Bill Ayer

Last updated
Bill Ayer
Born1955
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Education University of Washington
Occupation(s)Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, and President of Alaska Air Group
Term2002 - 2012
Successor Brad Tilden
Board member of University of Washington Board of Regents, University of Washington Business School Advisory Board, Puget Energy, and the Museum of Flight and Angel Flight America

William S. Ayer (born 1955 in Seattle, Washington, United States) is an American former chairman, president, pilot and chief executive officer of Alaska Airlines and Alaska Air Group which is the parent company of Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier Horizon Air. [1]

Originally interested in being a physician, he later changed career goals. He is a graduate of Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in economics and biology, Ayer earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Washington. He holds commercial and flight instructor pilot certificates with instrument and multi-engine ratings.

Ayer founded and was president of Air Olympia, a commuter airline serving Washington state. “We operated for two years,” noted Ayer. “We didn't go broke, but we probably would have if we'd stuck with it.” [2] He also served as a regional manager for Piper Aircraft Co.

Ayer began his career with Alaska in 1995 as vice president of marketing and planning and progressed through various posts to become chief executive officer in 2002, and chairman in 2003. He spent 13 years at Horizon where he was senior vice president of operations before joining Alaska.

Ayer serves on the University of Washington Board of Regents. He was appointed by then-Governor Christine Gregoire from January 17, 2012 to September 30, 2016. He is also director of Puget Energy, the Museum of Flight and Angel Flight America. He also serves on the University of Washington Business School Advisory Board. Married with one child, he resides in Bellevue, Washington. As a pilot, Ayer gives back to the community also by flying Angel Flight America patients to their medical treatments.

On February 16, 2012, Ayer announced that he will be stepping down as CEO of Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, and its parent company on May 15, 2012 and will be replaced by Brad Tilden, the airline's president. [3] He is a pilot and CFO For Alaska Airlines since 2014. Bill Ayer is chairman of the AOPA Foundation, and pilot.

Related Research Articles

Horizon Air is an American regional airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Alaska Air Group and it is paid by fellow group member Alaska Airlines to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by Alaska Airlines. Planes operated by Horizon are co-branded as Alaska HORIZON in order to differentiate Horizon's planes from those operated by Alaska's other regional airline partner, SkyWest Airlines.

Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried. Alaska, together with its regional partners Horizon Air and SkyWest Airlines operates a route network primarily focused on connecting cities along the West Coast of the United States to over 100 destinations in the contiguous United States, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico.

Gerard J. Arpey is the former chairman, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of AMR Corporation, parent company to American Airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Line Pilots Association, International</span> North American trade union

The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 77,000 pilots from 43 US and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress. Known internationally as US-ALPA, ALPA is also a member of the IFALPA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Tilton</span>

Glenn Fletcher Tilton is a retired American oil and airline industry executive. Tilton spent most of his career working for Texaco, and as CEO guided its merger with Chevron Oil in 2001. He was chairman, president, and CEO of UAL Corporation from 2002 to 2010. He stayed on as non-executive chairman of United Continental Holdings Inc., (NYSE:UAL), the parent company of the merged United Airlines, Inc. and Continental Airlines, Inc. from October 1, 2010, until 2012. Tilton was Midwest chairman and a member of the executive committee at JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), from June 6, 2011, until his retirement in June, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary C. Kelly</span> American business executive

Gary Clayton Kelly is an American business executive. He is the chairman and former chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines.

Bruce R. Kennedy was an American businessman best known for his work as chief executive officer of Alaska Airlines between 1979 and 1991, where he presided over the expansion of the airline. He retired in the early 1990s to do humanitarian work before his death in 2007; he also served as a national leader in his church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Calhoun</span> American businessman (born 1957)

David L. Calhoun is an American business executive who has been the president and chief executive of Boeing since January 2020. In March 2024, Boeing announced Calhoun will step down as chief executive at the end of 2024.

