Alaska Airlines introduces Seattle Mariners-themed plane to commemorate the club's 40th anniversary

Alaska Airlines CEO to "bring the heat" and throw out first pitch at today's home game

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Jun 28, 2017, 10:00 ET

SEATTLE, June 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As a symbol of the long-standing partnership between Alaska Airlines and the Seattle Mariners, today Alaska officially unveiled a specially-marked Boeing 737-800, featuring the Seattle Mariners logo and the 40^th anniversary design across the fuselage. The official hashtag of the Mariners-Alaska partnership, #MyOhMariners, appears next to the boarding door. Guests seated over the wings will be able to see the hashtag on the plane's winglets.

Alaska introduces the Seattle Mariners 40th anniversary plane.

"As Seattle's hometown airline, and the exclusive domestic airline of the Mariners, we are honored to celebrate this milestone with Seattle's hometown team," said Brad Tilden CEO of Alaska Airlines. "We're swinging for the fences this season. In addition to a specially themed aircraft, we're planning a Mariners scavenger hunt throughout the entire Pacific Northwest along with several other activities to delight fans throughout the season."

Both organizations are dedicated to helping communities both in Seattle and around the world. For every home run hit by a Mariners player during the 2017 season, as part of the Mariners Care program, Alaska will donate 10,000 airline miles to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) - Seattle Chapter to help worthy students succeed in education. Miles donated supplement a 1-million-mile seed gift from Alaska Airlines and will help students fly to college tours, travel back and forth between school and home, and participate in a variety of leadership development programs and other programming offered by UNCF. This year there have been 73 home runs to-date and the total is expected to reach the goal of 100 by the close of the season.

Since 2016, Alaska has donated more than 8 million miles to charities and community projects through the Mariners Care program. Alaska also supports Robinson Canó's RC22 Foundation, that has a mission to help build schools in the Dominican Republic. In November 2015, RC22 opened its first school in Canó's hometown of San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic.

"The Mariners couldn't be happier to join with Alaska Airlines to celebrate 40 years of Mariners baseball all season at Safeco Field. Displaying our 40^th anniversary logo on one of Alaska's planes and having Alaska's CEO throw out the first pitch at the game today are meaningful ways to commemorate our long-standing partnership," said Kevin Mather, president and COO of the Seattle Mariners.

Editor's Note: Video footage of Alaska Airlines' maintenance technicians applying the decal is available for download at https://vimeo.com/223342932/657c679b64. Video footage of Brad Tilden throwing out the first pitch at the Mariners game this afternoon will be available by 2:00 p.m. at http://www.newsroom.alaskaair.com.

Alaska Airlines, together with Virgin America and its regional partners, flies 40 million guests a year to 118 destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba. With Alaska and Alaska Global Partners, guests can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 900 destinations worldwide. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Carriers in North America" in the J.D. Power North America Satisfaction Study for 10 consecutive years from 2008 to 2017. Alaska Mileage Plan ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Airline Loyalty Rewards Programs" in the J.D. Power 2016 Airline Loyalty/Rewards Program Satisfaction Report for the last three consecutive years. Learn more about Alaska's award-winning service and unmatched reliability at newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).