Delta Airlines planes sit at ATL airport in Atlanta
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Delta Air Lines <DAL.N> and American Airlines <AAL.O> said on Monday they are permanently dropping domestic change fees, mirroring an announcement by rival United Airlines <UAL.O> on Sunday in a push to woo back travelers.
U.S. airlines are burning through millions of dollars daily as the coronavirus pandemic hits passenger air travel, which is hovering around 30% of what it was a year ago, forcing more customer-friendly policies to encourage people to start traveling again.
Atlanta-based Delta said the elimination of change fees is effective immediately and includes tickets purchased for travel within the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. American’s change also covers flights to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The new policies do not cover any of the three airlines’ basic economy tickets.
Low-cost rival Southwest Airlines <LUV.N> has never charged a change fee for its tickets.
Delta, United and American were already waiving change fees through the end of the year to give travelers more flexibility in an uncertain environment.
The fees represented around 2% to 3% of their total revenues in 2019, though analysts said the overall financial impact going forward will be limited as focus remains on generating bookings.
Delta collected $830 million in ticket cancellation and change fees last year, American $819 million and United $625 million, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)
Emirates has announced it will resume its A380 operations to Toronto starting 16 August, taking its A380 network to six cities.
The airline continues to gradually expand the deployment of its double-decker aircraft in line with market demand and operational approvals.
The iconic Emirates A380 will begin serving travellers on flights to Toronto starting 16 August. The airline has so far resumed A380 operations to Amsterdam, Cairo, Paris, London Heathrow and Guangzhou (8 August) – taking its A380 network to six cities. The Emirates A380 experience remains a favourite amongst travellers for its spacious and comfortable cabins and the airline will continue to gradually expand its deployment in line with market demand and operational approvals.
Customers can fly the Emirates A380 from Dubai to Toronto five times a week. Flights can be booked on emirates.com or via travel agents. Emirates flight EK 241 will depart Dubai at 9:10 and arrive in Toronto at 15:05 local time. The return flight, EK 242 will depart Toronto at 21:45 and arrive in Dubai at 18:30 local time, the following day.
With safety as a priority, Emirates is gradually expanding its passenger services to 70 cities in August, returning to over 50% of its pre-pandemic destination network. Passengers travelling between the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific can enjoy safe and convenient connections via Dubai. Customers from Emirates’ network can stop over or travel to Dubai as the city has re-opened for international business and leisure visitors.
COVID-19 PCR tests are mandatory for all inbound and transit passengers arriving to Dubai (and the UAE), including UAE citizens, residents and tourists, irrespective of the country they are coming from.
Free, global cover for COVID-19 related costs: Customers can now travel with confidence, as Emirates has committed to cover COVID-19 related medical expenses, free of cost, should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel while they are away from home. This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until 31 October 2020 (first flight to be completed on or before 31 October 2020), and is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey. This means Emirates customers can continue to benefit from the added assurance of this cover, even if they travel onwards to another city after arriving at their Emirates destination. For more details: http://www.emirates.com/COVID19assistance
Delta’s summer schedule continues to be shaped by customer demand, CDC guidelines and government travel regulations. While the June schedule is significantly reduced in comparison to last year, customers will see the return of several major routes, both U.S. domestic and international, which were previously suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Customers traveling with Delta can feel confident in a safe flying experience. In addition to requiring customers and employees to wear face coverings throughout the travel journey, Delta has implemented policies like capping seating between 50 and 60 percent to ensure customer spacing on all aircraft, elevated its cleaning measures to deliver a new standard of clean, and streamlined its in-flight services to decrease touch points on board. Customers also have added flexibility if they need to change their plans.
Here’s a snapshot of where Delta is planning to fly in June. This schedule, including routes and frequency, remains subject to change due to the evolving nature of COVID-19. This page may be updated.
U.S. DOMESTIC
Ensuring connectivity for customers with critical travel needs, Delta continues to provide flights to all U.S. hubs and top markets, though frequency is significantly reduced. While Delta has temporarily consolidated operations in some markets served by multiple airports, the airline is adding more flights to its June schedule in comparison to May, primarily in Atlanta, New York and between hubs.
