Alaska Air Exec Tries To Turn Around Recent Negative Image

SEATAC - Ever since a gash was found in one of their planes in December, Alaska Airlines has been under the microscope. But management is hoping you'll put a string of recent incidents into perspective.

Long before he moved to the corporate office, Kevin Finan served as a pilot for Alaska Airlines. "I don't fly as much as I'd like to, but it's one of my passions," Finan says. He was recently named the company's Executive Vice President of Operations.

"After 37 years as a pilot, I see our commitment as a company to safety every single day," Finan tells KOMO News in an exclusive interview.

In his first weeks on the job, Finan is spending most of his time reacting to and reviewing a string of incidents involving the airline's fleet. It started December 26 when a ramp worker put a gash in an MD-80's fuselage, and it hasn't seemed to stop.

"Every airplane we have has redundant systems, and a protocol of what to do when a pilot suspects there could be a problem," Finan says.

The executive is candid about the December incident, and says it shouldn't have happened. But the next several weeks of air mask deployments, malfunctioning gauges, and diverted flights have been the result of minor issue or safety protocol.

"I can't be more proud of the flight crews," he says.

If a pilot even suspects a problem, he must make a call, and sometimes that means diverting a plane even if once landed, no problem is found.

Finan says everything that's happened since December is "minor," and doesn't raise eyebrows within the industry. "You can't be in this business without having one thing or another malfunction occasionally," Finan says.

A fleet-wide inspection is now underway, but can Alaska's customers feel safe about getting onboard, especially with the busy summer travel season on the horizon?

"Absolutely," Finan says with a smile. "I couldn't have more confidence, and I fly the airplanes."