Alaska Airlines promotes Andy Schneider to senior vice president of people; Horizon Air promotes Matt Prainito to vice president of station and inflight operations

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Jun 05, 2019, 16:30 ET

SEATTLE, June 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air continue to grow, two talented executives with broad and deep experience at Alaska Air Group have been promoted to key roles to continue building a company culture that puts people, both our guests and our employees, first.

The Alaska Airlines board of directors has elected Andrea "Andy" Schneider as senior vice president of people for Alaska Airlines. The Horizon Air board of directors has elected Matt Prainito as vice president of station and inflight operations for Horizon Air.

With the acquisition of Virgin America complete, Schneider's top focus is to grow and support Alaska's people and culture, to help Alaska achieve the next level of performance as one team. Most recently, Schneider was responsible for creating and completing "Flight Path," a company-wide workshop to engage employees from across workgroups in open dialogue around our history, our culture, and where we are headed together. Her team has also achieved unprecedented hiring over the past two years to strengthen our workforce with the diverse and exceptional people we need to fuel our growth in the years ahead.

She will also continue to lead employee benefits, compensation, training and development, recruiting and employee travel for Alaska and Horizon Air.

"Andy understands that employees are what makes Alaska and Horizon special, and that getting our culture right is one of the most important things we can do," said Alaska CEO Brad Tilden. "She knows how to execute, but also to listen, and as a member of our executive team she has done a fantastic job bringing us together. We couldn't be happier to see her earn this promotion."

Previously, Schneider served as vice president of inflight and call center services, leading Alaska's flight attendants, customer care and reservations agents. Before that, she was senior vice president of people and customer services at Horizon. Schneider began her career at Alaska in 1989 as the manager of financial accounting. Schneider earned a bachelor of business administration degree from Gonzaga University and an executive MBA from the University of Washington.

Prainito also begins his new role immediately. As the vice president of station operations and inflight for Horizon Air, he'll oversee operational and financial performance, lead strategic planning, and continue improving processes for Horizon Air's airport and flight attendant teams. He'll also partner with leaders at Alaska to ensure guests receive a consistently safe and remarkable experience across carriers.

"Matt brings a wealth of knowledge to this position after many years at Alaska Airlines, where he successfully led one of the largest regions in the network," said Gary Beck, president and CEO of Horizon Air. "This included oversight of CPA carrier relationships, so Matt has a deep appreciation for the important role Horizon plays within Air Group. He is highly regarded by those he has led for his collaborative, hands-on approach to problem solving and continuous improvement and is an outstanding addition to the Horizon team."

Prainito started with Alaska in 1997 as a customer service agent in Los Angeles before stepping into the station manager roles in Burbank, Ontario and LAX. He later took on new positions and leadership roles in the following years, including regional manager and director of station operations. In 2016 he became managing director of station operations, where he was responsible for the state of Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pacific Northwest stations.

Alaska Airlines and its regional partners fly 46 million guests a year to more than 115 destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica. 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 Airline Satisfaction Study for 12 consecutive years from 2008 to 2019. Learn about Alaska's award-winning service at newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).

SOURCE Alaska Airlines