SEATTLE, Jun 3, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Alaska Airlines (NYSE:ALK) announced today that Jeff Jones will join Alaska Airlines as staff vice president of technical support. The appointment is effective immediately.

As head of technical support, a new position at Alaska Airlines, Jones will assume responsibility for aircraft engineering, maintenance programs, reliability engineering, fleet management, quality control and maintenance training. Jones will report directly to senior vice president of maintenance and engineering, Mickey Cohen.

"This is a critical new post at Alaska Airlines and we believe Jeff is exactly the right person for the job," said Bill Ayer, president and chief executive officer. "Jeff's proven track record of success as a leader along with his strong technical background will provide an extra level of management depth within our maintenance and engineering organization."

Most recently as managing director of aircraft engineering for American Airlines at its Tulsa, Kansas City and Fort Worth facilities, Jones has led a 125-person engineering and aircraft overhaul organization. Prior to that he was American's managing director of quality assurance and chief inspector with responsibility for the airline's fleet of 630 aircraft.

Earlier in his 12-year career at American Airlines, Jones held a series of positions of increasing responsibility within the maintenance and engineering department. These included senior analyst and controller for the division, senior engineer, lead engineer and manager of airframe and systems engineering.

Before joining American, Jones served for 21 years in the U.S. military, ten years on active duty and another 11 years as a reserve. There he managed nuclear and chemical operations for the U.S. Army's Rapid Deployment Force and was a manager of aviation maintenance and engineering. In the latter capacity he served the military as a chief test pilot and conducted more than 1,000 hours of incident-free flights. In 2001 he retired as lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army Reserves.

Jones, 43, holds a master's of business administration from the University of Phoenix and Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He holds an airframe and power plant certificate and a commercial pilot's certificate with instrument, multi-engine and helicopter ratings. He has accumulated a total of 3,500 flight hours.

CONTACT:          Alaska Airlines
                  Lou Cancelmi, 206/433-3170

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