Omni Air International, LLC. is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

headquartered in Hangar 19 on the grounds of Tulsa International Airport in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

, United States. It specializes in passenger charter flights, and Aircraft Crew Maintenance Insurance (ACMI) wet leasing. Omni is an FAA Part 121 certificated airline with

IATA Operational Safety Audit The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) programme is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses internationally recognised quality audit ...

(

IOSA The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) programme is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses internationally recognised quality audit ...

) registration. Omni Air International is one of the few airlines willing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in controversial (sometimes termed "high-risk") deportations. The company has been characterized as engaging in

price gouging Price gouging is a pejorative term used to describe the situation when a seller increases the prices of goods, services, or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair. Usually, this event occurs after a demand or ...

over its role in deportation flights. For its role in deporting 163 people on 18 November 2019, Omni Air charged U.S. taxpayers $1.8 million. In 2020, Omni Air obtained $67 million in coronavirus relief aid, as well as a $77.65 million contract with the Donald Trump administration's Department of Defense for "international charter airlift services."

History

Omni Air International DC-10-30ER N270AX

The airline was established under the name Omni Air Express and started operations in March 1993 with a

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller air ...

freighter aircraft. In 1993, Omni started its Part 121 air carrier operations with

F equipment in the narrow-body cargo market. Customers include integrated shipping companies such as

BAX Global BAX Global was an American international shipping company that was headquartered in Irvine, California, and had other major offices in Australia, Singapore, London, the Netherlands and Toledo, Ohio. The company was founded in 1971 also oper ...

DHL DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. ...

, Emery Worldwide and UPS. In 1997 the company changed its name to Omni Air International and launched passenger operations with DC-10s (including N270AX, the last DC-10 ever built). In 1998, the company sold its

F fleet to focus exclusively on its growing passenger business. From 1998 to 2000 the company acquired three second-hand long-range McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s and began providing international charter service to wholesale companies, cruise lines, wet lease

Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

(ACMI) for other airlines and the

US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

. In April 2003, the

Boeing 757-200 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its maide ...

passenger aircraft was added to its fleet. The 757-200 fleet was approved for extended range over water operations (

ETOPS ETOPS () is an acronym for ''Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards''—a special part of flight rules for one-engine-inoperative flight conditions. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) coined the acronym for ...

Boeing 767-300ER The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...

aircraft were added starting in August 2009, and

Boeing 777-200ER The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...

aircraft began operating in April 2011. That same year the

Boeing 767-200ER The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified o ...

was added to the fleet. In 2011, Omni retired the

McDonnell Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long- range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 19 ...

s from the fleet and received its

(

) registration. In 2012 Omni retired the

. On October 2, 2018,

Air Transport Services Group Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) is an American aviation holding company which provides air cargo transportation and related services to domestic and foreign air carriers and other companies that outsource their air cargo lift requirements. A ...

(ATSG) announced it would acquire Omni subject to regulatory approval. On November 9, 2018

(ATSG) completed its $845 million acquisition of Omni. In September 2019, Omni aided in the repatriation of British citizens after the collapse of the UK’s

Thomas Cook Airlines Thomas Cook Airlines Limited was a British charter and scheduled airline headquartered in Manchester, England. It was founded in 2007 from the merger of Thomas Cook Group and MyTravel Group, and was part of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines. ...

. The airline was contracted by the

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

under the instruction of the British government to operate rescue flights returning stranded Thomas Cook passengers to the UK. In August 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden activated the

Civil Reserve Air Fleet The Civil Reserve Air Fleet is part of the United States's mobility resources. Selected aircraft from U.S. airlines, contractually committed to Civil Reserve Air Fleet, support United States Department of Defense airlift requirements in emergenci ...

, utilizing 18 aircraft from six commercial airlines to ferry evacuees of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

from interim waystations throughout the Middle East and Europe. According to the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be sim ...

, the activation involves three aircraft each from

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

Atlas Air Atlas Air, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, is a major American cargo airline, passenger charter airline, and aircraft lessor based in Purchase, New York. Atlas Air is the world's largest operator of the Boei ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along ...

and Omni Air; two from

Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian Airlines ( haw, Hui Mokulele o Hawaiʻi ) is the largest operator of commercial flights to and from the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the tenth-largest commercial airline in the United States, and is based at Honolulu, Hawaii. The airl ...

; and four from

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Fleet

Omni_Air_International_Boeing_767_(N378AX)

Omni currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of B767 and

B777 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...

aircraft. As of June 2020, the Omni Air International's all

wide-body aircraft A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy c ...

fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

On 28 August 2020, an Omni Air International Boeing 767 (registered N423AX) operated a flight between Kabul, Afghanistan and Washington, United States with a scheduled refueling stop at Bucharest, Romania. During landing at the Romanian capital, the aircraft’s left-hand main landing gear collapsed. The aircraft continued to skid along the runway. Emergency slides were used to evacuate the 80 passengers from the aircraft without injury. Boeing 757-200 (Omni Air) (2894559778)

References

External links

* {{Airlines of the United States 1993 establishments in Oklahoma Airlines based in Oklahoma Airlines established in 1993 American companies established in 1993 Charter airlines of the United States Companies based in Tulsa, Oklahoma