Executive John
Wiitala joins Alaska with
more than 34 years of airline experience
SEATTLE, Jan. 6, 2025
/PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines has named
John Wiitala as its new vice president of maintenance and
engineering. In this principal leadership role, Wiitala will lead
professionals throughout the division who maintain the highest
levels of safety and compliance with more than 237 mainline Boeing
aircraft across multiple maintenance bases.
Wiitala joins Alaska after 34
years with United Airlines, most recently as vice president and
chief engineer of tech operations, safety and compliance, where he
was responsible for the United fleet. Prior to that role, he was
vice president of technical services. Wiitala joined United in 1992
and held other engineering jobs throughout the organization
including director of engineering and managing director of project
engineering.
His responsibilities at Alaska
will include line maintenance operations; maintenance of airframes,
components and engines; stores and distribution; quality assurance;
maintenance planning; engineering and reliability; and fleet
projects.
Among his accomplishments at United, he expanded the scope of
operations of the airline, which grew from under 450 aircraft to
944. He was on board during the United-Continental merger, helping
the airline successfully navigate integration and grow its
multi-fleet operations.
"With over three decades in technical operations' leadership
roles to include both narrow and widebody aircraft, I welcome
John's expertise, leadership and vision as Alaska becomes a global airline," said
Constance von Muehlen, executive
vice president and chief operating officer at Alaska Airlines.
"John will lead our team to uphold the highest standards of safety,
quality and compliance for Alaska's fleet while combining operations with
Hawaiian Airlines."
Wiitala began his aviation career in 1988 in project engineering
at Aircraft Modular Products in Miami. He holds a bachelor's degree in
mechanical engineering from the University of
Iowa and has served on the board of Argonaut/Davis High School, a Cleveland-based school that empowers youth to
pursue pilot and technician certifications.
About Alaska Air Group
Alaska Air Group, Inc. is
based in Seattle and comprised of
subsidiaries Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., Horizon Air
and McGee Air Services. With our recent acquisition of Hawaiian
Airlines, we now serve more than 140 destinations throughout
North America, Central America, Asia and the Pacific. We are committed to
safety, remarkable customer care, operational excellence, financial
performance and sustainability. Alaska Airlines is a member of
the oneworld Alliance. With oneworld
and our additional global partners, our guests have more
choices than ever to purchase, earn or redeem on
alaskaair.com across 30 airlines and more than 1,000
worldwide destinations. Book travel throughout the Pacific on
Hawaiian Airlines at hawaiianairlines.com. Learn more
about Alaska Airlines at news.alaskaair.com and
Hawaiian Airlines at
newsroom.hawaiianairlines.com/blog. Alaska Air Group is
traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as
"ALK."
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SOURCE ALASKA AIRLINES