Overview

Gender

male

Brad Tilden is the chief executive officer of Alaska Air Group and its two subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines, the nation’s sixth-largest carrier, and Horizon Air, its regional affiliate. The two airlines employ nearly 13,000 people and fly more than 180 aircraft to some 100 destinations throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Alaska was recently added to the Fortune 500.

Under the leadership of Tilden and his team, Air Group’s focus is on providing industry-leading customer service, offering low fares, steadily growing its route network, making Alaska and Horizon the easiest airlines to fly, and building a sense of teamwork and alignment among its employees. Alaska’s people earned recognition for ranking highest in customer service among traditional carriers for seven consecutive years by J.D. Power & Associates, ranked No. 1 in on-time performance for four consecutive years by FlightStats.com, and received other honors for their philanthropy, community service and environmental stewardship. In 2013, the International Council on Clean Transportation named Alaska the most fuel-efficient airline in the United States. In addition to these achievements, Alaska Air Group become one of the nation’s most profitable airlines.

Tilden previously served as president, executive vice president of finance and planning, chief financial officer, and corporate controller of Alaska Air Group or Alaska Airlines. Before joining the company in 1991, he spent eight years with the accounting firm Price Waterhouse in its offices in Seattle and Melbourne, Australia.

Tilden earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Pacific Lutheran University and an executive master’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington. He also holds a private pilot’s license with an instrument rating.

Tilden serves on the boards of Pacific Lutheran University, the Boy Scouts of America and the Washington Roundtable (where he is vice chair). He recently completed a term as president of the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Introduced to aviation early in life, Tilden grew up a few miles from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where he loved to watch Alaska jets take off and land. A resident of Seattle, he is married and has three daughters. In addition to spending time with his family, he enjoys cycling and flying his Cessna 182.