AirNet is an American Part 135

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of air cargo, cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline ...

based in

Franklin County, Ohio Franklin County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,323,807, making it the most populous county in Ohio. Most of its land area is taken up by its county seat, Columbus, the state capital and most ...

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 territori ...

, near Columbus. It specializes in delivery of documents and small packages. Banks were once their main client, transporting checks for over 300 of the country's largest banks. With the passing of the

Check 21 Act The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (or Check 21 Act) is a United States federal law, , that was enacted on October 28, 2003 by the 108th U.S. Congress. The Check 21 Act took effect one year later on October 28, 2004. The law allows the ...

, and the increase in the usage of electronic banking, this has been greatly reduced. AirNet is now focusing on time critical documents and packages, such as those required in the scientific and medical field. The main sort facility is located at

Rickenbacker International Airport Rickenbacker International Airport is a civil-military public airport south of downtown Columbus, near Lockbourne in southern Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The south end of the airport extends into Pickaway County. The base was name ...

in Columbus. In September 2008, AirNet announced that they were moving their sort facility to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, reducing the number of aircraft, and redesigning their route network. Their corporate headquarters remains in Columbus.

History

Financial Air Express / PDQ was founded in 1974 by Gerald Mercer in

Pontiac, MI Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Founde ...

. Jet Courier was founded at about the same time by Donald Wright in

Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

. Jet Courier changed its name to Wright International Express in January 1985. In July 1988, these two companies merged to become US Check Airlines, headed by Gerald Mercer. US Check acquired Air Continental of Norwalk, OH a year later to become a dominant player in the cancelled check transportation industry. US Check later acquired Midway Aviation of

Dallas, TX Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

, Pacific Air Charter of

San Diego, CA San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, Express Convenience Center of Southfield, Massachusetts and Data Air Courier of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. In order to raise additional capital and further grow the company, US Check went public in 1998 to become AirNet Systems. In 2008, AirNet Systems was purchased by Bayside Capital, which had once owned the now defunc
Flight Express
of Orlando, FL. In August 2015

Kalitta Charters Kalitta Charters is an American charter airline based in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Its main base is Willow Run Airport. The company is owned and run by Doug Kalitta Doug Kalitta (born August 20, 1964) is an American auto racing dri ...

acquired AirNet.

Destinations

AirNet's destinations ():

Fleet

The Airnet Express fleet consists of the following aircraft ():

Accident

An AirNet

Beechcraft Baron The Beechcraft Baron is a light twin-engined piston aircraft designed and produced by Beechcraft. The aircraft was introduced in 1961. A low-wing monoplane developed from the Travel Air, it remains in production. Design and development The d ...

was lost in a crash on 8 January 2022 near

Defiance, Missouri Defiance is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Saint Charles County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 159. History Defiance was struck hard in the Tornado outbreak of December 10–1 ...

, killing the two occupants. The plane had been traveling to

Centennial Airport Centennial Airport is a public use airport owned by the Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority in the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area, 15 nautical miles (17 mi, 28 km) southeast of downtown Denver, Colorado, United States. L ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Gallery

File:N105AN-01.JPG, N105AN a Cessna 208 Caravan at Burke Lakefront Airport File:N106AN.jpg, N106AN a Cessna 208 at

Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport is a public airport on the shore of Lake Erie, in the northeast part of downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It's classified as a general aviation airport and is an FAA designated reliever to Cleveland Ho ...

File:N107AN.jpg, N107AN a Cessna 208 Caravan at Burke Lakefront Airport File:Air Net Systems N108AN.jpg,

References

External links

AirNet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Airnet Express Regional Airline Association members Cargo airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1974 Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area Regional airlines of the United States Airlines based in Ohio 1974 establishments in Ohio