HONOLULU – Jun. 28, 2007 - Hawaiian Airlines announced today the appointment of Rick Peterson as vice president of marketing and sales.
Peterson previously served as Hawaiian's vice president of e-commerce since March 2006. He has led the development of the airline's successful online marketing program for the past decade, including a series of innovative program enhancements for its frequent flyer program, HawaiianMiles.
Under Peterson's direction, Hawaiian unveiled a new website at HawaiianAirlines.com in March featuring the airline industry's first vacation planning tool and dollar-mile toggle showing the cost of flights in dollars or frequent flyer miles in a single booking path.
Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian's president and CEO, commented, “Rick has done a stellar job of keeping Hawaiian at the forefront of online business development and we feel his leadership and spirit of ingenuity is an ideal fit to oversee our entire marketing program.”
Peterson joined the company in 1987 as director of financial analysis. In 1994, he took on the task of marketing HawaiianMiles and then established Hawaiian's e-business unit two years later. More recently, he led the integration of Hawaiian's data marketing, Internet marketing and HawaiianMiles into a single e-business unit that has significantly increased revenues for the airline each year.
A native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Peterson graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business technology before joining the US Marine Corps. He came to Hawaii in 1971 following a tour in Vietnam as a combat helicopter pilot.
Peterson is a board member of Hawaii Public Radio. He and his wife Lynne have been married for 36 years. She is a third-grade teacher at Aikahi Elementary School in Kailua.
About Hawaiian Airlines
The nation's top-ranked airline for service in the 2007 Airline Quality Ratings, Hawaiian also led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for 2004, 2005 and 2006 (including a record 36 consecutive months from November 2003 to October 2006,) and in fewest misplaced bags for 2005 and 2006, as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, and Zagat all rank Hawaiian as the top domestic airline serving Hawaii.
Now in its 78th year of continuous service in Hawaii, Hawaiian is the state's biggest and longest-serving airline, as well as the second largest provider of passenger air service between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities than any other airline (nine), as well as service to Australia, American Samoa and Tahiti. Hawaiian also provides approximately 100 daily jet flights among the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (AMEX: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com.