SEATTLE, Feb. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska
Airlines board of directors named Charu
Jain vice president and chief information officer (CIO) of
Alaska Airlines and Chris Berry vice
president of finance and controller of Alaska Airlines and Alaska
Air Group.
Jain comes to the airline from IBM Global Business Services,
where she led the team helping American Airlines integrate its IT
systems. Prior to that she worked 20 years at United Airlines
in progressive roles from programmer to senior managing director of
airline operations technology and technology integration before
leaving the company in 2012. As Alaska's CIO, Jain will lead a department of
more than 400 information technology professionals.
"Charu's experience as both an airline executive and consultant
is perfectly suited to help Air Group successfully integrate Virgin
America from a technology standpoint," said Brandon Pedersen, Alaska Airlines executive vice
president of finance and CFO. "Throughout her 24-year career, Charu
has been able to blend thoughtful leadership with a focus on
results and we're excited to have her onboard."
Berry joined Alaska Airlines in 2005 as director of financial
reporting. He later was promoted to managing director of investor
relations, and then to managing director of accounting and Alaska
Air Group controller. In addition to his success as a financial
leader, Berry championed several highly-acclaimed initiatives to
deepen employee understanding of the financial aspects of the
airline industry. Before joining Alaska, Berry worked in public accounting for
Arthur Andersen and KPMG.
"Chris has done excellent work over the course of his career. He
embodies our corporate leadership principles, especially his
'roll-up-your-sleeves' style of working with his team and
unwavering integrity," said Pedersen. "His promotion reflects his
outstanding achievements, and the new complexity of his role
following our merger with Virgin America."
In addition, the company promoted two employees to managing
director at Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air:
Jennifer Thompson was named
managing director commercial law, associate general counsel and
assistant corporate secretary at Alaska Airlines. She will succeed
Shannon Alberts, managing director
of corporate affairs and corporate secretary, who announced plans
to retire this summer. Thompson will serve in a combined corporate
affairs/commercial law function overseeing corporate governance of
the airline and its affiliates Horizon Air and Virgin America.
Thompson started her career with Alaska Air Group in 2001 as an
employment coordinator for Horizon Air. She later served as a
paralegal and then as an attorney and senior attorney. She has been
Alaska Airlines associate general counsel and assistant corporate
secretary since March of 2016.
Sana Gebarin was named managing
director of strategy and project management at Horizon Air. She
will be responsible for overseeing the airline's business strategy,
communications, operations research analytics, project management,
process improvement and facilities.
Gebarin joined Horizon in April
2015 as director of strategy planning and execution. Prior
to that she served as manager of sales operations-Americas for
TekComm, held positions in the marketing and engineering
departments for American Airlines, and worked as a consultant
engineer in the oil and gas industry.
Jain has a bachelor's degree in economics from Lucknow
University in India and an MBA in
International Management at Lake Forest
Graduate School of Management. Berry holds a bachelor's
degree from the University of Louisiana
and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. Thompson holds two
bachelor's degrees from the University of
Washington and a law degree from Seattle University. Gebarin holds a bachelor's in
electrical engineering from Oklahoma State
University.
Alaska Airlines and Virgin America along with their regional
partners, fly 40 million customers 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's global partners, customers can earn
and redeem miles on flights to nearly 1,000 destinations in the
U.S. and worldwide. 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).
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SOURCE Alaska Airlines