Volume 20 | September 2021
New leaders, San Diego expansion, and flying bear cubs.
Cargo growth fuels new leadership roles.
Demand for cargo services continues to grow – and our leadership team is growing to meet that demand. We’re proud to introduce three new management roles within our Alaska Air Cargo group, with veterans of our operation positioned to meet customers’ needs.
Kim Beelitz is now Manager of Cargo Ground Operations in Seattle (SEA). Kim has worked with Alaska Airlines for more than a dozen years and has been a valued member of the Seattle cargo team since 2016.
Gina Thomas is our new Manager of Cargo Ground Operations in Anchorage (ANC). Gina has 15 years of management experience supporting both customer service and cargo teams.
Rick Bendix is now Director of Cargo Sales and Marketing. Rick has been driving Alaska Air Cargo marketing and business development initiatives since 2015.
All three leaders have been charged with finding new ways to innovate operations, says Managing Director Adam Drouhard. “Staffing has been one of our top priorities this year, and our hubs in Seattle and Anchorage were a big focus from the get-go,” Adam says.
More nonstops, new station, streamlined screening in San Diego.
With more nonstop destinations than any other carrier, our San Diego (SAN) operation offers opportunities for seamless connections across the U.S., spanning from Boston (BOS) to Kona, Hawaii (KOA).
Plus, our daily service to stations throughout California provides SAN customers with a same-day solution for their highest-priority shipments – from medical supplies to business documents to replacement parts. Learn more about how our premium GoldStreak Express service can work for you.
Also this summer, our SAN cargo station moved into a brand-new building, where we’ve streamlined our screening and acceptance processes.
New location open Monday-Saturday:
3225 N. Harbor Dr.
San Diego, CA 92101
More station details
Contact our sales team to explore SAN options.
Route updates.
- Scheduled freighter service from Anchorage to Dillingham and King Salmon now 3x a week.
- Next fall-schedule adjustment Oct. 7.
- Holiday-season adjustments will start Nov. 19.
Check flight schedules for the latest updates: alaskacargo.com/#schedules
The story of the two unaccompanied minor bears.
All unaccompanied minors receive special care when they fly Alaska Airlines – but when the young guests are members of the bear family, their travels require a bit of extra choreography between the cubs’ guardians and the Alaska Air Cargo team.
- Alaska’s bear population includes approximately 100,000 black bears, 31,000 brown (grizzly) bears, and 4,700 polar bears.
- Excepting certain islands, grizzly bears live in every part of Alaska. Adult males weigh 300 to 650 pounds.
- Polar bears (which are technically classified as marine mammals) live in the pack ice and tundra of extreme northern and western Alaska. They can grow to 1,700 pounds and 10 feet tall.
- Male polar bears mate with as many females as they can during the spring mating season on the pack ice.
On a recent summer night, a brown bear named Jebbie and a black bear named Taglu boarded a red-eye flight in Anchorage, tucked into sturdy kennels with snacks and water. A small village, including caretakers at four zoos, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and cargo teams in Anchorage (ANC), Seattle (SEA), Detroit (DTW), and Milwaukee (MKE), worked together to shepherd the bears safely on their journey from the Alaska Zoo to new homes at the Detroit Zoo in Michigan and the Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
Freighters do heavy lifting for Discovery Drilling.
Discovery Drilling of Anchorage performs geotechnical and environmental soil sampling for clients throughout the state of Alaska, often in remote and extreme locales.
On the geotechnical side, soil analysis drilling is typically done for construction projects such as roads, bridges, buildings, and pipelines. Projects range from oil pad structures on man-made islands to building site assessments in earthquake-prone areas.
On the environmental side, typical projects range from a subsurface fuel spill investigation at a gas station to injecting remediation chemicals into the ground to help clean up a spill.
With the support of Alaska Air Cargo freighters, Discovery Drilling is able to cost-effectively expand its geographic working range to extreme locations, such as Adak.
Freight For Less is back for Club 49 members!
For our Club 49 members who live in the state of Alaska, Freight For Less shipping services are back as of Sept. 1. Freight For Less is streamlined to be more customer friendly with flat-rate shipping, standardized containers, and a dedicated Club 49 check-in counter in Anchorage.
See complete details on how to use Freight For Less.
Previous Issues
Related
Newsletter
Keep up to date! Subscribe to our quarterly online newsletter.
