The American charter airline New Pacific Airlines (formerly Northern Pacific Airways) abruptly ended all its operations, a little more than two years after launching regular flights in July 2023.
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The decision marks the end of a brief and turbulent trajectory for the Alaska-based startup, which attempted several strategies to remain competitive in the aviation sector.
According to an internal memo sent to Aerospace Global News, CEO Ton Hsieh informed employees that he was announcing the shutdown “with a heavy heart”.
“Unfortunately, we are not in a position to continue financing the losses in our company”, Hsieh said. “I am extremely proud of all of you and everything we achieved as New Pacific / Ravn Alaska.”
Founded in 2021, the company sought to develop a transit hub model in Anchorage for routes between Asia and North America, inspired by connection operations used by major global carriers. However, the project never reached the volume needed to ensure financial sustainability.
From regular flights to charters — and a name change along the way
In an attempt to survive, New Pacific abandoned regular flights in favor of charter operations, revamped its business strategy, and even changed its name after a legal dispute involving trademarks. Even so, the adjustments were not enough to reverse the crisis.
In early November, the airline seemed to see a light at the end of the tunnel: it reached an agreement with the Maldivian airline Beond, which planned to launch operations in the United States using New Pacific aircraft in an all-business-class configuration. The company’s Boeing 757-200 aircraft also had reasonable demand for sports flights. But the agreement was not enough to affect its financial situation in time.
Aircraft already sent to the Mojave Desert
Two of the three Boeing 757 in the fleet have already been transferred for storage in the Mojave Desert, a common destination for aircraft withdrawn from service. The last aircraft is expected to follow the same path, according to internal reports.
The shutdown sours Thanksgiving for dozens of employees
While millions of Americans gather for the traditional turkey dinner with family, many former New Pacific employees face the uncertainty of not knowing when they will receive their next paycheck.
For the general public, the impact of the shutdown will be limited — the airline had a modest market share and mainly served sports teams and specific contracts. However, for those who worked at the company, the sudden end represents a hard blow, especially on Thanksgiving Day.
Source and images: aerospaceglobalnews | scramble | New Pacific Airlines. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
