Alaska Airlines Earns FAA Diamond Award for Maintenance Training Excellence

SEATTLE, WA -- Alaska Airlines has received its eighth consecutive Diamond Award for maintenance training excellence from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This is the sixth consecutive year Alaska received the award with the distinction of Special Recognition, an honor given only when all eligible employees participate in the Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards (AMT) program.

The FAA also presented Alaska Airlines with a special award to recognize its six-year record of 100-percent participation in the AMT program.

"This award underscores our commitment to the core values of safety and compliance," says Fred Mohr, Alaska Airlines' vice president of maintenance and engineering. "In order to achieve this commitment and be at the top of our game, we make a daily investment in the training and technical excellence of our technicians. I am so proud of everything we do to ensure the safety and compliance of our airline. In my opinion, we have the best technicians in the industry."

The FAA also honored 736 Alaska Airlines employees with individual AMT Awards. Anchorage, AK-based Lead Aircraft Technician Patrick Durbin and Seattle, WA-based Technical Training Instructor Ray Bundrick received the highest honor -- the Diamond Award -- for completing more than 100 hours of training in 2008.

The Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards program began in 1991. Its purpose is to provide incentives for aviation maintenance technicians to participate actively in initial and recurrent training programs, either on their own or in programs subsidized by their employer.

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