CANADA
Detroit to Montreal (daily)
Detroit to Ottawa (daily)
Detroit to Toronto (daily)
Minneapolis to Calgary (daily)
Minneapolis to Edmonton (daily)
Minneapolis to Winnipeg (daily)
New York-JFK to Toronto (daily)
Seattle to Vancouver (daily)
LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
Caribbean
Atlanta to Aruba (less than daily service restarts in second half of June)
Atlanta to Bermuda (less than daily)
Atlanta to Bonaire (Saturday only service restarts in second half of June)
Atlanta to Kingston, Jamaica (less than daily)
Atlanta to Montego Bay, Jamaica (daily)
Atlanta to Nassau, Bahamas (daily)
Atlanta to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands (less than daily)
Atlanta to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (less than daily)
Atlanta to San Juan, Puerto Rico (less than daily)
Atlanta to St. Croix (Saturday only)
Atlanta to St. Lucia (less than daily)
Atlanta to St. Maarten (less than daily)
Atlanta to St. Thomas (less than daily)
New York-JFK to Santiago, Dominican Republic (less than daily)
New York-JFK to San Juan, Puerto Rico (less than daily)
New York-JFK to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (less than daily)
Central America
Atlanta to Liberia, Costa Rica (less than daily service restarts in second half of June)
Atlanta to Panama City, Panama (less than daily)
Atlanta to San José, Costa Rica (less than daily service restarts in second half of June)
Atlanta to San Pedro Sula, Honduras (less than daily)
Atlanta to San Salvador, El Salvador (less than daily)
Mexico
Atlanta to Cancun (daily)
Atlanta to Mexico City (daily)
Detroit to Mexico City (less than daily)
Los Angeles to Los Cabos (less than daily)
Los Angeles to Puerto Vallarta (less than daily)
Salt Lake City to Mexico City (daily)
South America
Atlanta to Bogotá, Colombia (less than daily)
Atlanta to São Paulo, Brazil (less than daily)
TRANS-ATLANTIC
Atlanta to Amsterdam (daily)
Atlanta to Frankfurt (less than daily)
Atlanta to Lagos (less than daily*)
Atlanta to Paris-Charles De Gaulle (less than daily)
Detroit to Amsterdam (daily)
Detroit to London-Heathrow (less than daily)
New York-JFK to Amsterdam (less than daily)
New York-JFK to Paris-Charles De Gaulle (less than daily)
New York-JFK to Tel Aviv (less than daily)
*Delta’s restart of service to Nigeria is subject to foreign government approval.
Delta’s Frankfurt and London flights also double as scheduled cargo service.
TRANS-PACIFIC
Detroit to Seoul-Incheon (daily)
Detroit to Shanghai (daily*)
Seattle to Seoul-Incheon (less than daily)
Seattle to Shanghai (daily*)
Seattle to Tokyo-Haneda (less than daily)
*Delta’s restart of passenger flights to China is subject to government approval. We will also operate cargo-only scheduled service from Shanghai to Atlanta and Los Angeles. Read more on our cargo flights to Asia.
Delta’s second quarter schedule is 85 percent smaller than last year, with reductions of 80 percent in U.S. domestic capacity and 90 percent internationally.
Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, today announced the successful first flight of its new twin utility turboprop, the Cessna SkyCourier. The milestone flight is a significant step toward entry into service for the clean-sheet aircraft, and it kicks off the important flight test program that validates the performance of the Cessna SkyCourier.
“Today was an exciting day for our employees, our suppliers and our customers. The Cessna SkyCourier performed exactly as we expected, which is a testament to the entire team of men and women who worked together to prepare for this day,” said Ron Draper, president and CEO, Textron Aviation. “I’m proud of the way the team has persevered through disruptions caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic and remained focused on getting us to this point. The Cessna SkyCourier will be an excellent product in its segment due to its combination of cabin flexibility, payload capability, superior performance and low operating costs. Our customers will be very pleased with what they experience from this aircraft.”
The Cessna SkyCourier took off from the company’s east campus Beech Field Airport, piloted by Corey Eckhart, senior test pilot, and Aaron Tobias, chief test pilot. During the 2-hour and 15-minute flight, the team tested the aircraft’s performance, stability and control, as well as its propulsion, environmental, flight controls and avionics systems.
