For Jason Berry, Managing Director of Alaska Air Cargo (a division of Alaska Airlines), it’s that time of year when things get a little fishy. The opening of the Copper River salmon fishing season was last week, and early Friday morning, Alaska Air Cargo brought 18,000 pounds of the prized delicacy to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (affectionately known as Sea-Tac) in Seattle, Washington, for distribution to hungry chefs and consumers in the Pacific Northwest and the rest of the lower 48 states. Across all flights Friday nearly 50,000 pounds of salmon were carried south.
While this is a single commodity trafficked seasonally on a single lane, Berry knows that Alaska Air Cargo must be diversified to succeed outside of its namesake state, and building that awareness and perception is key.
“Alaska [Airlines] is not just Alaska,” Berry shares one morning this spring from the airline’s home city of Seattle. “Our legacy is Alaska and something we’re proud of. We’re called Alaska and we’re so much more than that. Look at our network and where we fly. The route map speaks for itself.”
He’s right about that map. It was only in 2001 that Alaska Airlines added its first transcontinental flight to Washington, D.C. In 2008, the company undertook its largest ramp-up ever, moving into Hawaii, which is now served with 30 Alaska Airlines flights per day. In 2016, Alaska Airlines acquired Virgin America and beginning in June 2018, the belly space was available to cargo to sell and fill. That addition meant that cargo was the fastest growing revenue segment for the airline in the first quarter of 2019, up 17.9 percent over the same period in 2018.
The combined might of Alaska Airlines and Virgin Air now means that Alaska Air Cargo has access to 1,300 flights per day, all domestic, reaching from one end of the country to the other, including the Hawaiian Islands. Alaska Airlines is also moving beyond its previous single-hub of Seattle. The airline is now utilizing flights and operations in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego for transcontinental operations…
