Alaska Air Group announced that Diana Birkett Rakow, senior vice president of public affairs and sustainability at Alaska Airlines, will become CEO of Hawaiian Airlines effective Oct. 29, succeeding Joe Sprague, who will retire after a long career at Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air and Hawaiian Airlines.

Birkett Rakow will be based in Honolulu, the company’s second-largest hub after Seattle, and, said the announcement, will be responsible for the long-term performance and advancement of the Hawaiian Airlines brand and Alaska Air Group’s business in Hawaii.

During her eight years at Alaska, said the announcement, Birkett Rakow has led the company’s sustainability and corporate impact efforts, government affairs, communications, community and cultural relations, sales and customer engagement in Hawaii and Alaska; and the airline’s venture investment arm, Alaska Star Ventures. Over the last year, she has also served on the board of Hawaiian Airlines. Prior to joining Alaska, she held senior executive roles at Group Health and Kaiser Permanente, and earlier in her career was a health policy advisor for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

Over the last year, said the announcement, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines teams have worked together to build and execute the plan to become a single mainline operating carrier under a single operating certificate (SOC) from the FAA, which is anticipated later this fall.