Catching Connecting Flights
Strategically located at a virtual halfway point between North America and Asia, the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is the third busiest cargo hub in the world. But while cargo has long been the airport’s primary strength, Erik Peterson, B.A. International Studies and Languages ’14, hopes to make Alaska’s largest city an integral stop for passengers as well.
As the airport’s passenger air service development manager, Peterson works with airlines to establish new routes, ultimately improving connectivity for travelers. In this role, he serves as a type of sales agent for the airport, pitching Anchorage as a valuable destination to airlines by building compelling cases backed by extensive research and passenger trend analysis.
“The wide-ranging education I got at UAA helped in so many facets when I got into the professional world,” said Peterson. “How to professionally carry yourself, how to create professional presentations, how to publicly speak — there’s so many things that I learned from UAA that really, really, really help with this job.”
What makes Peterson ideal for this role can be traced back to two key influences in his life. First, aviation runs in his family. His mother was a ticket agent and his father was a flight engineer. Growing up in this environment, he naturally developed an appreciation for air travel. As a child, he had the unique experience of accompanying his father on flights, including quick trips to Yokota Air Base in Japan.
Coincidentally, Peterson’s interest in Japan took root in the first grade when a representative from the Consular Office of Japan in Anchorage visited his school and taught the students how to use chopsticks. That introduction to Japanese culture left a lasting impression on him.
Determined to immerse himself more deeply in Japanese culture, Peterson sought out educational opportunities to build his language skills. Though he attended a private elementary school, he later enrolled in a public school district that offered a Japanese immersion program. In high school, he took Japanese courses for all four years. And although he took a gap year after graduating high school, he still enrolled at UAA as a non-degree-seeking student to continue taking Japanese language classes.
Eventually, his passion for cultural exploration led him to embark on a transformative journey: a 45-day Buddhist pilgrimage across Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. At just 18 years old, Peterson shaved his head, donned traditional pilgrim robes and walked from temple to temple, experiencing Japan in a way few foreigners ever do.
Upon returning to the U.S., Peterson formally enrolled at UAA, majoring in international studies and languages with an emphasis on Northeast Asia. His academic journey even included a return to Japan, studying abroad for one year at the Hokkaido University of Education.
After graduating from UAA and working brief stints for a Japanese natural gas startup and an international relocation company, Peterson’s professional journey would figuratively circle back when he accepted a position at the same Consular Office of Japan that sparked his interest in Japanese culture. That position led him to literally circle the globe back to Japan one more time as an English language teacher for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. And while the COVID-19 pandemic kept him teaching overseas longer than anticipated, there are worse places to ride out a pandemic than the tropical beaches of Okinawa.
When Peterson was finally able to return to Alaska, he decided that he wanted to transition to working for the federal government. Initially hired at the airport as the communications coordinator, he quickly transitioned into his current position, which lets Peterson more effectively utilize his experience as an experienced traveler. In another full-circle moment, one of his first major tasks is to establish routes to Asia, which also happens to be a personal goal of his.
“I love dreaming of all the places we could fly to,” said Peterson. “I want these routes for all Alaskans to go on. I want these routes for tourists to come up and visit Alaska. There’s such a huge demand here, and it’s just great to think about better ways to connect people.”