Alaska Airlines’ incoming CEO hopes vaccines ease a turbulent initiation

Incoming Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci will take the helm in March in perhaps one of the strangest years in the century-long history of commercial aviation. After a brutal 2020, the airline is looking at this year as one of transition with a recovery in the offing in 2023, provided enough people in the US get vaccinated, that is. “I think I’m optimistic with the Biden administration,” Minicucci told analysts during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 earnings call on Tuesday. “[President Joseph Biden] just announced 1.5m vaccines per day … it could mean we have 100m people in the country vaccinated. I think we might start seeing people venturing out for spring break, so I think we’re going to be cautious … I think we’re going to be on our toes and react appropriately.” <br/>