“We were very pleased with how the Cessna SkyCourier performed throughout its first flight,” Eckhart said. “It was particularly impressive to see how stable the aircraft handled on takeoff and landing. The Cessna SkyCourier already displays a high level of maturity in its flight characteristics, especially for a first flight. We were able to accomplish everything we wanted on this flight, and that’s an excellent start to the flight test program.”
The prototype aircraft, along with five additional flight and ground test articles, will continue to expand on performance goals, focusing on testing flight controls and aerodynamics.
Relentless capability
The Cessna SkyCourier, featuring Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65SC engines, will be offered in various configurations including a 6,000-pound payload capable freighter, a 19-seat passenger version or a mixed passenger/freight combination, all based on the common platform.
The Cessna SkyCourier is designed for high utilization and will deliver a combination of robust performance and lower operating costs. Cessna SkyCourier will feature the popular Garmin G1000 NXi avionics suite and offer highlights such as a maximum cruise speed of up to 200 ktas and a maximum range of 900 nm. Both freighter and passenger variants of the Cessna SkyCourier will includer single-point pressure refueling as standard to enable faster turnarounds.
(Reuters) – The coronavirus outbreak has virtually shut down corporate Australia and New Zealand, forcing companies to throw out their strategic plans and resulting in thousands of layoffs or staff suspensions.
Listed companies in both the countries have already laid off or began considering laying off more than 100,000 people, temporarily or permanently, highlighting the toll on livelihoods as virtual shutdowns take hold.
Ultimately, economists forecast the crisis will more than double unemployment to more than 11%, the highest in three decades.
AIRLINES
* Qantas Airways to place 20,000 workers on leave until at least the end of May.
* Virgin Australia to stand down 8,000 employees until the end of May.
* Air New Zealand to lay off nearly a third of its employees, about 3,500, in the coming months, and said that was a “conservative” assumption.
CASINOS
* Star Entertainment Group says 90% of its workforce, or 9,000 people, will be placed on leave due to mandated casino closures.
* Crown Resorts Ltd stood down about 95% or more than 11,500 of its employees on a full or temporary basis as gaming and other non-essential services at its resorts in Melbourne and Perth were suspended.
* SkyCity Entertainment Group has laid off or furloughed at least 1,100 of its staff across Australia and New Zealand.
RETAIL
* Department store operator Myer Holdings will temporarily lay off 10,000 of its staff without pay.
* Kathmandu Holdings Ltd, the outdoor apparel retailer that owns Rip Curl, said most of its global stores were closed and almost all its staff in Australia will be stood down for four weeks without pay. It has around 4,000 employees globally.
* Home ware retailer Smiths City Group Ltd stands down almost all of its 465 employees on 80% of their salary.
* Retail Food Group will stand down or reduce the working hours of the majority of its 500 employees.
* Premier Investments, owner of Smiggle, Just Jeans and chains, is standing down 9,000 employees, most without pay
* Jeweller Michael Hill International is putting staff on leave in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The company employs about 2,500.
* Fashion retailer Mosaic Brands is standing down 6,800 due to store closures.
* Footwear retailer Accent Group stands down all its retail employees and most support staff for four weeks without pay. The company reportedly employs 5,700.
HOSPITALITY
* Pub and hotel operator Redcape Hotel Group will cut most permanent staff. It employs 800.
* ALH Group, the pubs and hotels group majority-owned by Woolworths, will stand down about 8,000 staff.
TRAVEL AGENTS
* Flight Centre is cutting or putting on leave a third of its 20,000 staff.
* Helloworld Travel lays off 275 people and temporarily stands two-thirds of its 1,800 workforce until the end of May.
HEALTH AND EXERCISE
* Viva Leisure lays off more than 90% of its 2,200 workforce.
* Dental group Abano Healthcare will stand down majority of its 2,300 employees at its operations in Australia and New Zealand.
HIRING:
On the other hand, some companies are hiring under the new circumstances.
* Australia’s biggest supermarket chain Woolworths to hire 20,000 in the next month. Some of the new hires will be those re-deployed from its the pubs and hotels business, ALH Group. Woolworths also plans to offer short-term roles to 5,000 Qantas employees put on leave.
* Coles has added 7,000 people to its ranks, and said it plans to hire another 5,000 to meet increasing demand at its supermarkets and liquor stores.
