New Pacific (née Northern Pacific) launched with grand plans to connect the Lower 48 with Asia on a fleet of refurbished 757s, via a smooth connection in Anchorage. Alas, geopolitics and other challenges got in the way. But the carrier pushed forward, launching scheduled commercial flights from Ontario, CA in July 2023 with a domestic focus.
The route map shifted, with Nashville added and then Las Vegas replaced by Reno. The latter was recently cut, with loads failing to top 30%. Nashville flights are ending on 5 April.
The company found more lucrative opportunities in the charter world during the college football bowl season, and now again during March Madness. All of which is to say that booking a seat on board is is becoming more difficult, at least for scheduled services.
But if you do happen to book a flight on board, here’s what to expect.
Booking my New Pacific flight
I initially booked an economy class seat, paying $69 for the carrier’s “Basic” option. I was going to take my chances on a lightly loaded flight and hope the auto-assigned seat worked in my favor. The seat selection page in the booking flow allows for easy switching between the fare families, regardless of which is selected on the prior screen. Simply pick a seat in first class and the incremental fare difference is added.
A week after I booked, however, fares dropped, including a 50% cut on first class seats. At just $149 (or $20/hour for the upgrade) the opportunity to fly in first class beckoned. And thanks to the carrier’s fee-free changes policy, even on basic fares, I was able to make that happen. It did require canceling the original booking and making a new one with the credit rather than a change, but things worked out.
The online check-in process worked well, with an email and SMS link provided to a digital boarding pass.
And, despite the carrier’s relatively loose relationship with on-time performance my trip started boarding as expected. Alas, the hour delay we took once on board was less great. At least I had more space up front while we waited.
New Pacific’s in-flight experience
As alluded in the headline, I’m still debating whether it was a low cost experience on board or a cheap one. I generally lean toward the latter. But, first, the good bits.
Wi-Fi on board is free for everyone. Not only that, but the flight attendants were happy – one might even say aggressive – about helping passengers get connected. And that help was needed, as the capture portal did not cooperate well with the QR codes on board.
Indeed, the crew were a bright spot for the trip. They were friendly and engaged throughout the trip. They recognized some of the passengers who had traveled to Nashville on the prior flight and were quickly chatting, catching up on the weekend activities.
They also made light of the out-of-service water system in the lavs, joking that if passengers messed with the system en route the crew would turn off the Wi-Fi as punishment. At least I think it was a joke.
As for the inflight internet service, network performance was less than stellar. Basic browsing and social media was generally fine, but nothing more than that. I’m assuming that has more to do with the capacity plan New Pacific purchased than anything else. And the on-board USB-A and USB-C outlets worked as expected.
Rear more: Streaming IFE, softer seats feature on Northern Pacific’s new interiors
The seats are refreshed on board, and they’re reasonably comfortable. I’m not sure I’d want to be in them for a pair of eight hour flights to Japan or Korea, but they’re better than the old seats they replaced and more than sufficient for a domestic hop.
The overhead bins were not updated with the refresh (indeed, some AA branding remains inside), but that’s less of a concern until load factors rise to the level that bags no longer fit.
Alas, that’s where the good news runs out.
Catering was terrible
The fare family descriptions call out “gourmet in-flight meals and premium drinks” for first class passengers. The economy preferred (extra legroom) fare offers two alcoholic drinks for passengers. Which I suppose the company could deliver if it had a liquor license. It does not. The company tries to disclaim the offer with a note about specific route and aircraft used. But, in reality, it knows it cannot deliver the advertised product.
As for the “gourmet in-flight meal” on offer, it was a two-bite toasted sandwich. And it looked terrible. I saw it served to the row ahead of me and, even knowing I should take a taste for the review, just couldn’t.
Instead, I had what I assume was the best meal on the plane, the BBQ I purchased in the terminal before boarding.
I highly recommend you also bring your own food on board.
Upon landing I chatted up a few of the other travelers. A few of them were commuting back and forth between California and Tennessee as they were moving. Others went for a weekend getaway. Clearly it is possible to induce demand with low fares. But almost anyone can lose money running an airline.
Total load was 102 seats filled on my flight, including 14/16 in the front. At least five other first class passengers also only paid $149 for their seats. Just prior to check-in opening only about 40 seats were assigned, suggesting 60ish were on basic economy fares. Even if some of them paid closer to the $69 basic fare than the $49 one, it is hard to see the carrier generating enough revenue to cover even just the fuel for the trip. And there aren’t enough ancillary revenue options to make up the difference that way.
In the end I got where I was going, and within a couple hours of the scheduled time. Given the operating history that’s a pretty big win. The seats are on par with or better than other options, and the crew was great.
If I actually needed to move between Ontario and Nashville, and if the carrier is going to keep operating the route, and if I can get seats cheap, I suppose I’d keep buying the tickets, even if the on-board experience does feel much cheaper than the company pitches. That is obviously a lot of “ifs” to deal with.
But with nothing loaded for sale after next week it is also something of a moot point.
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NedsKid says
They don’t have liquor license? They served alcohol on the inaugural flight from BNA at least… I was in First (our meal was a very large fruit/cheese/meat platter). Their CEO sat across the aisle and drank at least a bottle of wine.
Seth Miller says
That’s what I was told by way of declining my request for an alcoholic drink during the flight. Maybe they have one but just chose to be cheap and not serve booze anymore. But that’s what I was told.
Jay says
You didn’t mention that, they give out free Pepsi product drinks, chips and granola bars for the entire plane. For a low cost airline that’s unheard of in the states, as well as free internet. I feel you were too harsh on the company.
Seth Miller says
In that I didn’t fly this trip in economy class I didn’t review the economy class product. They also offer free carry-on and checked bags on most fares, which is not LCC territory. But they pitched themselves as a low cost player in the market, so I work with what I’ve got.
And, while the wifi was complimentary, it wasn’t particularly good service. Which I did explicitly note in the review.
Reed says
This airline will fail.
Seth Miller says
They’ve already killed off their scheduled services, switching to charters only. Maybe that changes again if the Asia stuff becomes viable. But it basically is dead now.
Danielle says
Please be advised. There planes have constant major mechanical issues. Last why they lost the LAS route too many ground stop delays.
Heidi says
Yes, they’ve had many mechanical issues, but that’s not the reason they pulled out of LAS.