Express One International DC-10 OH-LHA at KJFK 19930812

Express One International was an

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

based in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

USA 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

. It operated domestic and international cargo services, and charter passenger services throughout the US,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, and the Caribbean, as well as wet and dry leasing. Its main base was in

Orlando Sanford International Airport Orlando Sanford International Airport is in Sanford, Florida, United States, near Orlando. It was built as Naval Air Station Sanford, a Master Jet Base for carrier-based attack and reconnaissance aircraft, and was used by the U.S. Navy until ...

History

The airline was established in 1983 by Alinda and Jim Wikert as Jet East International, flying one

Boeing 727-100 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 airpor ...

on a contract from DHL. They started operations that same year. At its peak, the company was flying freight with over 20

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 airp ...

s and passengers in several

Douglas DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

s from hubs in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

, and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

when it was purchased by Orchard Capital in 2000. Express One also leased two

Boeing 727-200 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 airp ...

jetliners in passenger configuration to a new start-up air carrier,

Western Pacific Airlines Western Pacific Airlines, or WestPac, was an airline which operated in the United States from 1995 to 1998. A low-cost airline, low-cost carrier, it was formed in 1994 under the name Commercial Air, later changed to Western Pacific, and began ...

. According to the April 2, 1995 edition of the

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight ...

(OAG), Express One International was operating scheduled passenger service round trip between

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

(LAS) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) with

aircraft. 2001 was a difficult year for the company, and by July, several key contracts expired without renewal. A severe blow was dealt in August 2001 when the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

cancelled its contracts with its existing carriers, and turned these duties over to FedEx. The company saw a short reprieve when

Emery Worldwide Emery Worldwide Airlines was a cargo airline, once one of the leading carriers in the cargo airline world. Its headquarters were located in Redwood City, California. History Emery started in 1946 and was the first freight forwarder to receive a ...

suddenly eliminated their own airline in favor of using contract carriers, and Express One received a short-term contract to carry freight until the end of 2001. Having secured little new business by the end of the year, the company removed most of their aircraft from service, and furloughed the vast majority of their employees to conserve resources. However, this was not enough to prevent them from filing for bankruptcy, and ceasing operations by mid-2002. In 2002, a group of six investors, headed by Richard C. Byers and Larry Brinker, purchased all the company's common stock, assets, training programs, and intellectual properties, as well as their name, logo, property, and

operating certificate Operating certificate is a category of license issued by a government agency allowing an individual or company to provide a controlled type of service. These certificates are generally issued for a limited time period. Certificates can have intr ...

, and the company was moved to Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida. In February 2008, Express One and Joseph Kuchta were debarred from government contracting as a result of collusive bidding conduct and fraud. Express One's debarment expired on January 31, 2010, and Joseph Kuchta's debarment continued until Jan 31, 2013.USAF Memorandum in Support of Debarments
28 November 2008

Fleet

The Express One International fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at April 2014): *1 Piper Navajo PA-31-350 Chieftain

Previously operated

In August 2006, the airline also operated:

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's olde ...

, 3–9 October 2006 *3

Boeing 727-200F 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 airpor ...

Boeing 727-100F 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 airport ...

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 Douglas DC-8, DC-8 for long-Range (aeronautics), range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; i ...

McDonnell Douglas DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

References

External links

Express One International
{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1983 Companies based in Orlando, Florida Airlines based in Florida 1983 establishments in the United States

History

Fleet

Previously operated

See also

References

External links