(upbeat music) >> Hey, welcome back everybody, Jeff Frick here with theCube. We're at San Francisco International Gate 54B, at the Alaska Elevated Experience Event. It's pretty exciting, they're really used the opportunity on the Virgin integration, to kind of rebrand everything. Redo the planes, add a lot of new technology, and we're really happy to have our next guest , she's Annabel Chang, she's the vice president of the Bay area for Alaska. Annabelle great seeing you. >> Thank you for having me. >> So congratulations on the event,-- >> Yes. >> I'm sure there's a lot of work that went into this thing. >> Just to say the least, yes. >> So in your remarks during the pressor you spent a lot of time talking about the community involvement >> Yes >> I think you said that you guys invested over a million dollars in kind of local community >> Yes >> Types of activity. So highlight a couple of those organizations and why is it important for Alaska to play in the community that has nothing to do with me getting on an airplane and flying to Seatag. >> Ah, well it actually has everything to do with that. For example, last year we partnered up with the San Jose Mayor's office and the San Jose Public Library Foundation to offer the first ever free coding camp for girls. It was a week long coding camp. Parents didn't have to worry about providing breakfast or lunch. We had it all taken care of. Why does it matter to Alaska Airlines? We also need engineers to help create the apps, to help run the planes and it is super important that we have a diverse workforce that represents our community. Whether we fly and all of the focus that are onboard, as well. >> Right, so that's pretty interesting. Cause I don't think most people would think of you doing that, right? That's a little bit outside the seat mile, kind of calculation and really investing in the community. >> Yes >> A lot of conversation too about the investment in this terminal. You guys are at all 3 Bay Area airports thank you very much. I like to be able to hop on a plane if I'm delayed. >> Yeah >> But you guys are making a big investment here at SFO. >> Yes, so actually I will add a couple of things. We actually are at 6 Northern California airports. So in addition to our big Bay Area airports, we have flights out of Santa Rosa, right into wine country, Monterey and Sacramento. >> Flights out of Santa Rosa? >> Yes. You can bring that wine right onboard. Not, not a problem. Which is really exciting. But last week we just announced that we are going to be opening up a San Francisco lounge. 8500 sq ft. in 2020 on the third floor. You'll have stunning views of the runway. It'll be like nothing else. It'll be the highest domestic lounge at SFO. >> Right. I was wondering if you could just talk about, a little bit about, thinking about the entire customer experience. I had really interesting interview at GE Aviation. >> Yes >> Years ago, where even GE was thinking about kind from the time you leave your door at your house to the arrive at your destination, and all kind of that whole experience between. When you guys talk about lounges, and terminals, and gates, you really are trying to take a much more wholistic view then simply the travel of actual miles in the air. >> 100 percent. It is all about the guest experience. We are trying to be your favorite airline. And we have to earn that loyalty. So from the moment that you are thinking about booking the flight, we already want that to be as easy of a process as possible. From the moment that you deplane and get your bags. And hopefully, we are always looking for ways to be innovative. So, you know many years ago, Alaska Airlines was the first ever to have the kiosks and mobile check-in. And we continue to look for ways to be top in the field. And actually in flight, I'm proud to share that we have the most free movies in the sky, of any airlines. All I tend to watch a few of the same movies over and over again But literally you could scroll, scroll, scroll. It goes from A to Z. Most people kind of get stuck in like the Gs. >> They don't make it past the Gs. >> Yeah, but I promise there's some goodies in the back of the alphabet. >> Right, to just kind of close. You know you talk about WiFi, and you talked about movies, about kind of the role of technology and how Alaska continues to be innovative, leveraging technology with that, with the lounge, with the new C configurations. >> Yeah >> How important to you guys to be able to execute your vision. >> So we want to be your top west coast airline. And the west coast is obviously the tech hub of the entire world. So we know that our travelers care very much about technology. So we're looking ways creative, to make sure that everyone has power. As I always say ABC, always be charging. >> Right, right. >> So we want to make sure your tablets, your phone, your laptop is always available to charge. And we are looking for ways to be creative. So, for example, we know that everyone has personal mobile phones or laptops now. And we're looking for ways to make sure we can take advantage of that technology and offer it to you. >> Right. >> I know, number 1, fast WiFi is going to be key to our success. >> Well Annabel, thanks for taking a few minutes. We look forward to getting on the plane here >> Yeah. >> In a few minutes and >> We're going to have some ice cream aren't we. >> Oh we're going to have ice cream? Yes >> Salt and straw, you don't have to wait in line hopefully. >> Yeah, thank you. >> She's Annabel, I'm Jeff >> Thank you. >> You're watching theCube, we're here at SFO, Gate 54B. Soon we'll be at 35,000 feet. Thanks for watching. >> Awesome >> Catch you next time >> (upbeat music)

