Alaska Air Cargo expands management team as volumes grow
28 / 09 / 2021
Rick Bendix (L), Gina Thomas (C) and Kim Beelitz. Source: Alaska Air Cargo
Alaska Air Cargo has made three management appointments in response to growing demand.
The airline has appointed Kim Beelitz as manager of cargo ground operations in Seattle (SEA).
Beelitz has worked with Alaska Airlines for more than a dozen years and the Seattle cargo team since 2016.
Gina Thomas, who has 15 years of experience in customer service and cargo, is the airline’s new manager of cargo ground operations in Anchorage.
Finally, Rick Bendix has been appointed director of cargo sales and marketing. Bendix has been part of Alaska Air Cargo’s marketing and business development initiatives since 2015.
Alaska Air Cargo managing director Adam Drouhard said that all three have been charged with finding new ways to innovate operations.
“Demand for cargo services continues to grow – and our leadership team is growing to meet that demand,” the airline said.
“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,” Drouhard said.
In a May interview following his appointment, Drouhard said: “As the industry wakes up this year, all airlines are going through this churn.
“We’re getting people hired as fast as we can. We want to make sure we address customer wait times and that we’re an easy company to work with.
“Then there’s the fleet: we’re in active discussion around what the future fleet looks like for cargo. We know there is opportunity for growth. Right now we’re going through a process of projecting that out for the years ahead.
“And innovation. We’ve got to get our infrastructure up to speed. We’re already moving toward building something new and innovative on our booking platform, for our customer portals, and for our tracking devices out in the field.
“We know going forward everyone needs to have information available on their phones and their tablets, and alerts on their smartwatches. For the future, we’re making sure we create an environment that is hassle-free for our employees and our customers.”
