Foster Flies Alaska: Ryan Bak Recounts Alaska Airlines Day

Guest post by Foster Undergraduate, Ryan Bak

On Thursday, November 9, the Foster School of Business celebrated Alaska Airlines Day, acknowledging the region’s most significant airline for its generous support and involvement in our community.

Whether it’s the Alaska Airlines Arena, the Environmental Innovation Challenge, or other numerous events the company hosts for students on campus, Alaska’s presence can be felt throughout the community.

Approaching PACCAR Hall that morning, the entrance was decorated with a bold decal of an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight and airplane-shaped floor decals highlighting fun facts about Alaska and its relationship with the Foster School. Floor signs within PACCAR boasted that Alaska was proudly “with the Dawgs”. The center of action was an exciting array of booths at Jiambalvo Hearth where students could interact with Alaska recruiters and representatives, connecting over an array of colorful pastries, company swag, and photo booth snaps.

At lunchtime, students, faculty and staff gathered in the atrium for a quick speech by Alaska’s CEO Bradley Tilden, and then the unforgettable paper-airplane throwing! Inside select paper airplanes were stickers that named cool prizes—including UW and Alaska Airline branded hoodies, model airplanes, and two round-trip tickets to anywhere Alaska flies!

Later that afternoon, Alaska hosted an intimate group session for several MBA and undergraduate students on strategic initiatives Alaska was pushing out. The boardroom meeting was highly topical, as they had just released their Q3 Earnings Report. From marketing campaigns to successful mergers and acquisitions, high-ranking executives from Alaska gave insights on the company, the competitive landscape, and the airline industry as a whole. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to pick the brains of a publicly traded company’s executive leadership.

Photo of students and executives in boardroom

Students meet with Alaska Airlines Executives

Alaska Airlines Day was an inspirational event that recognized and continued the legacy of Alaska’s contributions to the Foster community. A regional powerhouse that is only continuing to grow and become more nationally dominant, Alaska Airlines is leading the industry in on-time arrivals and customer satisfaction. By engaging students with activities, talks, and networking opportunities, Alaska showed Foster students a glimpse into working for a truly first class company that is and will continue to be a leader in technology and service.