March 18, 2020

The Honorable Steven Mnuchin Secretary
U.S. Department of Treasury Washington, D.C. 20220

The Honorable Elaine Chao Secretary
U.S. Department of Transportation Washington, D.C. 20013

The Honorable Charles Schumer Minority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives Washington D.C. 20515

The Honorable Mitch McConnell Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 202510

The Honorable Kevin McCarthy Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515

Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Chao, Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, Leader McConnell & Leader Schumer:

On behalf of the 23,000 employees of Alaska Air Group’s wholly-owned airlines, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, thank you for your leadership during these challenging times for our country and people around the globe. We appreciate all you are doing in response to COVID-19 to support the safety and well-being of the American people. The public health priorities are paramount. We know you also understand the tremendous impact on the economy and on working people, including in the airline industry – an essential and critical part of our country’s infrastructure and economic engine.

Our top priority is the safety and health of employees and guests including through this crisis. This includes enhanced cleaning of all our aircraft, adjusting onboard service procedures, and working with airports to ensure cleanliness of gate space for those who need to travel.

As public health agencies, government officials and companies urge people to stay home in order to restrict the spread of this virus – actions we fully support to protect others – the impact on travel demand is staggering. Passenger cancellations far outpace new bookings, and we are seeing emptier and emptier airports and aircraft.

Alaska and Horizon are the nation’s leading West Coast airlines, and also provide critical air service to some of the most remote communities in our country. We began seeing declining demand several weeks ago as the epicenter of the virus’ spread emerged in Seattle and California. As this has grown into a national emergency, our business has been significantly impacted from the East Coast to Alaska, Canada, and Costa Rica and beyond.

This is a fast-moving and unprecedented economic crisis, more severe than those experienced after 9/11 and the 2008 recession. In March, our passenger loads will be down about a third from last year, and our revenues down even more.

Employees are our first priority. We are fortunate to run a tight operation and business, but as things change quickly and the situation continues to worsen, we are highly concerned about future demand and revenue losses as they translate to employment and jobs. Management is working to secure additional loans, reduce capacity, and forego investment in capital and operating expenses. But despite this strong financial record and self-help actions, government relief in the very near-term is needed.

We ask the government to act quickly, with bipartisan action, to protect the people of our airlines and the jobs we work daily that enable us to provide critical, safe transportation infrastructure around and beyond the United States. This is essential to keep employees on payroll and avoid other employment impacts.

We proudly come to work to provide critical service, connect people and families, and enable the businesses in our communities to thrive. This is part of who we are - Alaska Airlines was born in the state of Alaska, where 16 of the 19 communities we serve cannot be reached by road, and everything from groceries to health care arrive by air. Thank you for your service to our country and for working to ensure that our workers can not only take care of our families but continue to serve our communities, fellow Americans and global citizens for years to come.

Sincerely,

Brad Tilden, Alaska Air Group, Inc. Chairman and CEO

On behalf of Alaska Airlines’ represented workgroups....

Jenny Schar
President, Local 592 Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO

Jeffrey Peterson
President, Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council Association of Flight Attendants -CWA, AFL-CIO

Mark Dahl
Airline Representative, Local 32 Aircraft Mechanics
Fraternal Association

Will McQuillen
ALAMEC Chairman
Air Line Pilots Association

Earl Clark
Region I Director Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association

Sito Pantoja
General Vice President IAM Dist. 142

Jarod Mills
Airline Representative, Local 14 Aircraft Mechanics
Fraternal Association

On behalf of Horizon Air’s represented workgroups....

Jenny Schar
President, Local 592 Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO

Bret Oestreich National Director Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association

Lisa Davis-Warren
President, Horizon Air Master Executive Council
Association of Flight Attendants -CWA, AFL-CIO

Bobby Shipman
Horizon Local 14 Airline Representative
Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association

Captain Jeff Cox
Executive Council Chairman Horizon Pilots
APA Local 1224 International Brotherhood
of Teamsters