Flying on an Inaugural: New Pacific Airways Ontario-Nashville

AviationSource was invited to fly on the inaugural New Pacific Airways flight between Ontario and Nashville to experience their domestic product. Find out what we think!

New Pacific Airways started operations earlier in the year, from Ontario, CA to Las Vegas, NV. This was a change to their intended plan of flights to Asia from North America via Anchorage. Currently, these flights are yet to materialise.

The Flight: Ontario to Nashville With New Pacific Airways…

Flight information

• Departure airport: Ontario (ONT/KONT)
• Arrival airport: Nashville (BNA/KBNA)
• Flight number: 7H 701
• Aircraft type: Boeing 757-200
• Registration: N627NP

Check In

Check in at Ontario was abandoned at two hours before the flight. The staff were helpful. It was at this point I received the very welcome news I had been upgraded to First Class.

My boarding pass had been printed for me before I arrived, which was something I hadn’t seen before. 

My bag was quickly checked in and about three minutes after I arrived at the airport I was checked in and headed for security.

Security

On the surface, there appeared to be a long queue for security. However, this queue was actually a holding area to regulate the flow of passengers headed to security.

I was pleasantly surprised how well this system worked. Within about three minutes I was headed up the escalator to the queue for security.

Within five minutes of joining this queue, I was having my ID checked and heading through.

Ontario airport is much the same as quite a few airports I’ve traveled through in the US, where you put your belongings into trays as required before they go to the scanner on the tables that lead up to the scanner, rather than the standard European system of filling trays on a side table, and pushing them onto a belt.

Whilst it wasn’t an issue this time around, I have had experiences of it slowing everyone down, due to the passenger at the front of the queue being slower at emptying their bags into the trays.

Airside

Airside at Ontario is fairly generic. There are many food shops, alongside a technology shop and a couple of mixed souvenir and convenience shops.

As I arrived at the gate, there were two staff members from Ontario airport. They were handing out various freebies to celebrate the launch of the new route.

Additionally, New Pacific had a couple of balloons to celebrate the occasion. 

Unfortunately, there was an IT issue at Ontario Airport, which delayed boarding. However, boarding still started around 20 minutes before departure time.

Getting Onboard in Ontario…

Boarding

Once I got on board, I was greeted by a friendly crew member and headed for my seat. This is where one of the issues with pre-departure came.

Unfortunately, my boarding pass for the upgrade was printed with seat 4B. However, in the aircraft, this seat does not exist. The first class cabin has seats A, C, D and F, due to the 2 + 2 configuration.

Initially, the crew said I could take seat 4C, however, it transpired another passenger was expecting this seat. It’s important to note that this was not the crew member’s fault, as they do not have a seating plan.

He was doing his best to sort the problem that had produced itself, so I have no criticism there. In the end, I sat in 4F, so ultimately it was a happy ending.

No major hassle, but just something to be wary of. This could also be linked to the IT system issues at Ontario, not a direct fault of New Pacific Airways on this inaugural to Nashville. 

Unfortunately, that was not where the issues ended pre-departure. The caterers had arrived at the aircraft late.

Subsequently, the aircraft was being catered after boarding was completed. In total this delayed us around 5 – 10 minutes.

Whilst the catering was being uploaded, my fellow passengers and I were offered drinks. Unfortunately, these never materialised before departure. Fortunately, I had purchased a bottle of water in the terminal, so the drink wasn’t essential to me. This would prove to be a wise choice, which will feature in the article later.

Once the catering had been uploaded, it was then announced by the Captain we had a sensor issue with an access door in the nose wheel gear bay. After around 5 minutes, this was fixed. Due to the issues, we departed approximately 30 minutes late.

The flight deck PA was extremely quiet, and ultimately had to be made twice. This also occurred at least once more during the flight. 

I’m not sure if there is an issue with this aircraft, or just unlucky observation, but the previous day’s Ontario to Las Vegas flight departed almost an hour late, despite a booked 45 minute turn around for the aircraft off the previous sector.

The cabin

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My initial impression of the cabin is the seats are in pristine condition, for such an old jet, with New Pacific Airways showcasing the best on this flight from Ontario to Nashville.

This, of course is unsurprising for an airline who only commenced operations in the last few months. There was some signs of the aircraft’s age, however.

The panels above the passengers were running an almost two tone look of beige and white, with some wear and tear marks thrown in for good measure. 

The seats are reupholstered but otherwise the same as their previous operator, American Airlines, had used. This is not a bad thing at all, and for this flight had plenty of legroom for a flight this length.

