At a June 13 Seattle-Tacoma International event, Easy Flying spoke to Nathaniel “Nat” Pieper, Senior Vice President of Fleet, Finance, and Alliances at Alaska Airlines. We discussed Alaska Airlines’ status with the Boeing 737 MAX, the Embraer 175 fleet transition and more.
Introducing Vice President Nat Pieper
Nat Pieper began with former Northwest Airlines on the funds side and as Vice President of Alliances. As Northwest Airlines’ Vice President for Alliances, Pieper coordinated Northwest’s three way partnership with KLM and was Vice Chairman of the Skyteam global alliance.
Photo: Ceri Breeze / Shutterstock
Pieper then flowed through to Delta Air Lines, where he was Vice President of Fleet Strategy and Transactions. He not only managed Delta’s 1,300 aircraft but additionally helped negotiate and manage at least eight purchase orders. Pieper was also Senior Vice President for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, thereby managing Delta’s business activities in those parts of the globe.
Pieper concluded his time at Delta Air Lines as Senior Vice President of Global Alliances, working on transatlantic joint ventures with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic. Moreover, Pieper was on the Virgin Atlantic Board of Directors from July 2015 – July 2017.
After taking some time without work to do consulting, Pieper landed at Alaska Airlines in August 2019. Ever since, Pieper’s voice has featured within the airline’s earnings calls as he manages alliances, funds, and fleet for Alaska Airlines.
On the Boeing 737 MAX
Easy Flying asked Pieper if he was completely satisfied with the MAX thus far. He told us,
“The MAX is healthier for us. I feel the fuel efficiency is incredible. It replaced the A320s that we took on with the Virgin America merger, and it’s 20 to 25% more fuel efficient per seat than the A320. So, economics had been implausible on it. Our guests like it. It is a quieter airplane, with higher cabin humidity, so it’s just been a terrific experience.”
Boeing hasn’t had the best time with deliveries, but has been working hard to get the MAX out to customers at an increasingly fast pace. For Pieper, it’s working well, as he shared,
“I feel from a delivery perspective, we’re completely satisfied. We got 37 airplanes at year-end 22 and we’re on the right track to take 34-35 more units this yr. Our total order book is 146 airplanes, firm airplanes to be delivered through 2027, and we couldn’t be more excited. We’re really pleased with Boeing, we’re pleased with the airplane and driving right into a Boeing single fleet is strategically very vital to Alaska’s success in the approaching years.”
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Easy Flying
On the transition to Embraer E175
Alaska took the choice to retire the last of its Dash 8 Q400 turboprops at first of this yr, transitioning its regional fleet to an all-E175 operation. We asked Pieper how that is going for him, to which he told us,
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Easy Flying
Moving to a single fleet type
Since its integration with Virgin America, Alaska Airlines had been flying each the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. But Airbus was never a part of the plan, and in January this yr, the airline retired its last A320s from service, sundowning the ultimate reminder of the Virgin America fleet. Pieper believes that a single fleet type will set Alaska in good stead to deliver higher guest experiences and price savings that strengthen the airline’s business case.
“We’re specializing in a single fleet since it enables us to run one of the best operation for our guests. It enables us to generate extraordinary financial results, which is sweet for our shareholders, and our crews love the Boeing airplanes we buy. Ultimately, if an organization could be super responsive and please their teammates, employees, their guests, and their shareholders, that is a winning hand; for Alaska, single fleet is the trail for that.”
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