The Alaska Air Group (Seattle/Tacoma) board of directors and Bill Ayer, chairman and chief executive officer, announced today that Ayer will retire as CEO of Air Group and its subsidiary carriers, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, effective at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on May 15. Brad Tilden, a 21-year veteran at Air Group, will succeed Ayer as CEO of Air Group and the company’s two airlines and will remain as president of Alaska Airlines. Ayer will continue to serve as chairman of the board.

Ayer, 57, has spent three decades at Air Group, including 10 years as CEO. In addition to serving as chairman of Air Group and its subsidiary boards, he will participate as a member of the NextGen Advisory Committee, a panel of aviation industry leaders who are working with the FAA to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system and improve airport and airspace efficiency.

Tilden, who is 51, joined Alaska Airlines from Price Waterhouse in 1991. He was promoted to Air Group’s chief financial officer in 2000, to executive vice president – planning and finance in 2007, and to president of Alaska Airlines in 2008. As president, Tilden has overseen the nation’s seventh-largest airline, with 9,500 employees and 119 aircraft serving 61 destinations across the continental United States and in Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico.

In addition to serving on the Alaska Air Group board, Tilden is a director of Flow International Corp., Pacific Lutheran University and the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America (where he will serve as council president beginning in March). He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Pacific Lutheran University and an MBA from the University of Washington and is a private pilot.

Ayer, also a private pilot, joined Horizon in 1982 and has served in a variety of marketing, planning and operational posts at the regional carrier and Alaska Airlines. He was appointed CEO of Air Group and Alaska Airlines in 2002, succeeding John F. Kelly, and became chairman in 2003. Ayer, who is joining the University of Washington Board of Regents, is chairman of the Puget Energy board, serves on the UW Foster School of Business Advisory Board, and is a director of Angel Flight West and the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Horizon Air Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) N440QX (msn 4347) (Oregon State University-OSU Beavers) SEA (Bruce Drum), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Alaska Air Group (Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air) (Seattle/Tacoma) today reported record third quarter net income, excluding special items, of $131.1 million, or $3.58 per diluted share, compared to net income of $118.1 million, or $3.21 per diluted share. This quarter’s results compare to a First Call mean estimate of $3.33 per share.

With the special items, the group reported net income under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of $77.5 million, or $2.12 per diluted share, compared to net income of $122.4 million, or $3.32 per diluted share.

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Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum. Please click on the photo for additional information.

Alaska Horizon (Horizon Air) Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) N441QX (msn 4348) LAX (James Helbock), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Alaska Airlines (Seattle/Tacoma) has announced it is discontinuing all flights from Eureka and Redding, California, to Los Angeles, effective on April 17, 2011. The Alaska (AS) coded flights are operated by Alaska Horizon (Horizon Air).

The decision to drop the service was due to the insufficient number of passengers flying between Eureka and Redding and Los Angeles. Alaska Horizon cannot operate the flights profitably which led to the decision to discontinue the service. Eureka and Redding are among the smallest intra-California markets that the Alaska Air Group serves.

Horizon Air has operated flights from Redding since 1992 and from Eureka since 1994.

Copyright Photo: James Helbock. Horizon Air is now operating as Alaska Horizon. Please click on the photo for the full story.