Alaska Air Group Cuts About 200 Management Jobs as Fuel Costs Threaten a $700 Million Loss

October 31, 2026 — Alaska Air Group is laying off roughly 200 employees, mostly managers, across Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, and its CEO has warned the company could post its first non-pandemic annual loss in more than two decades.

What happened

In an internal email sent Friday, October 30, CEO Ben Minicucci told employees that high jet fuel prices and geopolitical turmoil are hammering results. AirlineGeeks, citing the email first obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, reports he warned the group “could lose as much as $700 million this year.” That would be Alaska’s first adjusted pretax loss outside the pandemic since 2003. eTurboNews, citing Reuters, puts the extra fuel bill at about $1.8 billion and says the cuts are under 1% of the workforce.

At Hawaiian, two senior leaders, Jim Landers (head of Hawaii operations) and Shelly Parker (head of guest operations), will retire at year end and their positions will then be eliminated.

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What it means for non-revs

• Front-line pilots, flight attendants, agents and technicians are not part of this round, so day-to-day operations and pass travel should run as normal.
• A loss warning of this size usually means tighter capacity planning. No schedule cuts were announced with the layoffs, but watch the winter and spring schedules for trimmed frequencies, which would mean fuller flights and fewer open seats for standby travelers.
• If you commute or ride standby on Alaska or Hawaiian, keep checking loads close to departure rather than relying on historic patterns this winter.
• Affected management employees should check with HR on how their own pass travel privileges are handled after November 13; the reports did not say.

Sources

• AirlineGeeks: Report: Alaska to Lay Off 200 Employees
• eTurboNews: Global Aviation News October 25–31: New Routes, Airports and CEOs