essential connectivity for travelers, but it took tremendous effort and teamwork to welcome guests back onboard.”

 

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Yu with Theo Panagiotoulias, Hawaiian's senior vice president of global alliances and sales, at the airline's 12th anniversary of Honolulu-Incheon service on Jan. 11, 2023

Yu's persistence and strong relationships with government officials paid off, and Hawaiian was eventually able to add passengers to its cargo flights under a special non-scheduled flight agreement similar to charter operations. This meant submitting approval for every flight for nearly six months.

"This was the only option, and sometimes we wouldn't get approval until the day of the flight," Yu said. "It was the biggest challenge of my career with Hawaiian."

Yu’s career began more than seven years ago when – after only 10 days on the job – she was tasked with representing Hawaiian at its five-year Incheon anniversary celebration.

"I didn't know much about Hawaiian Airlines at that time because I had only just started, and I had to give a speech and talk with media – I was so nervous," she recalled. "But this event really helped me to understand what Hawaiian represented. I could see how the culture was shared through celebration and how everyone worked together like family. Like ʻohana. Our [route] anniversary is in January, and it was so cold outside," Yu continued. "But inside, I could really feel the warmth and knew then what the term 'aloha spirit' meant."

 

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Hawaiian Airlines ʻohana celebrates Incheon's five-year route anniversary in January 2016

 

Now, Yu leads her all-female sales and marketing team – a rare occurrence in Korea's airline industry – with that same warmth and aloha.

"This is how we can be strong in Korea," Yu explains. "If we can live by Hawaiian's core values of mālama (to care for), hoʻokipa (hospitality), lōkahi (unity) and po'okela (excellence) at the office, then my team can go out and share that with our external partners too. We are far from Koapaka (Hawaiian's headquarters), so it's extremely important that we continue to share these values here. It helps us feel connected."

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Yu's team surprised her with a birthday celebration and homemade cake by country administrator Caroline Hwang

She feels a responsibility to set an example for her team as a woman leader.

"I try to show them that success for women in this industry is possible, and I want them to feel comfortable being able to talk to me about anything. We have a small team, but we are extremely close, and I'm proud of that," Yu said.

It's undeniable that Yu is, in fact, leading by example. There was also a silver lining from all the challenges Yu faced during the pandemic: she was now well-positioned among top Korean delegates and government officials. This led to one of her most memorable experiences to date – an invitation by the U.S. Embassy to represent Hawaiian at a state dinner hosted last May by South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol. It was there she had a chance to meet and speak with U.S. President Joe Biden.
 

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Yu and U.S. President Joe Biden at the South Korea state dinner in May 2022

"As I was waiting to speak with him, I was thinking 'how can I show him that I'm from Hawaiian Airlines?'" Yu explained. "So when I finally walked up to him, I said 'aloha!' He smiled so big and replied back with 'aloha.' It was such an honor to represent Hawaiian and I'll never forget that day."

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.

Hawaiian Airlines Joins Embry-Riddle’s SkillBridge Program to Train, Employ Transitioning Military Personnel

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HONOLULU —  Hawaiian Airlines today announced it has become the newest industry partner of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) SkillBridge program, which has successfully transitioned more than 380 servicemen and women into civilian careers since its inception in 2019.

“Close to 70 transitioning service members around the country who started the program on Jan. 9 will graduate on March 10,” said Angela C. Albritton, director of Military Relations and Strategic Initiatives for Embry-Riddle’s Worldwide Campus. “We’re excited that these program participants will now have the opportunity to learn more about aviation maintenance opportunities at Hawaiian Airlines.”

Each year, approximately 200,000 service members leave the military and re-enter civilian life. Embry-Riddle’s AMT SkillBridge Program is authorized by the Department of Defense and is designed to train and place transitioning service members, honorably discharged veterans and eligible military spouses into Aviation Maintenance-related careers with reputable industry partners, such as AAR, Pratt & Whitney, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, HAECO Americas and Standard Aero.

“Our industry partners recognize the skills that service members bring from the military, and we are grateful for their ongoing commitment to the program,” said Worldwide Campus Chancellor John R. Watret, Ph.D.

