North American Airlines

IATA NA ICAO NAO Callsign NORTH AMERICAN
Founded	1989
Fleet size	5
Destinations	Charters
Parent company	MatlinPatterson Global Aviation Holdings
Headquarters	John F. Kennedy International Airport New York City, USA
Key people	Steve Harfst(COO)
Website	www.flynaa.com

North American Airlines, Inc., is an American airline with its headquarters in Building 141 on the grounds of John F. Kennedy International Airport in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, USA.^[1] Prior to May 2008, it operated scheduled international services from the USA to Africa and Guyana. Today, it operates domestic and international charter services and wet lease services. Its main aircraft and maintenance base is Tampa International Airport.^[2]

History [edit]

North American Airlines is a subsidiary of Global Aviation Holdings, Inc., formerly Global Aero Logistics, Inc. Unlike the other airlines that are or were a part of Global Aviation, ATA Airlines (now defunct) and World Airways, North American was founded after airline deregulation in the United States.

North American was established in 1989 and began operations on January 20, 1990. It was founded by Dan McKinnon, former head of the then-Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), mainly to provide feeder services to El Al gateways in North America, and to provide services for Club Med. The cooperation with El Al lasted until the early 2000s when El Al signed a codeshare agreement with Delta Air Lines and began shifting some of its feeder business to Delta instead, while also increasing the use of its own equipment in intra-US travel. El Al held a 24.9% stake in the airline until it sold it back to McKinnon in July 2003. The airline was acquired by World Air Holdings in April 2005.^[3]

It began by flying charter flights on Boeing 757 aircraft. The company grew during the 1990s, adding flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico, various spots in Mexico and other destinations. North American also started a scheduled flight from Los Angeles International Airport to JFK to complement El Al's existing Tel Aviv-JFK-LAX run and provide the Israeli airline with more passengers. North American also opened operations in Newark, New Jersey, and Oakland, California, at that time. In addition to their original 757s, North American also operates Boeing 767s for long-range, high-density charter flights.^{[citation needed]}

On April 5, 2007, New ATA Holdings, Inc., bought out North American Airlines parent company World Air Holdings, Inc. and promptly changed the name of the holding company to Global Aero Logistics, Inc. to reflect the worldwide desires of the latest owners. The same firm, MatlinPatterson recently divested themselves of Varig at the end of March 2006, although they still maintain financial interests at its former cargo subsidiary VarigLog (LC). The company was renamed Global Aviation Holdings, Inc., on Feb. 26, 2009. Two Global Aviation Senior Vice President executives also serve as Chief Operating Officers (COO) at the certificated airlines of which Global Aviation is composed and Charlie McDonald serves as President. Rob Binns is the CEO for Global Aviation Holdings.

Scheduled destinations [edit]

North American Boeing 767

North American Airlines discontinued all scheduled operations in May 2008. At the time of this shut down, the airline operated scheduled passenger flights to the following destinations:^[4]

Africa [edit]

 Ghana

• Accra - Kotoka International Airport Service ended May 20, 2008

 Nigeria

• Lagos - Murtala Mohammed International Airport Service ended May 18, 2008

North America [edit]

 United States

• Florida
  • Miami - Miami International Airport [on behalf of AeroSur]
  • Tampa - Tampa International Airport [Operation at gate A]
• Maryland
  • Baltimore - Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Focus City Service ended May 20, 2008
• New York
  • New York City - John F. Kennedy International Airport Hub Service ended May 20, 2008

South America [edit]

 Bolivia

• Santa Cruz de la Sierra - Viru Viru International Airport [on behalf of AeroSur to Miami] Service ended mid-2010

 Guyana

• Georgetown - Cheddi Jagan International Airport Service ended May 18, 2008

 Trinidad

• Port of Spain, Trinidad - Piarco International Airport Service ended May 18, 2008

Announced on February 19, 2008, North American Airlines planned on discontinuing all scheduled service in May 2008 in favor of concentrating on charter operations.^[5] According to a news release on northamericanair.com, "What makes NAA's scheduled service operations untenable is the rising cost of fuel, with jet fuel costs increasing 60 percent since 2005. This was a difficult decision, especially in light of the continuing support we have received from the governments and the traveling public in these markets. NAA's modern Boeing 757/767 fleet is in high demand and NAA will redeploy these aircraft profitably in the charter market".

North American Airlines discontinued service to Hawaii as of September 1, 2005. Prior to Delta Air Lines establishing service between New York City and Accra, Ghana, on December 11, 2006, NAA's JFK-ACC and BWI-BJL services were the only scheduled non-stop service between the U.S. and West Africa operated by a U.S. airline for several years.^{[citation needed]}.

Earlier scheduled service included Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, Santiago, Dominican Republic and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Each of these routes was canceled after JetBlue Airways began competing on these routes. According to conversations with Dan McKinnon and Steve Harfst (former COO), there was no desire for the company to compete with the low fare cost structure of JetBlue.

Charter destinations [edit]

North American's charter operations make up the bulk of its business: resorts such as Club Med and tour operators in Hawaii and the Caribbean charter North American's aircraft on a regular basis. Since discontinuing all scheduled service in May 2008, North American Airlines continues to operate today as solely a charter airline.

Barack Obama leased a North American Airlines plane for use during his successful 2008 United States Presidential Election campaign.

Fleet [edit]

As of May 2013, the North American Airlines fleet included 5 aircraft:^[6]

North American Airlines 757-200 at the Redmond airport USFS aerial firefighting ramp. This aircraft was chartered to carry Sen. Barack Obama and members of his staff and press, during his 2008 presidential bid.^[7]

As of May 2013, the average fleet age of North American Airlines was 18.1 years.^[8]

Services [edit]

As a certified United States Department of Defense air carrier, NAA provides military personnel and their dependents air transportation to destinations not served by commercial airlines. North American was the first airline to provide the capability of the Boeing 767 aircraft to the United States Military in 2002. NAA operates military transport flights out of Dallas/Ft.Worth Airport and other locations.^{[citation needed]}

The carrier maintains a long-standing wet lease relationship with Air Jamaica, providing wet-leased 767 aircraft and crew for the airline's Kingston-New York service. In the summer of 2007, Air Jamaica increased its dependence on North American Airlines' services as the Jamaican company struggled to cope with higher-than-expected demand.^[9]

North American Airlines also operated charter cargo service to Gibraltar in co-operation with the Odyssey Marine Exploration.^[10]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: North American Airlines

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