Kalitta Air

Not to be confused with the Kalitta Air division, Kalitta Charters.

Kalitta Air
IATA ICAO Callsign
K4 CKS CONNIE
Founded
  • 1967 (as American International Airways)
  • 2000 (current name)
Hubs
Fleet size 18
Destinations 25 (scheduled)
Headquarters Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, USA
Key people Conrad Kalitta
Website kalittaair.com

Kalitta Air is an American cargo airline headquartered in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan.[1][2] It operates international scheduled and ad-hoc cargo charter services. Its main base is Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti.[3]

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 Desert Shield/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 (the former AIA) 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 the 21st 2017 Kalitta Air retired its final Boeing 747-200F from service. This being one of the last few in service.

Kalitta Maintenance operates a large Maintenance, Repair And Overhaul facility at Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport in Iosco County, Michigan, United States, bringing over 1000 jobs to the small Lake Huron Town of Oscoda.

Destinations

Kalitta Douglas DC-9 freighter at Detroit Willow Run in 1989
Kalitta Air headquarters
Kalitta Air Boeing 747 landing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
Kalitta Air, Boeing 747-200 departing from Brussels Airport

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.[4][5]

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 (John F. Kennedy Airport, New York, USA) EWR (Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, USA)[4] and ORD (O’Hare, Chicago, USA) to AMS (Schiphol, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and EMA (East Midlands Airport, England). The airline flies scheduled cargo operations between the U.S. and Hong Kong, U.S. and Germany (Leipzig/Halle Airport), U.S. and Korea (for Asiana), Los Angeles and Honolulu. Additionally, the airline operates ACMI charters for other airlines. Liège Airport is also used as a regular refueling stop on New York City – Middle East routes, and in the Caribbean Norman Manley International Airport.

As of December 2012, Kalitta Air served the following destinations on a regular, scheduled basis:[6]

Afghanistan
Argentina
Bahrain
Belgium
Colombia
Egypt
Germany
Hong Kong
Israel
India
Italy
Latvia
Netherlands
Pakistan
Russia
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Panama
United Kingdom

Fleet

Current fleet

The Kalitta Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of April 2017):[9]

Kalitta Air fleet
Aircraft Active Orders Notes
Boeing 747-400BCF 9 4 operated for DHL aviation
Boeing 747-400ERF 1
Boeing 747-400F 4
Boeing 767-300ERF 2 3 To be delivered by end of 2017
Total 16 3

Historic fleet

Fleet in 1997:[10]

Incidents and accidents

N704CK after an incident at Brussels Airport 2008

Media appearances

See also

References

  1. "Township Map." Ypsilanti Township. Retrieved on June 22, 2009.
  2. "Welcome to Kalitta Air." Kalitta Air. Retrieved on June 22, 2009.
  3. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 99.
  4. 1 2 "Aircraft Schedule". Kalitta Air. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  5. "Contracts from the United States Department of Defense". Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  6. 1 2 Kalitta routes
  7. "Historical Flight Status".
  8. "Boston Air Cargo Directory". Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  9. "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part Two)". Airliner World (November 2016): 39.
  10. North American Airlines Handbook, published 1997 by Airways International Inc.
  11. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61 N814CK Guantánamo NAS (NBW)".
  12. Air Cargo Safety October 2004
  13. America flouted law by flying bombs to Israel through Britain, Daily Mail, 7 October 2006
  14. Prestwick Airport arms flights prosecution ruled out, UK Airport News, 28 November 2006
  15. "Aircraft Data N704CK, 1986 Boeing 747-246F C/N 23391, 1980 Boeing 747-209F C/N 22299, 1972 Boeing 747-146 C/N 20528".
  16. "Aviation Photo Search".
  17. "Plane comes off Brussels runway". BBC News. 25 May 2008. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  18.  This article incorporates public domain material from the National Transportation Safety Board website http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=DCA08RA063&rpt=fa.
  19. "Airplane breaks in two". de Redactie.be. 25 May 2008.
  20. "Post-V1 abort after bird-strike destroyed Kalitta 747F". FlightGlobal.com. December 23, 2008.
  21. "Final report on the accident occurred on 25 may 2008 at brussels airport on a boeing b747-209f registered n704ck" (PDF). Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport Air Accident Investigation Unit. 10 July 2009.
  22. "FINAL REPORT ON THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED ON 25 MAY 2008 AT BRUSSELS AIRPORT ON A BOEING B747-209F REGISTERED N704CK." (Archive) FPS Transport Belgium. Retrieved on 17 July 2013.
  23. "US cargo plane crashes into Colombian house, 3 dead". AFP. 2008-07-07. Archived from the original on 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  24. "US plane crashes into Colombian house". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2008-07-08. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  25. "Crash: Kalitta B742 at Bogota on Jul 7th 2008, engine fire, impacted a farm house". The Aviation Herald. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  26. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 747-209BSF N714CK Bogotá-Eldorado Airport (BOG)". Aviation Safety Network. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  27. Larson, George C. (September 1997). "The Making of Air Force One". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  28. "N793CK Kalitta Air Boeing 747-222B(SF) - cn 23736 / 673".
  29. "GAC - GAC– Latest corporate news".

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