Alaska Airlines Earns 10th Consecutive FAA ‘Diamond Award’ for Maintenance Training Excellence

SEATTLE, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Alaska Airlines has received the Federal Aviation Administration’s Diamond Award for maintenance training excellence for the 10th consecutive year. The Diamond Award, the FAA’s most prestigious maintenance honor, recognizes Alaska‘s ongoing commitment to aircraft maintenance and training excellence.

"Winning this prestigious award for 10 years in a row is a real tribute to the professionalism and commitment of our 630 maintenance technicians," said Fred Mohr, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of maintenance and engineering. "It underscores the serious commitment by Alaska to continually invest in the technical training of our technicians."  

The FAA’s William O’Brian Maintenance Technician Awards program began in 1991. It provides incentives for aircraft technicians to participate in initial and recurrent training, either on their own or in programs offered by their company. Alaska qualified for a Diamond Award when 100 percent of its aircraft technicians completed training last year.

During the past decade, individual Alaska aircraft technicians earned more than 8,000 FAA awards representing more than 400,000 hours of training.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together serve 90 cities throughout Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. For reservations, visit www.alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at www.alaskaair.com/newsroom.

SOURCE Alaska Airlines