Alaska Air Group has reorganized its leadership structure to split the president and COO roles, which CEO Brad Tilden said has become necessary as the carrier has doubled in size over the past five years. Ben Minicucci, who has been president and COO since 2016 and led the Alaska Airlines-Virgin America merger, now is acting the group's president, bearing responsibility for its strategy in areas including network, sales, revenue management, marketing and safety. Gary Beck, who has been president and CEO of the group's regional subsidiary Horizon Air, is taking up the COO mantle and will oversee the group's daily operations. Joe Sprague, who previously was Alaska's SVP of external relations until his retirement in 2017, is returning to the group as president of Horizon.