Recline was also good, particularly in comparison to other carriers on a similar route. That being said, I don’t know how good it would be for a long haul flight like the carrier plans to operate in the future.

The recliner function on my seat intermittently didn’t lock when I reclined it, but it was not an issue that affected the experience, and I was able to look it in both ends of the recline. 

The bathroom was in immaculate condition, and everything worked as expected and was fully stocked. 

Food

After we were airborne, the cabin service began. Before I discuss the meal, it is worth noting that this is the first flight the airline has ever fully catered for.

This is because their other flights are less than one hour long. 

There was only one meal option. A platter of cheeses, meats and fruits with some biscuits on the side. I’m not entirely sure what the option would have been if you’re vegan, but fortunately I didn’t see any issues with it on this flight. 

It was quite disappointing not to have any options at all, particularly given the competition do have options.

For context, I flew Delta from Nashville to Ontario via Atlanta the day before, also in first class. I had the option to reserve food online before departure, or several options on board if I hadn’t reserved online.

I wouldn’t call pre-ordering essential, however, I do think having two meal options is a good idea.

Despite being their first catered flight, I cannot criticise on presentation.

The food tasted of a good standard. I’d have like to see a bread roll also included to put the meat in, but it’s not a disaster not being there.

I do think that full cutlery would have been a good inclusion on the New Pacific Airways flight from Ontario to Nashville. I found myself having to use my fingers for eating quite a bit of it.

This isn’t something I mind, as none of the food was messy, however, I know it would be a no go for some people.

There was a small wooden fork type instrument included. The biggest issue of this is you could taste the wood on anything you ate with it if you weren’t careful.

The meal came with a drink, however, this was the only drink I was offered throughout the entire flight. Hence my earlier reference to buying water being a good idea.

There was also no other snacks offered. These were also both stark contrasts to other airlines I’d flown with. 

Descent and Arrival

After a smooth two hours flying, we began our descent and arrival into Nashville. By this point, the PA was working at an acceptable volume.

The captain gave us an update on Nashville’s weather conditions and the status of the flight. 

All too soon, we had turned onto approach and landed into Nashville. The landing was smooth and we were soon vacated.

Due to this being an inaugural flight from New Pacific Airways, I had speculated in my mind that there might be a water cannon salute in Nashville for this flight from Ontario.

During the taxi in, two fire trucks and a police car came into view. We held position to give way to a Southwest flight.

Upon resuming our taxi, we went through the water arch before continuing to stand.

One of the flight deck crew members kindly made a PA to the passengers telling them this was about to happen, for those who (understandably) hadn’t noticed the fire trucks in the distance.

After the passengers had disembarked, I had the opportunity to speak to the New Pacific staff some more, who were all extremely friendly.

I also had the opportunity to visit the flight deck, and speak to the equally as friendly pilots from our flight. I certainly have no complaints about the crew’s friendliness. 

Landing in Nashville…

The jet bridge was connected to the aircraft promptly, and deboarding started within a few minutes of reaching the stand, exactly as you’d expect.

A few members of cabin crew were at the door to say goodbye and wish the passengers well for their onward journey.

I remained on the aircraft for around 10 – 15 minutes after general deboarding.

Therefore, I will use my experience from my previous flight into Nashville for the remainder of this portion, to give a realistic experience of the airport.

After deboarding, it was a quick walk straight out to the baggage reclaim area. It is worth noting this is a floor below the airside area.

If, when you leave the airside area, you end up next to TSA, take the escalator downwards.

Within about five minutes of reaching baggage reclaim, the bag arrived and I was able to make my way out the terminal, to make the short walk to the ride share and airport shuttle area to head onwards to my hotel.

Overall Thoughts…

It is clear to me that New Pacific Airways are going about things the right way with their gradual expansion to their route network, with the new Ontario-Nashville service being an example of that.

I believe this approach will set them up to have a well polished product when their eventual goal of transpacific flights via Anchorage launch. 

One of the clear signs for me of them wanting this to be perfect was having the New Pacific Airways Chief Executive Officer, Rob McKinney and Vice President, Airport Operations, David Perlitz on board the flight, to experience what their passengers see first hand.

I must also thank them both for their hospitality on the flight.

Would I recommend New Pacific Airlines? Absolutely.

Right now there are a few bugs that need ironing out, but I strongly believe they will get there in the end, and it wouldn’t stop me flying with them again now.

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