“Partnering with Embry-Riddle through the SkillBridge program is an exciting opportunity to not only increase our hiring aperture, but to do so with the benefit of skills and experience gained through military service and the capstone of an industry renowned Embry-Riddle education,” said Jim Landers, senior vice president for technical operations at Hawaiian Airlines and a former director of operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

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The partnership comes as Hawaiian Airlines is recruiting for hundreds of positions to support its next growth phase. Named by Forbes as the best employer in the state of Hawaii in 2022, Hawaii’s largest and longest-serving carrier provides nonstop flights within Hawai‘i, and between the islands and 15 U.S. gateway cities, as well as American Samoa, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Tahiti. This year, the airline will begin welcoming a new fleet of Boeing 787-9 aircraft and launch a dedicated freighter operation for Amazon.

For service members separating or retiring from the military, the SkillBridge program provides an opportunity to bridge the transition into the civilian aviation and aerospace sector. The program is offered at Camp Lejeune-New River, North Carolina; Camp Pendleton, California; Ft. Bragg, North Carolina; Ft. Campbell, Kentucky; Ft. Carson, Colorado; Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia; and through Hurlburt Field-Virtual. Transitioning service members currently located on O‘ahu can learn more about the program during bi-weekly information briefings at Schofield Barracks.

About Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian® has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past 18 years (2004-2021) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation and consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler and TripAdvisor have placed Hawaiian among the top of all domestic airlines serving Hawaiʻi. In 2022, the carrier topped Travel + Leisure’s 2022 World’s Best list as the No. 1 U.S. airline and was named Hawaiʻi's best employer by Forbes. 

Now in its 94th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaiʻi's biggest and longest-serving airline. Hawaiian offers approximately 130 daily flights within the Hawaiian Islands, daily nonstop flights between Hawaiʻi and 15 U.S. gateway cities – more than any other airline – as well as service connecting Honolulu and American Samoa, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Tahiti.

The airline is committed to connecting people with aloha by offering complimentary meals for all guests on transpacific routes and the convenience of no change fees on Main Cabin and Premium Cabin seats. HawaiianMiles members also enjoy flexibility with miles that never expire. As Hawai‘i’s hometown airline, Hawaiian encourages guests to Travel Pono and experience the islands safely and respectfully.

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com. Follow Hawaiian’s Twitter updates (@HawaiianAir), become a fan on Facebook  (Hawaiian Airlines), and follow us on Instagram (hawaiianairlines). For career postings and updates, follow Hawaiian’s LinkedIn page.

For media inquiries, please visit Hawaiian Airlines’ online newsroom.

ABOUT EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY 

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the world’s largest, most comprehensive institution specializing in aviation, aviation business, aerospace, engineering and STEM-related degree programs. A fully accredited university, Embry-Riddle is also a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. A nonprofit, independent institution, Embry-Riddle offers more than 100 associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering and Security & Intelligence. The university educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through its Worldwide Campus with approximately 110 locations globally, and through online programs. In 2022, U.S. News & World Report named Embry-Riddle Worldwide the nation’s No. 1 provider of online bachelor’s degree programs.

For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity.

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.

Hawaiian Holdings Announces 2022 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results Conference Call

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HONOLULU, Jan. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA), parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. ("Hawaiian"), plans to report its fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results after the market closes on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023 . An investor conference call is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EST ( 11:30 a.m. HST ) that day.

The call will be open to all interested investors through a live audio webcast accessible in the Investor Relations section of Hawaiian's website at HawaiianAirlines.com . For those who are not able to listen to the live webcast, the call will be archived for 90 days on Hawaiian's website.

About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian ® has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past 18 years (2004-2021) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation and consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler and TripAdvisor have placed Hawaiian among the top of all domestic airlines serving Hawaiʻi. In 2022, the carrier topped Travel + Leisure's 2022 World's Best list as the No. 1 U.S. airline and was named Hawaiʻi's best employer by Forbes.

Now in its 94th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaiʻi's biggest and longest-serving airline. Hawaiian offers approximately 130 daily flights within the Hawaiian Islands, daily nonstop flights between Hawaiʻi and 15 U.S. gateway cities – more than any other airline – as well as service connecting Honolulu and American Samoa , Australia , Japan , New Zealand , South Korea and Tahiti.

The airline is committed to connecting people with aloha by offering complimentary meals for all guests on transpacific routes and the convenience of no change fees on Main Cabin and Premium Cabin seats. HawaiianMiles members also enjoy flexibility with miles that never expire. As Hawai'i's hometown airline, Hawaiian encourages guests to Travel Pono and experience the islands safely and respectfully.

