Kalitta Air


Kalitta Air is an American cargo airline headquartered in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan. It operates international scheduled and ad-hoc cargo charter services. Its main base is Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti. Its callsign "Connie" is from its founder Connie Kalitta.

History

In 1967, Conrad "Connie" Kalitta began a business carrying car parts using a twin engine Cessna 310 that he piloted. It became American International Airways. AIA started flying in 1984 using Boeing 747, Lockheed L-1011, Douglas DC-8, Twin Beech, and Learjet aircraft, for air freight, air ambulance, and charter passenger operations.
During the late 1980s, the Kalitta brand name continued to appear on many of the company's cargo aircraft. In 1990 and 1991, AIA flew 600 missions in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
In 1997, AIA merged with Kitty Hawk Inc., and Conrad Kalitta resigned to start Kalitta Leasing for buying, selling, and leasing large aircraft. In April 2000, Kitty Hawk International ceased operations. Kalitta decided to rescue it and the new airline, Kalitta Air, began operations in November 2000, using the operating certificate and assets of the former airline.
On April 21, 2017 Kalitta Air retired its final Boeing 747-200F from service. This was one of the relatively few then remaining in service. Twenty-six other Boeing 747 aircraft are still active in Kalitta's fleet.
Kalitta Maintenance operates a maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility at Oscoda–Wurtsmith Airport in Iosco County, Michigan.

American International Airways

The American International Airways name was also used by a charter and scheduled passenger airline which in 1981 was operating a hub located at the Philadelphia International Airport with nonstop service to Atlantic City, Boston, Chicago Midway, Cleveland, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Norfolk, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Tampa, and West Palm Beach flown with McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 and MD-80 jets. Declared bankruptcy on July 19, 1984 and ceased opeerations in September.

Destinations

The airline provides domestic and international scheduled or on-demand cargo service and support for the requirements of the Department of Defense Air Mobility Command.
In January 2003, Kalitta Air announced the start of scheduled, cargo flights from the United States to Europe. The freighters on this service operated from JFK EWR and ORD to AMS and EMA. The airline flies scheduled cargo operations between the U.S. and Hong Kong, U.S. and Germany, U.S. and Korea, Los Angeles and Honolulu. Liège Airport was also used as a regular refueling stop on New York City – Middle East routes and in the Caribbean, Norman Manley International Airport.
As of February 2020, Kalitta Air serves the following destinations with cargo flights on a regular, scheduled basis:
;Bahrain
;Belgium
;Canada
;China
;Germany
;Hong Kong
;India
;Japan
;Netherlands
;South Korea
;United States

Current fleet

The Kalitta Air fleet consists of the following aircraft :

AircraftTotalOrdersNotes
Boeing 747-400BCF10—4 operating for DHL Aviation
Boeing 747-400ERF1—Bought by Load Air, obtained by Kalitta Air
Boeing 747-400F13—Former Cargolux, Korean Air Cargo, Nippon Cargo Airlines fleets
Boeing 747-8F02
Boeing 767-300ER1—Former TUIfly Nordic airlines fleet
Boeing 767-300ER/BDSF9—Former Gulf Air, Transaero, Business Air fleets, 1 operating for DHL Aviation
Boeing 777F322 from DHL Aviation, 1 former Emirates SkyCargo
Total372

Historical fleet