Alaska Airlines is hiring its first International Development Director to work at its headquarters in Washington. The job was posted as the airline nears its date for solidifying its deal with Hawaiian Airlines.

Expansion on the horizon

Since Alaska Airlines
announced its intentions to acquire Hawaiian Airlines, there has been no doubt that the airline would be able to expand. The specifics and the type of expansion have been known and unknown. Now, through a job posting on its careers page, Alaska has made it clear that it intends to expand internationally.

Edward Russell, an American transportation journalist, shared a post yesterday on X, highlighting the job posting.

According to the job posting, the International Development Director is the sole subject matter expert and thought leader in driving Alaska Air Group’s (AAG) global growth with a focus on delivering successful commercial outcomes. The new role has a number of responsibilities, which include leading an international task force meeting with key stakeholders.

Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines

Photo: Alaska Airlines

A few of the role’s requirements are ten years’ experience in business strategy, corporate strategy, management consulting, or related areas. The airline would like the candidate to have a Bachelor’s degree but will accept 12 years of experience in place of a degree. One key requirement is the ability to travel up to 50% of the time to global destinations.

The salary range for the International Development Director role is $168,000-$260,700 annually. The target compensation range with bonuses and equity is $207,126 – $319,854. The job posting is available until October 9th at 19:00 Pacific Time.

A brief overview of Alaska’s and Hawaiian’s international operations

It goes without saying that Alaska Airlines could create a long-haul network with access to Hawaiian Airlines’ widebodies. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, Alaska currently has 23 international routes. But, because of its fleet, the longest of these international flights is 2,721 miles.

The flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría (SJO) is the longest international flight in Alaska’s network at 2,731 miles. The second-longest route is from Seattle to Cancun at 2,685 miles. In total, there are eight international routes over 2,000 miles.

LAX-SJO is slightly shorter than the longest route overall in the network, which is from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). The route between Anchorage and Chicago is 2,846 miles long.

Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330-243 flying

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Hawaiian Airlines uses its widebodies to serve routes over 5,000 miles. The longest route in the airline’s network is from Honolulu to Boston, at 5,095 miles. The longest international route is from Honolulu to Sydney, Australia, at 5,066 miles.

In addition to flying to Australia, Hawaiian Airlines flies to Japan, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, and South Korea. With the addition of the Boeing 787s to Hawaiian’s fleet, Alaska Airlines may have some unexpected international expansion planned.

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