Judah 1 is a proposed airline promoted as an "aviation ministry" with a focus on the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

missionary travel market. The company bills itself as "the world's first and only Christian airline." Founded in 2018, the proposed airline is based at

Shreveport Regional Airport Shreveport Regional Airport is a public use airport in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by the City of Shreveport and located four nautical miles (7 km) southwest of its central business district. The airport's runways and ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

. The company is presently in the process of obtaining an air operator's certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

History

Judah 1 was founded in 2011 by Everett Aaron, who reportedly received the idea in a vision from God during prayer in 1994. He believes that a Christian-mission-oriented airline can better accommodate missionaries' special cargo needs than a traditional airline, and he intends not to charge fees for special cargo such as Bibles. Although the company plans to fly primarily on an on-demand basis rather than on a fixed schedule, it has applied for an air operator's certificate from the FAA as a non-scheduled air carrier under FAR Part 121, reportedly because certification as a private air charter carrier would limit the number of allowable flights per year and would not allow the sale of individual tickets. The organization was originally based in Tulsa,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, but it moved to Fort Worth Alliance Airport, and then moved again to

North Texas Regional Airport North Texas Regional Airport / Perrin Field is a county-owned airport in Grayson County, Texas between Sherman and Denison. Formerly Grayson County Airport, the airport was renamed in November 2007. Several buildings are occupied by businesses, ...

(NTRA) in

Denison, Texas Denison is a city in Grayson County, Texas, Grayson County, Texas, United States. It is south of the Texas–Oklahoma border. The population was 22,682 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Denison is part of the Texoma region and is one ...

, when it became apparent that the lack of passenger facilities at Alliance would pose a substantial obstacle. The company has also reportedly had offices in North Richland Hills, Texas. Upon moving to NTRA, Judah 1 announced its intention to construct a of hangar space and of office space there. Judah 1 conducted its first flight on 17 June 2019 when it flew a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 carrying a Houston church group from NTRA to

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

. In March 2020, the organization announced that it was relocating to Shreveport Regional, citing a shortage of hangar space and an absence of facilities suitable for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checks at NTRA; Aaron originally thought that, due to its small size, the proposed airline would be exempt from TSA security requirements.

Fleet

In December 2019, the Judah 1 fleet consisted of a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, a Cessna 414, and an IAI Westwind. In late 2018, Aaron claimed that, upon certification, the airline will operate 2 additional

McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gene ...

series aircraft and 2

Boeing 767 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 ...

s, and that the fleet will expand to 20 aircraft in 5 years.

References

External links

* {{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed 2018 establishments in Oklahoma Christian organizations established in 2018 Proposed airlines of the United States Transportation in Shreveport, Louisiana Transportation companies based in Louisiana Airlines based in Louisiana