Alaska Airlines has appointed John Wiitala as its new vice president of maintenance and engineering on January 6, 2025.
In his role, Wiitala will lead the division to ensure safety and compliance across its 237 mainline Boeing aircraft across multiple maintenance bases. He joins the company after 34 years with United Airlines where he most recently served as vice president and chief engineer of tech operations, safety and compliance. In the role, he was responsible for the United fleet. Prior to this role, he served as vice president of technical services.
His responsibilities at Alaska will include line maintenance operations; maintenance of airframes, components and engines; stores and distribution; quality assurance; maintenance planning; engineering and reliability; and fleet projects.
"With over three decades in technical operations' leadership roles to include both narrow and widebody aircraft, I welcome John's expertise, leadership and vision as Alaska becomes a global airline," said Constance von Muehlen, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Alaska Airlines.
Wiitala began his aviation career in 1988 in project engineering at Aircraft Modular Products in Miami. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Iowa.