* Australia’s biggest telecom company Telstra will freeze a 6,000-employee cull and hire 1,000 due to growing volumes at call centres.
* BHP Group, the world’s biggest miner, says it will hire 1,500 temporary workers, some to be offered permanent roles after six months.
(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan and Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Byron Kaye, Shounak Dasgupta and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, Emirates and dnata have been adapting operations in line with regulatory directives as well as travel demand.
The airline has aimed to maintain passenger flights for as long as feasible to help travellers return home amidst an increasing number of travel bans, restrictions, and country lockdowns across the world. It continues to maintain vital international air cargo links for economies and communities, deploying its fleet of 777 freighters for the transport of essential goods including medical supplies across the world.
With many of its airline customers dramatically reducing flights or ceasing services altogether, dnata has also significantly reduced its operations, including temporarily shutting some offices across its international network.
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group said: “The world has literally gone into quarantine due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This is an unprecedented crisis situation in terms of breadth and scale: geographically, as well as from a health, social, and economic standpoint. Until January 2020, the Emirates Group was doing well against our current financial year targets. But COVID-19 has brought all that to a sudden and painful halt over the past 6 weeks.
“As a global network airline, we find ourselves in a situation where we cannot viably operate passenger services until countries re-open their borders, and travel confidence returns. By Wednesday 25 March, although we will still operate cargo flights which remain busy, Emirates will have temporarily suspended most of its passenger operations. We continue to watch the situation closely, and as soon as things allow, we will reinstate our services.”
Having received requests from governments and customers to support the repatriation of travellers, Emirates will continue to operate passenger and cargo flights to the following countries and territories until further notice, as long as borders remain open, and there is demand: the UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, South Africa, USA, and Canada. The situation remains dynamic, and travellers can check flight status on emirates.com.
Sheikh Ahmed added: “Emirates Group has a strong balance sheet, and substantial cash liquidity, and we can, and will, with appropriate and timely action, survive through a prolonged period of reduced flight schedules, so that we are adequately prepared for the return to normality.”
Cost reduction measures
The Emirates Group has undertaken a series of measures to contain costs, as the outlook for travel demand remains weak across markets in the short to medium term. This includes:
Postponing or cancelling discretionary expenditure
A freeze on all non-essential recruitment and consultancy work
Working with suppliers to find cost savings and efficiency
Encouraging employees to take paid or unpaid leave in light of reduced flying capacity
A temporary reduction of basic salary for the majority of Emirates Group employees for three months, ranging from 25% to 50%. Employees will continue to be paid their other allowances during this time. Junior level employees will be exempt from basic salary reduction
Presidents of Emirates and dnata – Sir Tim Clark and Gary Chapman – will take a 100% basic salary cut for three months
The Emirates Group has strong liquidity, with a healthy cash position but it is prudent that it take steps to reduce costs at this time. Emirates remains committed to serving its markets and looks forward to resuming a normal flight schedule as soon as that is permitted by the relevant authorities.
Safeguarding customers, employees, and communities
Emirates Group closely monitors the situation and keeps in regular contact with all relevant authorities, so that it can implement the latest guidance to keep travellers and its employees safe and healthy.
The company has strongly discouraged its employees from non-essential travel, implemented work from home policies for all employees where operationally feasible, enhanced cleaning and disinfection protocols at its facilities, introduced temperature screening at its key office entry points, and launched internal educational campaigns on hand hygiene and health practices to reduce risk of COVID-19.
Over the past weeks, the airline has also implemented enhanced cleaning and disinfecting measures on all of its aircraft departing Dubai as a precaution, and worked closely with airports to implement screening measures as required by the local authorities.
Frontline employees such as crew and airport teams have also been provided with support to stay safe while on duty, including providing hand sanitizers and masks where required.
The Emirates Group fully supports all initiatives to safeguard the health of communities in every market where it operates, including the UAE’s national COVID-19 response.
Air Canada said today that it will gradually suspend the majority of its international and U.S. transborder flights by March 31, 2020 in response to decisions by national governments, including Canada and the United States, to close borders and restrict commercial aviation as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Subject to further government restrictions, the airline intends to continue to serve a small number of international and U.S. trans-border destinations from select Canadian cities after April 1, 2020. The airline also intends to continue serving all provinces and territories of Canada after that date, albeit with a significantly reduced network.