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com . Follow Hawaiian's Twitter updates ( @HawaiianAir ), become a fan on Facebook  ( Hawaiian Airlines ), and follow us on Instagram ( hawaiianairlines ). For career postings and updates, follow Hawaiian's LinkedIn page.

For media inquiries, please visit Hawaiian Airlines' online newsroom .

 

Cision View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hawaiian-holdings-announces-2022-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-financial-results-conference-call-301722076.html

SOURCE Hawaiian Holdings, Inc.

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. 

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Atlanta 

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. 

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Detroit  

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.  

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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. 

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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. 

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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:  

Really good mocktails to try next time you fly this ‘Dry January’ (& beyond) 

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-Alcoholic Lite and Sam Adams Just the Haze Non-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 Neely is 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.

2022 In Review: The Year of Reconnecting Hawaiʻi with the World

A year filled with exciting investments, 2022 was a period of building a robust foundation for a thriving future for our 93-year-old airline.

In his annual year-end message, President and CEO Peter Ingram praised employees for overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities: “The reduced flying through the pandemic gave us the opportunity to think through what building back better would look like, for you and for our guests. Last year was about putting that thinking into motion and building a foundation. This year, we start to fly.”

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In 2022, we proudly served millions of guests from around the world with our authentic Hawaiian hospitality as pent-up demand for travel led to some markets registering loads above pre-pandemic levels. Guests continued to rate Hawaiian among the best of the best in 2022, including in Conde Nast’s Top 10 U.S Airlines, Travel + Leisure’s Best Domestic Airline, and TripSavvy’s Editor’s Choice and Industry Leader.

These accolades are a testament to what Ingram stated in his message to employees: “This is our home. We share what we love about it and care for our islands and guests like no other.”

Join us in celebrating highlights from 2022 – another memorable year in our nine-plus decades of connecting the world with Hawaiʻi.

Investing in our people and growing our business

We continued to invest in our growth while diversifying our business in a way that capitalized on our strengths. Our agreement to operate a fleet of 10 Airbus A330-300 freighters for Amazon reflects our company’s commitment to reliability and excellence in carrying cargo.

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We also expanded opportunities for people to join our Hawaiian Airlines ʻohana and pursue a career at our legacy company. We established partnerships with the University of Hawaiʻi, Honolulu Community College, and Arizona State University to create pathways for Hawaiʻi students to pursue highly-skilled aviation careers, ranging from information technology to mechanics.

To meet the expanding needs of our airline, we welcomed 1,370 new teammates last year across all areas of our business, bringing our total workforce to 7,089 by the end of 2022. 

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Reducing emissions and enhancing the guest experience

A mix of factors – widespread vaccination rates, loosened travel restrictions, and growing demand for leisure vacations – allowed for a steady rebound in travel to, from and within the Hawaiian Islands. At a time of recovery and budding demand, preparing our operations for a greener future remained paramount.

Our sustainability strategy focuses on decarbonization, and we outlined our progress and pathway in our 2022 Corporate Kuleana report. Each venture – such as our research into sustainable aviation fuel with Par Hawaii and electric-powered sea gliders with REGENT —  helps get us closer to where we need to be: net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Operating a fuel-efficient fleet (which will soon include 12 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners) also helps us gain traction toward this goal.

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A rendering of the REGENT Monarch, a 100-passenger electric-powered seaglider.

 

Throughout the year, we made strides to make our guests’ travel experience more sustainable. We began giving guests on any Hawaiian Airlines flight the option to measure and offset the carbon emissions of their travel through a partnership with Conservation International and committed to offsetting all employee business travel across our network. We also introduced Mananalu, the water company founded by Hawaiʻi environmental activist and celebrity Jason Momoa, to our cabin to phase out plastic water bottles with 16-ounce recyclable aluminum bottles. 

In addition to preparing to induct our new Boeing 787-9 fleet, with the first aircraft arriving in late 2023, we announced a partnership with Starlink to bring complimentary high-speed wi-fi to our transpacific flights later this year.

Partnerships for the community

The word kuleana is usually translated as “responsibility,” but it stands for a Hawaiian value that encompasses a broader meaning. When we say we have a kuleana to Hawai‘i, we affirm our commitment to care for and respect the land and culture and acknowledge the value Hawai‘i brings to us.

In 2022, we strengthened our support for the Koʻolau Mountain Watershed Partnership to better support its efforts to repopulate native forests in Oʻahu’s Koʻolau Mountain Range. Through our Plant the Planes initiative, our Team Kokua volunteers hiked Oʻahu’s watersheds and helped restore native plants and trees that our Airbus A321neos are named after.

