Alaska Airlines Names Bay Area Vice President

May 10, 2017

Alaska Air Group's board of directors named Annabel R. Chang vice president, Bay Area. In this new position, Chang will shape and execute Alaska Airlines' strategic external relations, local government advocacy and community relations efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area, building upon the success Virgin America has achieved in the last nine years. She will also provide local support and insight for the company's sales and marketing efforts in the Bay Area.

"We are delighted to have someone of Annabel's caliber leading Alaska Airlines efforts as we continue creating an airline that our Bay Area guests love," said Joe Sprague, Alaska's senior vice president of external relations. "As a Bay Area resident, with proven expertise in building local relationships, she will help us develop strong connections within the community."

Chang will start in June and will be based at Virgin America's office located in Burlingame, California, where she will work closely with Ben Minicucci, chief operating officer and president of Alaska Airlines and chief executive officer of Virgin America, and Peter Hunt, president of Virgin America.

Chang joins Alaska Airlines from Lyft, where she is the director of public policy and oversees state and local political efforts in Lyft's Western U.S. markets. Before joining Lyft in 2014, Chang was a prosecuting attorney for the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and was a litigation attorney at one of San Francisco's largest firms, Morrison & Foerster. Prior to practicing law, she worked as a legislative staffer for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in Washington, D.C.

Chang holds a juris doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Chang sits on UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies National Advisory Council. In 2016, Chang was recognized as a "Top 40 under 40" of Asian Pacific Islander political operatives and public affairs professionals by the National Association of Asian Pacifics in Politics and Public Affairs (NAAPPPA).