In order to facilitate the continued repatriation of citizens to their home countries, including Canadians back to Canada, and to support the essential movement of needed goods and cargo during the crisis, Air Canada intends to continue to operate a limited number of international “air bridges” between one or more of its Canadian hubs and the cities of London, Paris, Frankfurt, Delhi, Tokyo and Hong Kong from April 1 until at least April 30. This will reduce its international network from 101 airports to six.
As to U.S. transborder services, given the decision by the U.S. and Canadian governments today, from April 1, Air Canada will reduce its transborder network from 53 airports to 13, subject to further reductions based on demand or government edicts. The cities with continued service will be: New York (LGA and EWR), Boston, Washington, D.C. (IAD and DCA), Chicago, Houston, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
Domestic Canada network
Air Canada intends to continue to serve all provinces and territories of Canada, reducing its domestic network from 62 airports to 40 through a reduced network during the period April 1 to 30, subject to further reductions based on demand or government edict.
For information on Air Canada’s schedule beginning April 1, 2020 please see www.aircanada.com.
“The restrictions on travel imposed by governments worldwide, while understandable, are nonetheless having a cataclysmic effect upon the global airline industry. Our immediate focus is on ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees, customers and communities. At the same time, we are exploring with the Government of Canada possibilities to maintain essential operations to enable as many Canadians as possible to return to Canada, and to support other vital transport needs, including the shipment of goods and cargo during the crisis as required in any state of emergency. We are working around the clock to deal with the impact for our customers and our business of the various travel restrictions that are being made by governments at unprecedented speed without advance warning. We will also look at helping Canadians to return home by operating a limited number of charters from international destinations and exploring with the Government of Canada avenues in this regard. We will provide updates as details are finalized,” said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive of Air Canada.
For Affected Customers
The airline will gradually suspend some of its scheduled flights between now and March 31 as demand for Canadians to return to Canada from a number of destinations reduces. Please check Air Canada’s website for details given the rapidly evolving situation.
Affected customers, including those with Air Canada Vacations packages, whose flights are cancelled will receive a full credit valid for 24 months. There is no requirement to contact Air Canada as customers will be contacted directly.
The airline has also put in place temporary, one-way fares to Canada to enable customers abroad to return home. Customers seeking to contact Air Canada are advised that contact centre wait times are elevated, so the airline has put in place a number of self-service tools to enable customers to manage their travel online. For more information please consult our COVID-19 webpage at www.aircanada.com.
Following self-quarantine restrictions issued by the Australian government, Delta is temporarily suspending service from Los Angeles to Sydney beginning March 18 through April 11.
The last flight from L.A. to Sydney will depart Tuesday, March 17. The last flight from Sydney to L.A. will depart Thursday, March 19.
See here for a list of all current schedule changes.
CHANGING YOUR FLIGHT
Delta has waived change fees for customers traveling to, from or through Australia through May 31. Additional details are available on delta.com.
To help address customers with immediate travel needs, Delta is asking those who do not have travel in the next 72 hours to wait and contact the airline closer to their trip. Customers can also change or cancel a flight anytime before their travel date using My Trips on Delta.com.
To provide even more flexibility, any Delta ticket expiring in March or April is being extended to enable rebooking and travel until Dec. 31, 2020. If you’re not able to adjust your plans in time and don’t make your flight, your ticket number automatically becomes an unused eCredit within 24 hours that can be used to rebook a flight in My Trips or with Delta Reservations.
CAPPED FARES
To ensure customers can travel with financial peace of mind, Delta will cap fares to and from all destinations Delta serves throughout the U.S. and Canada through March 31. These fare caps are in place in all cabins, from Delta One to Main Cabin.
PROVIDING A SAFE AND CLEAN ENVIRONMENT
Delta’s highest priority is to ensure the health and safety of customers and employees. The airline is regularly disinfecting check-in kiosks, ticket counters, gate areas, jet bridges, and more multiple times a day. More information on our cleaning procedures can be found here.
