Alaska Air Group’s board of directors has released that Brad Tilden will retire as Chief Executive Officer on March 31, 2021, and Ben Minicucci, president of Alaska Airlines and a member of the Alaska Air Group board, will succeed him. Tilden will continue to serve as Alaska’s board chair.
“This announcement is the culmination of a multi-year succession planning process,” said Patricia Bedient, Alaska Air Group lead independent director. “The board has complete confidence in Ben’s ability to lead Alaska to great success in the years to come. We are also grateful to Brad for his outstanding leadership during his eight years as CEO. With Ben as CEO and Brad continuing as chair, Alaska’s future is bright.”
During Minicucci’s 16-year career with Alaska, he has contributed in various roles of increasing responsibility. In 2016, he became president of Alaska Airlines and he was also named CEO of Virgin America upon Alaska’s acquisition of the airline. From 2009-2016, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer where he directed the implementation of a customer service guiding framework which empowers employees to deliver personal and kind-hearted experiences to guests. He also held the role of Vice President of Seattle operations (2007-2009) where he dramatically increased Alaska’s on-time performance and reliability. Minicucci joined Alaska in 2004 as Staff Vice President of Maintenance.
