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Browsing Tag: Northern Pacific Airways

The livery series: Northern Pacific Airways

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Northern Pacific’s fresh livery on it’s first 757-200 at the recent rollout event in San Bernardino, Calif.

AvGeeks loooooove liveries. An interesting livery is one of the main reasons we go planespotting – we head to the airport to see either a particular type of aircraft, or to see that aircraft wearing a special or unusual livery.

A lot of time, effort, deliberation, and money go into designing those liveries, both the special ones and the mainline designs. A new multi-part series takes a look at how those liveries are designed. Last time, we looked at Icelandair’s branding and livery refresh. Today, we’ll take a look at Northern Pacific Airways‘ mainline livery.

Edmond Huot, Northern Pacific Airways’ chief creative officer and airline designer, explained that “We were given a clean slate to design the livery, the collateral, and the name. I was given a lot of latitude, for sure, and that is the exception to the rule as projects typically come with a framework and the client might be more hands on.”

For the name of the new airline, Huot said he wanted a name that “had an inherent story to it, and I didn’t want a trendy name.”

“Northern was the first name we came up with, but the legal team came back and said we can’t do northern,” so the name eventually morphed into Northern Pacific Airways.

“The stress for me, in the world of airline design, is that you only get one or two kicks at the can, so I already knew up front we had to nail it – I did a lot of research into the factors that would influence the brand – people, regions, etc.

Naming projects are usually very tricky, and that’s when the pressure started. We actually came up with the idea on a plane flying back from a meeting with a different client.”

He continued that “The idea was to come up with a name that wasn’t typical of a LCC (low-cost carrier).”

Northern Pacific Airways Unveils Livery, High Hopes for Its Future at Southern California Event

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Northern Pacific’s fresh livery on its first 757-200 at SBD

Planning to connect cities in the United States to Japan and Korea via its hub at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, a la Icelandair’s routes to Europe via Reykjavik, Northern Pacific Airways (NPA) rolled out their first painted 757-200 at an extravagant event at southern California’s San Bernardino International Airport (SBD).

The airline is aiming to launch service later in 2022, although that may slip to 2023 due to the complexities of starting an international route system.

Founded in 2021 by Rob McKinney and Tom Hsieh, Northern Pacific has already purchased six Boeing 757-200 airliners, and their first one has been painted and is completing its C-check at Certified Aviation Services at SBD. The three-class interior (business, economy plus, and economy) has not yet been installed. The airline is a subsidiary of FLOAT Alaska, which also owns regional carrier Ravn Alaska.

The interiors will be of the three-class variety typical of LCCs: business, premium economy, and economy.

We sat down with NPA’s CEO Rob McKinney for a quick interview before the unveiling.

Asked why they opted for Boeing 757s, which are getting long in the tooth (Boeing stopped production in 2004), McKinney said “it can do the mission we need out of the gate,” especially as the Airbus A321XLR is not available yet.