SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2002--Donald S. Garvett has been elected vice president of planning by the board of directors of Alaska Airlines (NYSE:ALK).

Most recently executive vice president of strategy and planning at South African Airways, Garvett will be responsible for planning and revenue management at Alaska Airlines. In that role he will have primary responsibility for the development of the carrier's annual business plan and its longer-term 3-5 year strategic planning process.

Included in Garvett's duties is oversight of a range of activities including pricing, yield management and schedule development. He will report directly to Gregg Saretsky, the carrier's executive vice president of marketing and planning, and will join the company in August.

"We are fortunate to have someone of Don's background and extensive experience joining our team," said Bill Ayer, president and chief executive officer. "His knowledge and understanding of the planning process and revenue management make him exceptionally well qualified to help Alaska Airlines in the challenging environment our industry currently faces."

During his career, Garvett, 50, has worked as an airline executive, aviation consultant, and academician. Immediately prior to South African Airways, he worked for SH&E Inc., a worldwide aviation consulting firm located in New York where he served as vice president and conducted a wide variety of consulting assignments for numerous well-known carriers and other aviation and travel-related clients.

Prior to that, Garvett was vice president of revenue management at Pan American World Airways. Previously, he served as vice president of marketing and planning of Air Florida. Garvett began his career as an aeronautical engineer at Draper Laboratories, developing and testing guidance, navigation and control systems for the U.S. Air Force and NASA.

Between 1985 and 1997 he was an adjunct professor at New York University. There he developed and taught graduate-level courses in travel industry marketing, finance and pricing.

Earlier, he served as an adjunct instructor in transportation economics and airline management at the University of Maryland and as an air transportation consultant with the Mitre Corporation.

Garvett holds undergraduate degrees in aeronautics and astronautics and in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology along with a master's degree in airline management from M.I.T. He also holds a master's of business administration degree from the University of Maryland.

Garvett was a member of the board of directors of the Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCO) and a co-founding member of the board of the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC). He also served as a member of the executive committee of ARC and as chairman of its audit committee.

Garvett has four children. He, his wife Jaymi, and their family look forward to shortly relocating to the Seattle area.