Meet the CEO with 13 Bosses: New Oneworld Alliance Chief Nat Pieper Talks Strategy

If you thought running one airline was hard work, imagine keeping track of 13. That’s the role of Nat Pieper, the new CEO of the oneworld alliance. 

He joined the organization in April and is tasked with navigating a seemingly endless roll-call of internal and external challenges. With 27 years of industry experience, Pieper is no stranger to the twists and turns in the airline business.

Oneworld, along with the Star Alliance and SkyTeam, is one of three major airline groups. Most, but not all, of the world’s biggest carriers belong to one of the trio, with oneworld counting American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, and Japan Airlines among its global members. If you want to know more, check out this handy Skift explainer.

Before joining oneworld, Pieper was SVP of fleet, finance, and alliances at Alaska Airlines. Rather appropriately, he oversaw the carrier’s entry into the organization in March 2021.

Other notable career nuggets include executing aircraft transactions valued at more than $9 billion and securing access to $5 billion in liquidity to ensure Alaska Airlines remained viable through the pandemic. Before joining Alaska, he held executive positions at big-name brands including Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines.

As the alliance celebrates its 25th anniversary, Skift sat down with Pieper to discuss everything from boardroom diplomacy to new airport lounges in the latest of our Leaders of Travel: Skift C-Suite Series.

Skift: You report directly to the alliance’s Governing Board, which is comprised of the member airline CEOs. How does that differ from your previous jobs?

Nat Pieper: This is the first job I’ve had where the definition of success was not overly clear. Let me put it this way – when you’re the treasurer of Alaska Airlines during the pandemic, your objective is pretty simple: Go raise as much c