Songbird Airways established as Sky King is a

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 airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

based in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Sky King was founded in July 1990 to fly for the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. Sky King operated flights from

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, and to ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

on behalf of Customer Service Providers (CSPs). Sky King also conducted flights of deportees to undisclosed destinations on behalf of

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...

(ICE). In the past, the airline provided charter service to sports teams and businesses using

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

aircraft sporting various seat configurations. The airline filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

on March 9, 2010, after it was unable to meet the payment demands of one of its largest creditors, fuel supplier Mercury Air Group. It filed for bankruptcy again in 2012. Sky King emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 3, 2014 upon confirmation by the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Trustee's Plan of Reorganization.United States Bankruptcy Court, Order of Confirmation, Sky King, Inc., October 3, 2014
/ref> Sky King was acquired by AerLine Holdings LLC on October 24, 2014. Service was resumed on December 22, 2014 after the United States Department of Transportation found the carrier "fit, willing and able" to resume service with up to ten aircraft.D.O.T. Final Order of Fitness, Sky King, Inc., December 22, 2014
/ref> On August 30, 2017, Songbird entered into an agreement with

USGlobal Airways USGlobal Airways, formerly known as Baltia Air Lines, Inc., is a publicly traded American corporation that is currently undergoing Part 121 Air Carrier Certification. It was founded in August 1989 with the aim of flying from New York City to the t ...

for purchase of Songbird's stock for $6.5 million with a closing date of October 15, 2017.

History

The airline began operations in July 1990 as a privately held company to fly for the

. Initially, the company provided service for the Kansas City Kings in a single

BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...

under FAR-125. In 2002, Sky King received its FAR-121 certificate and 98% of the company's flying was for hockey teams. A series of events in 2005, including the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

lockout, the devastation of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

and the spike in jet fuel prices required Sky King to find an alternate way of running its business. This resulted in the adoption of the ACMI (Aircraft Crew Maintenance and Insurance) model and a partnership with Gold Transportation was forged. In March 2010, Sky King filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

bankruptcy protection. Sky King emerged from this

bankruptcy in June 2011. Following a successful reorganization in June 2010, the airline moved its headquarters from Sacramento, California to Lakeland, Florida. By moving to Lakeland, Sky King was able to reduce its maintenance costs (by eliminating cross-country ferry flights) and focus on expanding the east coast markets it served. In October, 2010, Sky King was purchased by Aviation Capital Partners Group and shifted its focus away from private charters and towards providing scheduled services. At the end of 2010, Sky King had over 270 employees. At the end of August 2012, Sky King returned three aircraft to its owner, AerSale, in Roswell, NM. At the same time, Sky King again filed for

bankruptcy protection and laid off over 20 pilots, 30 flight attendants, and others in operations, maintenance, and the Lakeland office. In December 2013, Sky King furloughed/laid off nearly half of staff across all departments and returned one airplane to the leasing company. As of December 31, 2013, Sky King had two airplanes in its fleet, one of which had been grounded for several months with a bad engine that needed to be replaced. Also in December, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement revealed that Sky King owed $23,424.26 in taxes to New Jersey from 2009, thus prohibited from doing air charter business with

Atlantic City 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 ...

casinos. Sky King emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 3, 2014 upon confirmation by the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Trustee's Plan of Reorganization. Sky King was acquired by AerLine Holdings LLC on October 24, 2014. Service was resumed on December 22, 2014 after the United States Department of Transportation found the carrier "fit, willing and able" to resume service with up to ten aircraft. In June 2015, the name was changed to ''Songbird Airways''.Sky King changes name to Songbird Airways
CH-Aviation. Retrieved June 06, 2015.

Direct Air

From March 2007 until May 2007, Sky King operated a single airplane for

Direct Air Southern Sky Air Tours, d/b/a Direct Air was an airline business based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States. Direct Air started in 2007 and leased aircraft with charter airlines. Its main base was Myrtle Beach International Airport. Dire ...

. In early 2011, Sky King teamed up again with Direct Air and flew two airplanes for the company. Depending on the season, the flying switched from Palm Beach International Airport (during summer), Myrtle Beach (during winter), Punta Gorda (during fall) and Lakeland (year round).

abruptly ceased operations on March 13, 2012.

Cuban charter service

Sky King provided charter aircraft to numerous touring agencies with flights into

. Flights to Cuba originated from

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

. The majority of the flights into Cuba were to Cienfuegos, Havana, Camaguey, Holguin, and Santiago de Cuba.

Fly Guam Service

In early spring 2011, Sky King agreed to provide ACMI service to a start-up company in Guam, known as Fly Guam flying a single Boeing 737-400. Initially, the company operated flights out of Guam to Saipan, continuing on to Hong Kong. In the coming months, the company opened routes to Nagoya, Japan and Koror, Palau. In November 2011, Sky King's parent company Aviation Capital Partners Group purchased a 51% stake. Fly Guam ceased operations at the end of 2011.

Fleet

As of January 2015, the Songbird Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:

References

External links

Sky King aircraft
{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1990 Airlines based in Florida 1990 establishments in Florida Charter airlines of the United States American companies established in 1990