Alaska Airlines exec is working to keep plastic and carbon out of the air

Diana Birkett Rakow has been leading Alaska Air Group’s environmental initiatives since before she even had the title to go with them.

Now the senior vice president of public affairs and sustainability at the SeaTac-based carrier, Birkett Rakow joined as it was approaching some of its early sustainability milestones and ready to set new ones. Alaska signed on to Amazon’s Climate Pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2040, and she has since championed the company’s carbon emission and waste-reduction efforts and helped integrate climate goals into company-wide pay initiatives.

She is now keenly focused on Alaska’s efforts to promote the use of sustainable aviation fuel, particularly through a partnership with climate-tech company CHOOOSE, which allows passengers to purchase SAF credits or support nature-based climate projects.

“We know that SAF presents our best opportunity to take a leap forward on this journey,” she said when the company announced the partnership late last year. “But today, there isn’t enough SAF to meet demand, and we need to bring its cost down by creating scale.”

Diana Birkett Rakow

Under Birkett Rakow’s leadership, Alaska has contracted with Cascadia Consulting Group to conduct quarterly waste audits. The company’s two primary goals include replacing five waste-producing items from its inflight services with recyclable or renewable options by 2025 and restoring inflight recycling rates to pre-pandemic levels.

Replacing plastic cups with paper and eliminating plastic bottles from inflight service saved the airline 2.2 million pounds of plastic waste, or the equivalent of 24 Boeing 737s. It also joined the Washington State Recycling Association to extend awareness and help improve recycling infrastructure.

Birkett Rakow is quick to emphasize the collaborative nature of her work.

“Sustainability in any industry is a team sport and requires shared ownership and action to drive the outcomes,” she said.

On the ground, Alaska created an employee-led “Green Team” to spearhead education and advocacy for what it has internally dubbed its “EverGreen” efforts. And it’s backing those goals up with hard cash for employees. Carbon reduction is a cornerstone of Alaska’s companywide performance bonus plan, including a goal to beat out its competitors for the title of the most fuel-efficient airline in the United States, which it has received from the International Council on Clean Transportation for the last five years. The company even established an investment arm, Alaska Star Ventures, to identify and enable future technology.

In 2021, Alaska became the first airline in the world to use Flyways, software that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help dispatchers adjust flight plans for weather and traffic. In 2022, Alaska said the software helped it save 12,615 metric tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to 1.3 million gallons of jet fuel.

Birkett Rakow also serves on the Board of Directors for Puget Sound Energy, which she said has faced similar practical challenges with technology and change management as Alaska.

“I believe that that the impact of our changing climate is one of the most critical business, societal, and public health challenges of the time, for our children and generations to follow,” she said. “Tackling this challenge requires technology and innovation and collective action. It is daunting, but both fascinating and important.”