There have been some major developments regarding the leadership and operations of Ravn Alaska, a regional airline that serves various communities across Alaska. The new CEO is Tom Hsieh, a Southern California entrepreneur who takes over from Rob McKinney. Tom Hsieh currently serving as the President of FLOAT Alaska LLC.
FLOAT Alaska LLC also owns two smaller airlines: New Pacific Airlines and Ravn Alaska.
The company’s chief commercial officer, Tina Hanley, said the shakeup occurred last Friday, but “Ravn has not made a formal announcement on this yet.” Meanwhile, efforts to reach former CEO McKinney for his reaction to the development did not bear fruit.
Alaska Airlines has now acted following this news report and will suspend ‘miles-sharing’ with Ravn Alaska. The company’s Public Affairs Manager, Tim Thompson, elaborated that it was completely due to the replacement of the top leadership at Ravn, meaning travellers could no longer book or use miles for flying Ravn at AlaskaAir.com or ticket counters, online or in person, and they could no longer rack up mileage credits for flying Ravn. However, Alaska Airlines has assured that all booked travel will be honoured, and flights people bought before July 1 on their website will continue to earn mileage if a mileage plan number is on the ticket.
It’s only been a few months since Ravn Alaska last hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Slightly four months ago, the airline laid off more than 400 workers, over 25% of its total workforce. The company released scanty information regarding the layoffs at the time.
Raven Alaska currently has nine communities it serves throughout the state, including the cities of Homer, St. Paul, Valdez, and St. Mary’s on the Lower Yukon River, with some critical reception from Unalaska residents citing concerns over the consistency of local air service after repeated and unexplained dropped flights by the airline.
Also Read – Discover Mexico With Alaska Airlines
These developments underline the structural problems the peripheral aviation segment in Alaska faces, with particular force, and continue to reflect upon how important reliable and stable air transportation in real terms remains in this state for remote communities. Hopefully, the new pilots of Ravn Alaska, under all these transition circumstances, will turn around everything that has gone sour and put improvement of service delivery at the centre of its agenda.