10 Alaska Airlines engineering leaders
Vice president of maintenance and engineering, managing director of fleet engineering and director of software engineering are among the current titles held by these ten Alaska Airlines engineering leaders. A reader can learn how engineering leaders work at Alaska Airlines from people who have held the role.
Professionals to explore
Brian Gentz
LinkedInExperience: Managing Director Project Engineering · Alaska Airlines
Brian Gentz has been Managing Director Project Engineering at Alaska Airlines since June 2026. Brian Gentz was Senior Director Technical Services at Spirit Airlines from 2025 to 2026 and Senior Director Aircraft Engineering there from 2021 to 2025, and the profile describes an engineering, project management and business background.
Brian McHugh
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering Programs · Alaska Airlines
Brian McHugh has been Director of Engineering Programs at Alaska Airlines since April 2026. Brian McHugh was Value Stream Leader - Tech Ops Solutions and Data Analytics at Collins Aerospace from 2022 to 2026, Sr. Manager, Fleet and Reliability at Allegiant from 2019 to 2022 and Technical Fleet Manager - B757, MD80 and A320 Fleet there from 2016 to 2019.
Charles Ostick
LinkedInExperience: Director, Flight Operations Technology and Engineering · Alaska Airlines
Charles Ostick has been Director, Flight Operations Technology and Engineering at Alaska Airlines since September 2025 and has held the Manager, Flight Operations Engineering role there since April 2023. Charles Ostick was a Flight Operations Engineer at Alaska Airlines from 2008 to 2023 and a Software Development Engineer at Amazon from 2000 to 2004.
Drew Hanft
LinkedInExperience: director of Data Engineering · Alaska Airlines
Drew Hanft has been director of Data Engineering at Alaska Airlines since August 2026 and was Director, Data Engineering & Enterprise Data Products at T-Mobile from 2017 to 2026. The profile says Drew Hanft leads enterprise data platform and data product organizations at scale, and the headline lists lakehouse, semantic layer and AI-ready data foundations.
Jacki Varela
LinkedInExperience: Managing Director ITS Software Engineering · Alaska Airlines
Jacki Varela has been Managing Director ITS Software Engineering at Alaska Airlines since January 2024 and has held the Director of Product Management role there since March 2021. Jacki Varela was Director of Software Engineering at Alaska Airlines from 2017 to 2021 and Manager IT Applications Development there from 2014 to 2017.
Jaclyn Bartol
LinkedInExperience: Director Fleet Engineering · Alaska Airlines
Jaclyn Bartol has been Director Fleet Engineering at Alaska Airlines since January 2022, based in Seattle. The profile headline and the About section both read Director Cabin Systems, Interiors, Project Engineering at Alaska Airlines, and Director Fleet Engineering is the only role in the listed work history.
John Wiitala
LinkedInExperience: VP Maintenance and Engineering · Alaska Airlines
John Wiitala is VP Maintenance and Engineering at Alaska Airlines, a role the profile lists as current, based in Seattle, Washington. The profile headline and the About section both read VP Maintenance and Engineering at Alaska Airlines, and the profile lists the role without a start date.
Matt Hahnfeld
LinkedInExperience: Director of Software Engineering · Alaska Airlines
Matt Hahnfeld has been Director of Software Engineering at Alaska Airlines since August 2025 and was Senior Manager, Software Engineering, e-Commerce there from 2022 to 2025. Matt Hahnfeld was Manager, Software Engineering, e-Commerce at Alaska Airlines from 2016 to 2022 and Manager, Enterprise Digital Development at Spectrum Health from 2013 to 2016.
Ryan Dantis
LinkedInExperience: Managing Director - Fleet Engineering · Alaska Airlines
Ryan Dantis has been Managing Director - Fleet Engineering at Alaska Airlines since December 2025, based in Seattle. Ryan Dantis was Vice President - Technical Operations at JSX from 2024 to 2025, Director of Aircraft Engineering at Allegiant from 2021 to 2024 and Manager of Powerplant Engineering there from 2018 to 2021.
Tim C.
LinkedInExperience: Director of Service Engineering · Alaska Airlines
Tim C. has been Director of Service Engineering at Alaska Airlines since August 2022, based in Seattle. The profile says Tim C. began a career in Boeing's 787 test labs, designing and testing the Flight Controls and Avionics systems on the 787 in the lab and during flight testing.
Choose the right perspective
Pick the person whose engineering area is closest to your question, since maintenance, fleet, project, service, flight operations, software and data engineering leaders each work on different problems. Check when each person started the current role to judge how recent the experience is.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01What did you focus on first when you took on your current engineering leadership role?
- 02How do you decide which fleet or system changes to take on first?
- 03What has your own work taught you about building software that pilots, crews and guests rely on every day?
Reaching Alaska Airlines engineering leaders
How can I contact one of these Alaska Airlines engineering leaders?
Pick one of the 10 people on this page and choose "Book a paid call", or describe your project to find others. You offer a fee for a 15-minute call or a written answer, Instant Expert finds the person's work email and sends the invitation, and they decide whether to accept. The list covers 1 company: Alaska Airlines, based on profile data retrieved on October 20, 2026. Being listed here doesn't mean someone has agreed to take calls.
How much does it cost to reach Alaska Airlines engineering leaders?
You choose the offer, starting at $5 per person. The offer is what the person receives, and Instant Expert's fee is added on top, so a $100 offer costs you $125. The fee is 20% of what you pay. You're charged only when the person books the call or sends the answer.
What if they don't reply?
You pay nothing. Instant Expert sends follow-up reminders, and if the person hasn't booked or answered within 7 days, the request expires and any hold on your card is released. You can invite several of the 10 people on this list at once and cap your total spend, so you pay only for the ones who accept.
Can an AI agent ask one of these Alaska Airlines engineering leaders a question?
Yes. An agent with a USDC wallet on Base can ask one question without an Instant Expert account. It names the person, for example by the LinkedIn URL on this page, and pays per ask over x402 (HTTP 402). The person answers in writing or by voice note, and if nobody answers within 7 days, the payment goes back to the wallet automatically. Claude and ChatGPT can do the same through the Instant Expert connector: setup is at /docs/mcp for Claude and /docs/chatgpt for ChatGPT. x402 docs
About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot; roles marked former had ended by then. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.
Request a correction or removal