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Team Kōkua pictured at the worksite with the Koʻolau Mountain Watershed Partnership in April.

 

In August, the Hawaiian Airlines Foundation awarded a $100,000 grant to Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the cultural, spiritual and traditional practices of the Native Hawaiian community. The grant is funding the construction of a wash and pack facility in Heʻeia that will be used to process crops grown in the Kaneohe region, including kalo (taro), ʻulu (breadfruit), ʻuala (sweet potato), and hōʻiʻo (warabi).

For a third consecutive year, we encouraged 6,447 people worldwide to holoholo (go out) and prioritize their wellness during the annual Holoholo Challenge. The Hawaiʻi inspired fitness experience in October invited participants to track their progress with virtual routes inspired by scenic roads that wind through Hawaiʻi Island – also known as the Big Island. At the end of the challenge, over $33,320 was raised for local nonprofit Friends of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, which protects a 32,830-acre parcel on the Big Island that’s home to 29 critically endangered species, including seven birds, one insect, one mammal and 20 plants found nowhere else in the world.

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Holoholo Challenge 2022 participants on a hike on the Big Island.

 

Over 1,255 employees (and their ʻohana) volunteered 6,795 hours to Hawai‘i-based organizations through our Team Kōkua employee giving program, including teammates from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia who helped with beach cleanups, food banks, community events, restoration of endangered ecosystems and habitats, and more. In addition to sweat equity, Team Kōkua organized the equivalent of $833,852 in employee-sponsored donations, ranging from travel and HawaiianMiles to cash contributions, to benefit hundreds of nonprofits in Hawaiʻi and abroad. 

Team Kokua in South Korea

In September, nearly 70 Team Kōkua volunteers teamed up with two South Korean organizations, Evergreen and Reward, to clean plastics, nets and other debris from Incheon's Masian Beach.

 

Steps toward richer workplace inclusivity

We recognize and celebrate the immense value that diversity and inclusion bring to our workplace. Our employee resource groups (ERG) representing veterans, women in aviation, Black employees, LGBTQA+, teammates with disabilities and those passionate about sustainability continue to support safe, productive spaces and foster allyship. Among  the groups’ achievements last year:

The Hawaiian Airlines Network for Black Employees and Allies ERG led a company-wide celebration for Juneteenth by working with community leaders to host a series of impactful events focused on educating employees and honoring the historical and cultural significance of June 19, 1865.

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Officers of the NBEA ERG pictured with Amaka (center) during the unveiling of a Juneteenth reflection space in 2022.

 

In honor of National Pride Month, Hawaiian Airlines, in collaboration with Haʻaheo, Hawaiian’s LBGTQ+ ERG, tapped Hawaiʻi-born dance celebrity Mark Kanemura to kick off its #RainbowRunwayChallenge in a vibrant celebration of inclusivity and aloha. Coinciding with the debut of our new TikTok channel, followers were encouraged to create their own #RainbowRunwayChallenge dance or walk inspired by the video to win HawaiianMiles and a complimentary stay in Waikīkī. The #RainbowRunwayChallenge came full circle in October for Honolulu Pride, where our employees and Haʻaheo members joined Kanemura on the official Hawaiian Airlines’ Rainbow Runway float.

Reconnecting Hawaiʻi with the world

Our international network continues to experience a gradual recovery, and strong demand for travel to Hawai'i allowed us to bring back nonstop service between Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) and New Zealand’s Auckland Airport. “The resumption of our New Zealand service [in July], along with the restart of our Sydney service in December, completes the reopening of our Oceania market – an integral piece of our company’s post-pandemic recovery,” Andrew Stanbury, regional director for Australia and New Zealand, said in a press release.

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Hawaiian Airlines employees and guests on HA445 were welcomed back to Auckland by Māori practitioners, who performed a traditional pōwheri (welcoming ceremony) and cultural exchange of hospitality outside the arrival gate.

 

However, the return of Japanese visitors to the Hawaiian Islands is most critical to Hawaiian's recovery. Theo Panagiotoulias, Hawaiian’s senior vice president of global sales and alliances, called Japan the “centerpiece international market for Hawaiʻi.” By summer’s end, Hawaiian had returned to daily service between HNL and Haneda, Narita and Osaka.

