Alaska Airlines has told Washington state officials it plans permanent job cuts at facilities in Renton, Seattle and Spokane, part of a wider reduction the company says is tied to rising costs and steep financial losses this year. The airline says the affected facilities themselves are not closing, even though the workforce changes are expected to be permanent.
According to KOMO, Alaska Airlines informed Washington's Employment Security Department of the planned cuts at its Renton, Seattle and Spokane facilities on Oct. 30. The listed sites include the Renton location at 1301 SW 16th St., Spokane International Airport at 9000 W. Airport Dr., and a cluster of SeaTac addresses covering the airport, corporate headquarters, general office, Gold Coast Center, hangar, hub, McGee building and Stinson office. KOMO reports the first employment separations are scheduled to begin on or about Dec. 31.
Other coverage of the same round of cuts describes a different timeline. MyNorthwest reports that affected employees will have their last working day on Nov. 13 and will continue receiving pay through Dec. 31. The two accounts have not been reconciled, and it remains unclear whether Dec. 31 marks the start of formal separations, as KOMO reports, or simply the end of a pay-continuation period, as MyNorthwest describes.
How Many Jobs Are Affected
The Washington job total is also reported inconsistently. MyNorthwest says Alaska Air Group is cutting 125 jobs in the state as part of a broader elimination of 200 positions companywide, while a search snippet from KREM puts the Washington figure at 121 positions starting Dec. 31. Both figures sit within the same general range, but the discrepancy has not been resolved in available reporting.
Per MyNorthwest, the cuts affect nonunion, back-office roles and do not touch pilots, flight attendants, airport guest services workers, or maintenance and engineering employees. KOMO adds that some affected employees may have the ability to return to a former union position. The outlet also names Christin Leise, Alaska Airlines' managing director of people operations, as the contact listed for employee questions.
A Sixth Round Since the Hawaiian Merger
The Washington cuts land within a much larger set of reductions. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports Alaska Air Group planned to eliminate 200 management positions nationwide, including 48 in Hawaii, where 40 jobs are being eliminated outright and eight employees are being offered other roles within the company. The newspaper describes the move as the sixth round of management layoffs since Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines merged in September 2024, though it notes the cuts affect less than 1% of the company's roughly 32,500 employees and are not tied to that $1.9 billion acquisition.
The Seattle Times, reporting on the same 200-person reduction, says the layoffs are all non-union positions covering only back-office roles, and that affected employees will have their last working day on Nov. 13 while continuing to receive pay through Dec. 31 — matching MyNorthwest's account of the timeline rather than KOMO's.
Financial Pressure Behind the Decision
Alaska Air Group has posted significant losses this year. The Star-Advertiser reports a third-quarter net loss of $147 million, while MyNorthwest reports the company lost $416 million over the first nine months of the year, compared with a $79 million profit over the same period a year earlier. CEO Ben Minicucci said the company could lose as much as $700 million this year if current conditions persist, according to the Star-Advertiser.
MyNorthwest notes that even with the latest round, the 125 Washington cuts the outlet cites represent less than 1% of Alaska Air Group's approximately 32,500 employees. The reductions come months after Alaska Airlines opened a new training center in Renton in June.
