Northern Air Cargo names permanent CEO

Alaska-based Northern Air Cargo has named Mark Lester as president and CEO. He will replace Interim President Dave Karp, who has served in the role since March 2025, on Sept. 21, the company announced on Friday.

Northern Air Cargo is a subsidiary of Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources, a diversified freight transportation, logistics and energy distribution conglomerate. Lester spent the past 18 months as head of aerospace strategy at Merrick & Co. , an engineering firm. He spent nearly three years as head of the Alaska Aerospace Corp. , a spacesport, until mid-2021.

He also was CEO of Doss Aviation, a flight training academy for nearly three years last decade. In between stints he has worked as a consultant.

Northern Air Cargo described Lester as a seasoned executive in safety-critical, regulated operations, who has successfully led complex organizations through periods of operational transformation and growth while maintaining service continuity.

“Mark’s experience and commitment to Alaska will serve our communities well as Northern Air Cargo looks to grow and deepen its services, continuing to build on more than 70 years of dependable service to the state,” said Mike Thompson, president and CEO of Saltchuk Aviation, NAC’s parent company, in a news release.

Karp stepped in during a rocky period when the company was losing money and decided to exit long-haul flying to focus on intra-island Hawaii and Alaska service. Sister carrier Aloha Air Cargo now handles all flying in Hawaii.

Last year, NAC returned a handful of Boeing 767-300 converted freighters to lessors and exited the Hawaii and Caribbean/Latin America markets, which it served out of Miami. NAC currently operates three freighters in Alaska: one Boeing 37-400 and two 737-800s, with one 737-300 leased to another carrier, according to aviation databases.

The airline regularly serves Seattle, a large transfer point for Alaskan exports, like seafood, and source of supplies for communities in Alaska. Karp will return to his role as senior vice president and managing director, Alaska, at Saltchuk Resources, according to NAC.

The company had net income of $9 million in the 12 months ended March 31, but operating profit improved 15% to $15 million, according to data on file with the U. S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Revenue more than tripled over that time to $144 million, but costs also shot up.

The sharp rise in costs year over year likely was due to penalties paid for early termination of leases. Why It Matters; Northern Air Cargo is a small carrier, but if a freight company changes leadership it’s important to customers and competitors.

NAC competes with Alaska Airlines and Lynden Air Cargo, part of the Lynden family of companies, in the Alaska market. Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch. Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves. com.

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