A brief history of the American cargo airline

Summary

• Kalitta Air’s roots go back to the mid-1960s when it was founded by drag racing legend Connie Kalitta.
• The airline has held significant contracts with the US government throughout its long history and has become known for its headline-grabbing missions.
• Kalitta Air is modernizing its fleet and introducing Boeing 777 freighters to increase efficiency and cargo capacity.

Kalitta Air is one of the better-known US cargo airlines. Although it is still a long way from US giants FedEx and UPS in terms of fleet size, its aircraft are highly visible at major US airports and it has gained notoriety through several high-profile missions over the years. So let’s take a closer look at this pioneering cargo flight operator.

An airline with roots in drag racing

The origins of Kallitta Air date back to 1967, when Conrad “Connie” Kalitta founded the company. As a five-time world champion in professional drag racing, he did not fit the typical profile of an airline founder. But he saw an opportunity in the market for the rapid transportation of auto parts and used some of his racing winnings to buy a twin-engine Cessna 310. He named his new company Connie Kalitta Services.

It turned out that Kalitta was as successful at building an airline as he was at drag racing. Over the next decade, the airline changed its name to American International Airways (AIA) and built up a formidable fleet of Boeing 747s (-100 and -200), Douglas DC-8s, Douglas DC-9s and Lockheed L-1011s. All were passenger aircraft given a second life as converted freighters and operated under the call sign “Connie” in reference to the company’s charismatic owner.

Turbulence ahead

The Kalitta name reappeared on aircraft alongside the AIA brand in the late 1980s, and the airline’s growth was further fueled by major contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense. In 1997, AIA was merged with Kitty Hawk International, and Connie Kalitta resigned as CEO and board member, in what has been described as a somewhat acrimonious departure.

But Kalitta was just waiting for the right moment and founded Kalitta Leasing, an aircraft brokerage company that bought, sold and leased large aircraft. In early 2000, Kitty Hawk International filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and ceased operations. Dismayed that the airline he had built from scratch was shutting down, Kalitta bought the Air Carrier Certificate and the aircraft and rebuilt the airline, which resumed operations in November 2000 under the name Kalitta Air.

Updating the fleet

One of the first tasks of the new Kalitta Air was to modernize the fleet. The DC-8s, many of which dated back to the mid-1960s, were the first to be retired, closely followed by the L-1011s. The B747 fleet was also showing its age, as many of the -100s and -200s were 30 years old or more, so they too were gradually phased out starting in 2002. While the last -200 was retired in 2017, Kalitta had since switched to newer Boeing 747-400s, which offered better economics and higher capacity. The airline currently operates 22 aircraft of this type.

More recently, Kalitta has acquired Boeing 777 cargo aircraft, most of which it flies on behalf of DHL. These come in three different “flavors”:

• Brand new: Received four new B777-Fs directly from Boeing, all delivered in 2020.
• Former Emirates: It currently leases four B777-Fs (three still pending), which previously flew with Emirates, from DAE Capital.
• Big twins: Emirates has also ordered six B777-300ERSFs to lease from AerCap. These are converted -300ERs that Emirates disposed of during the pandemic. Although they are older than the standard B777Fs, they offer even greater volume than the B747-400Fs.

This is the current status of the Kalitta Air fleet in August 2024:

Fleet maintenance

Kalitta prides itself on its fast turnaround times, so maintaining its fleet is critical. The company operates a large MRO facility at Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OWA) in Michigan. It was built on part of the decommissioned Wurtsmith Air Force Base, which was home to nuclear-armed B-52 Stratofortress bombers during the Cold War. As a result, the airport has a 12,000-foot runway, ideal for Kalitta’s wide-body aircraft.

The Kalitta facility at OWA has more than 240,000 square feet of hangar and engine space and is investing $10 million in an additional 80,000 square foot hangar. Such extensive facilities mean that Kalitta not only maintains its own aircraft, but also operates a large business providing engines, airframes, tires and brakes, and various engineering services to other airlines.

Making headlines

Over the years, Kalitta Air has been involved in several headline-grabbing missions due to its extensive contracts with the U.S. government. These include:

• In 1990 and 1991, Kalitta flew 600 missions in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Middle East.
• After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when all U.S. airports were closed and all flights were grounded, there was one plane in the sky that night that wasn’t an F-16 fighter jet. It was a Boeing 747 operated by Kalitta Air, transporting relief supplies from the West Coast to help disaster relief workers in New York.
• In 2003, Kalitta received a Certificate of Commendation for support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Kalitta continues to support the USPS by flying scheduled flights to deliver mail and packages to U.S. forces stationed overseas.

Most recently, Kalitta Air was instrumental in the evacuation of U.S. citizens from Wuhan under the direction of the U.S. Department of State during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This operation is commemorated with a patch in honor of the “Wuhan Evac Team” in the collection of the National Museum of American Diplomacy, featuring a Kalitta Air Boeing 747.