Western Global Airlines


Western Global Airlines is an American cargo airline based in Estero, Florida.
The company's services include aircraft leasing, commercial charters and military charters. Their hub is located at Southwest Florida International Airport. In July of 2018, the company established a aircraft maintenance facility in Shreveport, Louisiana, capable of housing three wide-body aircraft simultaneously.

History

Western Global Airlines was founded on March 6, 2013, by Jim Neff. It was certified by the United States Department of Transportation on February 24, 2014 with FAA approval on August 1, 2014 for operations using McDonnell Douglas MD-11F aircraft. Boeing 747-400 freighter operations were approved by the FAA on November 16, 2015 and Department of Transportation approval was granted on May 25, 2016.
In June 2019, Flexport filed a complaint against Western Global Airlines, claiming that the airline failed to meet the reliability rate mandated by their contract. On June 7, 2019, Western Global Airlines ceased operations for Flexport, which then switched to Atlas Air.

Fleet

As of May 2020, Western Global Airlines operates a fleet of 17 Boeing 747-400BCF and McDonnell Douglas MD11F aircraft:
AircraftIn serviceIn storage
Boeing 747-400BCF21
McDonnell Douglas MD11F122
Total143

Incidents

On February 13, 2016, Western Global Airlines Flight 4425, a McDonnell Douglas MD11F registered as N545JN, took off from Munich, Germany on a flight to King Shaka International Airport, South Africa carrying banknotes destined for the South African Reserve Bank. While making a fuel stop in Harare, Zimbabwe the aircraft was impounded and the crew arrested after ground staff reported seeing blood dripping from the aircraft. A subsequent search found a man's body in the lower compartment. Zimbabwean Police reported the man was a likely stowaway and had died from a lack of oxygen. The crew and the aircraft were later released.