Christoph R. Mueller is a German businessman. From 2016 to 2019, he was chief digital and innovation officer of Emirates Group. He is the former chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines. With over 25 years' experience as a turnaround specialist in the aviation, logistic and tourism industry, Mueller has been widely credited with leading the financial recovery of Aer Lingus.

Thomas W. Horton is a partner of Global Infrastructure Partners and is lead director at Walmart Inc. and General Electric Corp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Tilden</span> American business executive (born 1960)

Bradley D. Tilden is an American business executive. He is the retired chairman of Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Before becoming the company's CEO in 2012, Tilden served as Alaska Airlines' president, and before that as Alaska Air Group's chief financial officer. He is a commercial pilot and holds multi-engine and instrument ratings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional Airline Association</span>

The Regional Airline Association (RAA) is a business association founded in 1975 that represents 17 North American regional airlines and 280 associate, non-airline members. This includes manufacturers of products and services supporting the regional airline industry. The RAA is the collective bargaining voice for its members' interests and lobbies on their behalf before the United States Congress, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration and other federal agencies. The RAA represents the financial and economic interests of regional airline employers and regional airline support industry employers. The Regional Airline Association does not represent financial or economic interest of airline employees, either union or other. The RAA is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Gregg Saretsky is the former president and CEO of WestJet, a carrier based in Calgary, Alberta. He served in that position from April 2010 to March 8, 2018, after the resignation of Sean Durfy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard H. Anderson (businessman)</span> American business executive

Richard H. Anderson is a retired American lawyer and business executive. In his early career, he served as a prosecutor and corporate attorney, before moving into executive positions. His most prominent roles were as CEO of several large companies in the transportation industry: Northwest Airlines (2001–2004), Delta Air Lines (2007–2016), and Amtrak (2017–2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calin Rovinescu</span> Canadian aviation executive

Călin Rovinescu, served as the president and chief executive officer of Air Canada from April 2009 to February 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Munoz (executive)</span> American businessman

Oscar Munoz is an American businessman, board member, and public speaker who was executive chairman of United Airlines from 2020 to 2021, after having been chief executive officer (CEO) of United Airlines from 2015 to 2020. Prior to his role at United Airlines, Munoz served on the board of parent company United Continental Holdings (UCH) and held multiple executive positions at CSX Corporation and AT&T.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Horizon Air Q400 incident</span> Aircraft crash in United States, August 2018

On August 10, 2018, a Horizon Air De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 was stolen from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (Sea–Tac) in Seattle, Washington. The perpetrator, 29-year-old Richard Russell AKA Sky King, was a Horizon Air ground service agent with no piloting experience. After Russell performed an unauthorized takeoff, two McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle fighters were scrambled to intercept the aircraft. Sea–Tac air traffic control made radio contact with Russell, the sole occupant, who described himself as a "broken guy, got a few screws loose, I guess." About 1 hour and 15 minutes after takeoff, Russell crashed the aircraft on lightly populated Ketron Island in Puget Sound, killing himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Kirby</span> American airline executive

John Scott Kirby is an American executive currently serving as CEO of United Airlines. He previously served as President of US Airways and American Airlines, as well as President of United Airlines from 2016 to 2020, when he was promoted as CEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William R. Howard</span> American businessman and airline executive

William R. Howard was an American businessman and airline executive. He was best known as the Chairman and CEO of Piedmont Airlines, growing it from a small regional airline to a major US carrier throughout the post deregulation environment of the late 1970s and 1980s. He was also involved in many other business ventures throughout his career.

Benito Minicucci is an American business executive. He is the president and chief executive officer of Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air.

References

  1. ↑ "Alaska Airlines Media Contacts". Archived from the original on March 24, 2006. Retrieved October 4, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Columns Magazine - The University of Washington Alumni Magazine - Business Class". Washington.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  3. ↑ "Alaska Air CEO retiring; insider to replace him - Yahoo News". News.yahoo.com. 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.