Alaska Airlines poised for historic flight to Cuba on Jan. 5 with local dignitaries aboard
An Alaska Airlines plane -- a Boeing 737-900 marked as flight 286 -- will take off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport off for Cuba on Thursday Jan. 5 . This historical flight will head to Los Angeles before it goes non-stop to Havana, and will, according to Alaska Airlines, be the first commercial West Coast flight to Cuba. It marks the start of Seattle-based Alaska Airlines’ daily non-stop service to the island nation.
On board will be a delegation of 50 political, business, sports and cultural leaders, including King County Executive Dow Constantine; University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce who is Cuban born; Howard S. Wright III; Port of Seattle CEO Ted Fick; John Binkley, president of the Cruise Lines International Association of Alaska; Visit Seattle President and CEO Tom Norwalk, to name a few.
This is an exciting way to kick off our 85th anniversary year to do something historic like this, says Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines’ senior vice president of external relations. “As now the nation’s fifth largest airline, it is exciting for us to be a part of major events such as this historical opening of Cuba.”
UW President Cauce is looking forward to the trip. “I am really pleased to be playing a small role in connecting my birth homeland with my homeland of choice,” says Cauce to the Puget Sound Business Journal. “While I fully understand in my bones why the U.S. broke off relations with Cuba, I firmly believe that change comes from engaging. History has shown us that.”
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