Northern Pacific delays inaugural, battles certification challenges

Northern Pacific’s first flight will have to wait a couple more weeks. The carrier’s planned operations between Ontario, California and Las Vegas will now launch on 23 June 2023.

The company cited “unforeseen regulatory scheduling delays beyond our control” in explaining the delays. While there is no doubt that the scheduling of tests and inspections of the aircraft and operations comes with challenges, there are also indications that at least part of the challenge for Northern Pacific comes from missing a step along the way.

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The company further disclosed to PaxEx.Aero that “some [regulatory] components have a feedback loop,” implying that changes are required from the prior iteration in order to move forward. One rumor circulating suggests the issue was tied to evacuation testing of the aircraft; Northern Pacific declined to confirm exactly where the challenges were experienced.

Based on the relatively short delay in launching operations it appears the outstanding issues have been addressed but still require testing to confirm.

The certification-related challenges also reflect that Northern Pacific will launch operations with its own aircraft, not a wet-lease. The latter was planned for long-haul operations as a result of Russian airspace closure and other operational certificate issues. Running its own planes between Las Vegas and Southern California helps solve at least some of those problems.

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And, of course, getting the safety bits right is far more important than launching on a specific date, even with the inconvenience to everyone planning around the inaugural.

More on Northern Pacific's long and winding road to operations

• Ravn Alaska plans international expansion, 757 acquisition, Anchorage hub
• Ravn Alaska registers Northern Pacific name for transpacific LCC operations
• Northern Pacific snags six 757s for Asia service
• Northern Pacific unveils aircraft, addresses service launch challenges
• Streaming IFE, softer seats feature on Northern Pacific’s new interiors
• Northern Pacific to lease aircraft for service launch
• Northern Pacific seeks public investors
• Northern Pacific visits Saipan in search of partners
• Northern Pacific finally set to fly, just not across the Pacific yet
• Northern Pacific delays inaugural, battles certification challenges