SEATTLE, Nov. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines
has promoted Diana Birkett Rakow to
senior vice president of public affairs and sustainability, in a
move that underscores the airline's commitment to lead the aviation
industry with ambitious and measurable goals to protect the places
we fly and support the people and communities we serve.
"Diana is a strong and purpose-driven leader who recognizes the
urgency of this work, and that's why she is the right person to
lead our efforts to make Alaska Airlines and the aviation industry
more sustainable for the future," said Alaska Airlines CEO
Ben Minicucci. "We're proud of all
we've accomplished on this journey so far, and we're excited about
where we're headed in the years ahead."
Birkett Rakow joined Alaska in 2017 and has led the establishment
and pursuit of the airline's climate strategy and strengthened
Alaska's Environmental Social
Governance (ESG) program as a whole. Her previous title was vice
president of external relations. In April
2021, the airline announced 2025 ESG goals across the most
important areas of impact for the company, including near-term
goals to be the most fuel-efficient U.S. airline by 2025. The
company also set a five-part path to net zero carbon emissions by
2040, joined the Climate Pledge, and established Alaska Star
Ventures to identify and enable technology that can accelerate our
path to net zero. That strategy leverages operational best
practices and next-generation disruptive technology to transform
and reduce the long-term climate impact of aviation.
Alaska's roadmap to 2040
focuses on five areas:
- Operational efficiency
- Fleet renewal
- Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
- Novel propulsion
- Credible, high-quality carbon offsetting technology
This year alone, Alaska Airlines has made significant advances
on its ESG strategy:
- Flyways: Became the first airline in the world to
use Flyways, a system that uses artificial intelligence and machine
learning to help our dispatchers determine the safest and most
efficient flight plans. Early results included reducing the average
flight times by 5 minutes and saving 480,000 gallons of fuel in
just six months, and even greater savings are expected with
increased flying coming out of the pandemic.
- ZeroAvia: Announced a development collaboration
with ZeroAvia for a hydrogen-electric powertrain capable of flying
76-seat regional aircraft in excess of 500 nautical miles.
- Boxed Water: Launched the U.S. industry's first
water service that's free of single-use plastic bottles and plastic
cups. Using Boxed Water Is Better® and swapping out plastic cups
with recyclable paper cups will save an estimated 1.8 million
pounds of single-use plastics from flights every year – the
equivalent to the weight of 18 Boeing 737s. This builds on
Alaska's 2018 step to be the first
North American airline to go "strawless."
- Alaska Star Ventures. The new LLC will help discover,
partner with, and enable technologies to help Alaska take real and meaningful steps toward
reaching net zero carbon emissions within the next decade or
sooner.
- ecoDemonstrator: Collaborated with Boeing on a flying
"lab" of innovative technology on a 737-9 in an Alaska Airlines
livery, powered by SAF.
Birkett Rakow will continue to
lead communications, government affairs and community engagement
efforts with teams in Seattle,
San Francisco, Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington, D.C. Together, these teams will
work to grow Alaska's business,
employee engagement, and legacy of responsibility and corporate
citizenship. She will also continue to manage the airline's "LIFT"
ESG program, including strategy, communications, disclosure,
governance and investor engagement.
Birkett Rakow chairs the Board of
the Alaska Airlines Foundation, sits on the Board of Directors of
the Pacific Science Center and is chair of the Board of Trustees of
the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber
of Commerce.
About Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines and its regional partners serve more than 120
destinations across the United
States and to Mexico,
Canada and Costa Rica. The airline
emphasizes Next-Level Care for its guests, along with
providing low fares, award-winning customer service and
sustainability efforts. Alaska is
a member of oneworld. With the global alliance and the
airline's additional partners, guests can travel to more than 1,000
destinations on more than 20 airlines while earning and redeeming
miles on flights to locations around the world. Learn more about
Alaska at newsroom.alaskaair.com
and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are
subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).
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SOURCE Alaska Airlines