And to make things even more interesting, we announced a new Pacific Island route connecting Hawaii and the Cook Islands. Our nonstop weekly service between Honolulu and Rarotonga begins May 20 and will provide travelers from Hawaiian’s 15 U.S. Mainland gateway cities convenient one-stop connections to the Cook Islands.

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To our employees and guests, mahalo nui loa for an incredible 2022. We look forward to all that 2023 brings our ʻohana at Hawaiian Airlines!

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.

Have we convinced you yet? The place to learn more is careers.alaskaair.com.

Hawaiian Airlines Creates $100,000 Scholarship Fund for Hawai‘i Residents Attending Arizona State University’s IT Program

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HONOLULU – Hawaiian Airlines is encouraging Hawai‘i students to pursue careers in information technology with the establishment of a $100,000 scholarship fund in partnership with Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business. The Hawaiian Airlines New Horizons Scholarship will provide $10,000 awards each year for up to two undergraduate students enrolling in the school’s Information Systems program, starting in the fall 2023 semester.

“Information technology touches every aspect of Hawaiian Airlines. We will continue to grow our technology team with a focus on improving our operations and the guest experience,” said John Jacobi, senior vice president and chief information officer at Hawaiian Airlines. “We are delighted to partner with Arizona State’s exceptional IT program and offer Hawai‘i students a unique opportunity to succeed in this exciting field. Of course, we also hope graduates will consider building a career right here at home with our airline.”

Hawaiian – which has provided nonstop flights between Phoenix and Honolulu for two decades and, in 2020, opened a Technology Center in Tempe – has developed a strong relationship with Arizona State University and area colleges to support the school-to-career pipeline, including via a summer internship program.

“We are incredibly grateful for this new scholarship to support our students from Hawai’i in partnership with Hawaiian Airlines,” said Ohad Kadan, dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business. “This partnership aligns well with our vision of providing access to excellent and innovative business education.”

The one-year scholarship is open to juniors and seniors carrying a 3.0 GPA or higher and whose primary residence is in Hawai‘i. Applications must be submitted to Arizona State University on or before Feb. 1, 2023. More information is available here.

Hawaiian’s IT team of nearly 300 employees – out of a 7,000-plus workforce – includes software engineers, architects, database managers, business analysts, and many other positions.
 
Hawaiian’s scholarship at Arizona State University adds to the carrier’s portfolio of workforce development initiatives. Last summer, Hawai‘i’s hometown carrier announced an innovative program with Honolulu Community College in which airline mechanics teach classes for the school’s Aeronautics Maintenance Program. In September, Hawaiian joined the University of Hawai‘i’s IT/Cyber Leap-Start Experience Excelerator Program to welcome students into its operations and provide valuable on-the-job training.

Ranked as the top employer in the state of Hawai‘i last year by Forbes, Hawaiian is aggressively recruiting for hundreds of positions, including in IT. Click here to browse job openings. Internship information is available here.

About Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business

The W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is the largest and one of the top-ranked business schools in the United States. The school is internationally regarded for its research productivity and its distinguished faculty members, including a Nobel Prize winner. Students come from more than 100 countries, and W. P. Carey is represented by alumni in more than 160 countries. Visit www.wpcarey.asu.edu.

About Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian® has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past 18 years (2004-2021) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation and consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler and TripAdvisor have placed Hawaiian among the top of all domestic airlines serving Hawaiʻi. In 2022, the carrier topped Travel + Leisure’s 2022 World’s Best list as the No. 1 U.S. airline and was named Hawaiʻi's best employer by Forbes. 

Now in its 94th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaiʻi's biggest and longest-serving airline. Hawaiian offers approximately 130 daily flights within the Hawaiian Islands, daily nonstop flights between Hawaiʻi and 15 U.S. gateway cities – more than any other airline – as well as service connecting Honolulu and American Samoa, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Tahiti.

The airline is committed to connecting people with aloha by offering complimentary meals for all guests on transpacific routes and the convenience of no change fees on Main Cabin and Premium Cabin seats. HawaiianMiles members also enjoy flexibility with miles that never expire. As Hawai‘i’s hometown airline, Hawaiian encourages guests to Travel Pono and experience the islands safely and respectfully.

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com. Follow Hawaiian’s Twitter updates (@HawaiianAir), become a fan on Facebook  (Hawaiian Airlines), and follow us on Instagram (hawaiianairlines). For career postings and updates, follow Hawaiian’s LinkedIn page.

For media inquiries, please visit Hawaiian Airlines’ online newsroom.

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