American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) will implement a phased suspension of additional long-haul international flights from the U.S. starting on March 16. This suspension will last through May 6. This change is in response to decreased demand and changes to U.S. government travel restrictions due to coronavirus (COVID-19). The airline will:
Reduce international capacity by 75% year over year — from March 16 to May 6
Continue to operate one flight daily from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to London (LHR), one flight daily from Miami (MIA) to LHR and three flights per week from DFW to Tokyo (NRT)
Continue short-haul international flying, which includes flights to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America and certain markets in the northern part of South America, as scheduled
In addition to the international changes, the airline anticipates its domestic capacity in April will be reduced by 20% compared to last year and May’s domestic capacity will be reduced by 30% on a year over year basis.
International Route Changes
By region, the new schedule changes include the following:
Asia, effective March 16
American will suspend all remaining flights to Asia, except for three flights per week from DFW to NRT
Australia and New Zealand, effective March 16
Suspending service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Auckland (AKL) effective March 16, which was slated to end seasonal flying on March 28
Suspending service from LAX to Sydney (SYD) effective March 16
Europe, phased suspension
American will continue to operate one flight daily from DFW to LHR and MIA to LHR
Suspending flights from New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), and LAX to LHR gradually over the next seven days to reaccommodate passengers and crew
LHR, Dublin (DUB) and Manchester (MAN) flights from Charlotte (CLT), Philadelphia (PHL) and Phoenix (PHX) will be suspended faster, as these airports are not approved gateways by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Final eastbound flights from CLT, PHL and PHX will be on March 15; final westbound flights returning from LHR, DUB and MAN will depart March 16
Continued suspensions in other parts of Europe, as previously announced, including the delayed start of some seasonal routes as well as flights to and from Amsterdam (AMS), Barcelona (BCN), Frankfurt (FRA), Madrid (MAD) and Munich (MUC) Paris (CDG) and Zurich (ZRH) through early May, or later, based on guidance from the U.S. government and customer demand
South America, effective March 16
Suspending service from JFK and MIA to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) and Georgetown, Guyana (GEO)
Suspending service from DFW, JFK and MIA to São Paulo (GRU)
These capacity reductions assume no slot waivers are in place other than those previously granted. At airports where demand exceeds airfield and/or terminal capacity, access is governed by slots that grant airlines permission to take off and land at specific times. Given the decrease in demand related to COVID-19, American has requested temporary relief from this usage requirement — otherwise known as requesting a slot waiver — to better align capacity with demand without the risk of losing valuable takeoff and landing slots for the future. American will continue to review its network and make adjustments as needed if waivers are granted.
Alaska Airlines, Inc.’s board of directors today elected Brooke Vatheuer to the new position of vice president strategic performance – Seattle, where she will lead the airline’s growing, hometown hub at Sea-Tac International Airport.
Vatheuer, who previously served as senior vice president of operations and planning for Horizon Air, will be a champion for Alaska’s guests and employees as it continues to grow its operations at Sea-Tac. Vatheuer will be accountable for the guest experience, operational metrics, gate space areas, ground staffing, air space management and employee engagement at Sea-Tac. The new leadership role reflects the airline’s continued focus on Seattle as a center of national and global connections for guests traveling for both business and leisure.
Vatheuer has more than a decade of experience at Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. She started with Alaska in 2007 as an internal auditor and quickly took on new positions and leadership roles in the following years, including managing director of audit programs. In 2017, she joined Horizon Air as vice president of finance and planning where she oversaw operational performance, led strategic planning and continued to improve processes, collaboration and engagement among Horizon’s frontline employees.
“Brooke is a talented executive with a lengthy history of experience at Alaska Air Group managing people and operations,” said Gary Beck, Alaska’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “She has an astute understanding of the airline business. Her work in audit, finance, analytics, strategic planning and as the head of operations at Horizon Air enables her to deeply appreciate the intricacies of an effective operation. Our guests can look forward to an improved experience at Sea-Tac airport.”
Vatheuer earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington, as well as a master’s degree in professional accounting. She is a certified public accountant.
Alaska Airlines and its regional partners fly 47 million guests a year to more than 115 destinations with an average of 1,300 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica. With Alaska and Alaska Global Partners, guests can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 800 destinations worldwide. Alaska Airlines ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Carriers in North America” in the J.D. Power North America Airline Satisfaction Study for 12 consecutive years from 2008 to 2019. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).
