Alaska Airlines CEO, Ben Minicucci, was the day’s main program speaker who described how his airline has survived the pandemic, unpredictable weather, employee retention, and recruiting beginning with high schoolers who are looking for a great paying career.
Past Seattle Rotary #4 president Mark Wright introduced Mr. Minicucci as a respected airline executive whose experience spans more than 40 years. He has been with Alaska Airlines for 18 years and was named CEO in 2021 as the industry was struggling to recover from the epic pandemic disruption that continues to this day. He began with a familiar video of the airline’s award-winning ‘Safety Dance’ television commercial that emphasized onboard safety with a jingle that generally stays with audiences all day. The idea for the commercial was to have some ‘serious fun’ but to use real Alaska Airlines employees who practiced dance moves and lyrics like professionals.
“The pandemic triggered a sense of urgency in the whole airline industry with Alaska Air losing $400M per month and more than $2B since the pandemic began,” he said. “Our balance sheet for Q4, 2021, reveals how we are coming back as the most profitable airline in the industry, and poised for growth into the future.”
He praised Alaska Airlines employees for their willingness to embrace a flexible hybrid work model. “Our employees must come to work from counter agents to pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants,” he said.
“The Omnicom variant has set us back, but we should see a return to pre-pandemic levels during the second half of 2022.” Brand loyalty extends from a caring board room to caring for employees and customers.
“The Omnicom variant has set us back, but we should see a return to pre-pandemic levels during the second half of 2022.” Brand loyalty extends from a caring board room to caring for employees and customers.
The son of Italian immigrants who left an Italian village for a better life and work in Montreal, Québec, Canada, where his dad encouraged him: ‘Go to school so you won’t be a donkey like me working in the cold’. At 17 years of age he joined the military, and following 14 years rose to mechanical flight engineer, traveling all over the world learning the fundamentals of leadership that have stayed with him. “I worked hands-on servicing airplanes, learning how they work and how maintenance is done right,” he said. “We are Seattle’s hometown airline with 10,000 employees and we see huge opportunities for growth”. The airline was born in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, now with 1,300 flights daily to 100 cities – 300 flights a day from Seattle.
He concluded by describing how the airline seeks west coast dominance. A five-year plan is in place to be the most fuel-efficient airline flying through testing sustainable fuels from electric to hydrogen and even offering a 10% bonus program for employees who demonstrate conservation and sustainability.
President Jimmy rang the bell promptly at 12:30 introducing song leader Linda Rough with ‘America the Beautiful’ followed by Ken Colling’s inspiration.
The day’s short program featured George Harris, President/CEO, of the NW Marine Trade Association, who led Rotarians down memory lane with historic photos and film to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Boat Show – this year from February 4-12 at Lumen Field Event Center and Bell Harbor Marina. A free shuttle runs continuously between both locations. This year’s Seattle Boat Show will feature 255 exhibitors with more than 800 new and brokerage boats —and the latest in marine accessories and technology.
“The first boat show in 1947 was a post-WWII event promoted by 13 Seattle area boating businesses in the national armory building,” he said. “The event moved from the armory to the Coliseum, then the Kingdome, and now at Lumen Event Center where more than 55,000 people from all 50 states and Canada are expected.”
The Seattle Boat Show is one of the largest in the U.S. supported by a staff of 3,000. The event is an economic driver for Seattle with 62% of the visitors coming from outside King County, taking up 8,200 lodging rooms, spending $7.3M on food with another $244M of exhibitor sales – generating $4.7M local & state tax revenue. He concluded by saying “no matter what kind of boater you are, you’ll find something at the Seattle Boat Show”. For more information visit https://seattleboatshow.com/