(upbeat music) >> Hey welcome back, Jeff Rick here with theCUBE. We're in San Francisco International, actually at gate 54B if you're trying to to track us down. It's the Alaska Airlines improved flight experience launch event. A lot of vendors here, they're rebranding their planes, they've rebranded all the Virgin Airbus planes, and they've taken that opportunity to add a lot of new innovations. So we're excited to be here, to talk to some of the people participating, and our first guest. It's Rene Donkworth, he is the general manager of Aircraft Seating America's for Recaro. Rene, great to see you. >> Thank you, great to be here. >> So I've seen a lot of people are familiar with the Recaro seats, we think of them as racing seats or, you know, upgrading our cars when we were kids, everybody wanted a Recaro seat. I had no idea you guys played such a major role in aviation. >> Absolutely. And we are since the early 70s already in the aircraft seating business, and really a major player, a global player in this business and you know it's a very long term experience and people are often flying and they're sitting on an aircraft and to be comfortable in traveling is very important and it's our mission. >> Right, it's funny because people probably usually don't think of the seat specifically until they're uncomfortable or, you know, they're in it. But you've got a lot of technology and a lot of innovation in the past but also some of these new seats that you're showing here today. >> Right. So we are showing the seat for first class here that we have displayed for Alaska Airlines, and we developed together in a very intensive process, a lot of thing on the seat here. We have a memory foam cushion with netting, a six way head rest which overall comes to a very comfortable seating experience for the passenger, and that's really one step ahead of other products, and we went through a very intensive process with Alaska and we are proud to present it and to see the roll out now because it's exciting. If you've worked all the time on such a project to see it's flying now. >> So there's a couple components to this seat, right? There's obviously the safety, its' got to stay bolted on, but you've got kind of this limited ergonomic space in terms of what the pitch is from one seat to the other. What are some of the unique challenges there and what are some of the things you guys have done to operate, you know, in kind of a restrained space? >> Of course it's always to optimize everything with the given conditions that you have. But really looking into the small details. Reduced pressure points on the body, we are using kind of pressure mapping methods to develop that together with the customer, looking into a cushy experience for the passenger, optimizing it so that you have really kinds of luxury feeling on the seat. But in addition it's also important to look into solutions like content. How is content provided and what kind of tablet integration is there, so we have very smart solutions there that we are showing today with the right viewing angles there's the right power, the high power USB which support the power, so the overall package needs to be optimized, and that's what we are working with. >> And that's where I was going to go next, is when you're sitting there for 2 hours, 5 hours, 10 hours now we're talking about 20 hour flights, right, some of these crazy ones, people are doing things in their seat. They're not just sitting, as you said. They want power, they want connectivity, they want to watch their movie on their laptop or their tablet or their phone. So you guys have really incorporated kind of that next gen entertainment experience into this new seat. >> Right. So as I explained, there is a lot about tablet integration, not only for the first class as well also for the economy class that you can see today that you can experience. But there's also a lot about stowage in total. You know, stowage is always a big topic. Where do you stow your belongings? And there you will also see here smart solutions, lots of stowage options. For example also on the coach class seat you can use the tablet, you have the right viewing angle. In addition you can fold or unfold the table, you can use the stowages, so everything is really optimized in the details. >> And this is a huge kind of change in thought process when you think of the entertainment world, right, where it used to be you have a projector TV and then they put individual seat screens, but the airlines woke up and figured out everyone's already packing their screen of choice so how do we support that experience versus putting our own screen on that seat. >> Yeah, that's where we are going, and if you look into today's passengers almost everybody has his own tablet or iPhone or whatever with him, so it's important to be able to stow everything, to connect every kind of device, to have the power. But I think then the content is really important to be provided. The integrated solutions are not so important anymore. >> Right, well Rene congratulations and enjoy the flight and seeing all your hard work up in the air. >> Thank you very much. >> Alright, he's Rene, I'm Jeff, we're at the San Fransisco International Gate 54B at the Alaska Airlines Elevated Flight Experience. Thanks for watching.