Plane crash kills former Alaska Air chairman
SEATTLE – Former Alaska Airlines Chief Executive Bruce R. Kennedy, who led the company’s expansion as an international carrier before stepping down in 1991 to pursue humanitarian interests, was killed when his single-engine plane crashed into a high-school parking lot in central Washington, his wife said Friday.
“We have every reason to believe the plane was Bruce’s Cessna 182,” his wife, Karleen Kennedy, of Burien, said in a statement released by the airline.
“While we are deeply saddened by the loss of someone we love and admire so much, we rejoice in the knowledge that Bruce is united with his Lord Jesus and take comfort in the fact that he died doing something he loved.”
The single-engine Cessna 182 crashed while trying to land in Cashmere, near Wenatchee, about 7 p.m. Thursday, and the pilot was dead at the scene, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said Friday. The plane hit a parked flatbed truck and tree before coming to a stop a few feet from a house, then caught fire.
Kennedy was on his way from Hot Springs, Mont., to visit his grandchildren in Wenatchee.
Kennedy, 68, served as Alaska Air’s chairman and CEO from 1979 to 1991, and continued to serve on the company’s board of directors until his death. He is credited with expanding Alaska’s routes in the Western United States and to Mexico, and with developing Alaska’s Horizon Air subsidiary. Under his leadership, annual revenue rose from $234.5 million in 1982 to $1.1 billion in 1991.
Kennedy served on the boards of several Christian organizations, including Crista Ministries of Shoreline, Wash., and the Idaho-based Mission Aviation Fellowship.
At the time of his death, he served as the chairman of the board for Quest Aircraft Co. of Sandpoint, which makes planes for humanitarian routes in remote and conflicted parts of the world.
“Bruce was a great visionary and a great human being,” said Quest chief executive Paul Schaller. “His inspiration and dedication to Quest will be greatly missed.”
Alaska Air Group CEO Bill Ayer said, “Bruce’s legacy extends far beyond his storied leadership of this airline. In his 12 years as chairman and CEO, he led Alaska on a path of significant expansion and financial stability while maintaining a strong culture of resourcefulness and integrity.”
Kennedy was born in Denver in 1938, and moved with his family to Alaska when he was a teenager.
He graduated from the University of Alaska and married Karleen during his U.S. Army tour as an artillery officer in Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
He was awarded honorary degrees from Seattle Pacific University and University of Alaska, and Seattle’s Museum of Flight honored him last year with its Pathfinder Award in recognition of a professional life dedicated to aviation.
Kennedy is survived by his wife; two children, Kevin Kennedy and Karin Hejmanowski; and two grandchildren.