Sky Lease Cargo Inc. (formerly Tradewinds Airlines) is an American

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

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 ...

History

The airline was established in 1969, as Wrangler Aviation and started operations in 1973, using

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its press ...

aircraft under FAA Part 91. It became a

Part 121 Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer * Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer *Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor *Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) a ...

carrier in 1978 and became an all-cargo airline in 1981. Circa 1991–1992, issues of citizenship, ownership, and compliance with federal airline laws resulted in the conclusion and finding that through the unregulated use of " Delaware Company Law" and the practice of subsidiaries being parts of other subsidiaries," Wrangler Aviation did not meet the fitness requirements of a certificated airline of the United States. The conclusions resulted in

restructuring Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons ...

changes to the company to continue operating.

Tradewinds Airlines

The Tradewinds name was adopted in 1991. In December 2007, Donald Watkins, a lawyer from Alabama bought part of the company. On June 6, 2008, the airline reduced its staff by 70% and parked all 5 B747 and 3 A300. During 2006, explorative attempts were made by Valiant Airways to contract Tradewinds Airlines for "start-up" operations, but these attempts failed to result in services coming to fruition. Further press releases on June 3, 2008, indicate that Tradewinds returned five

Boeing 747-200F The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

aircraft to the lessor and furloughed employees that operated the lines. On July 25, 2008, Tradewinds Airlines filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy 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, whe ...

protection for the third time. The company cited rising fuel costs and low demand, but plans to continue to operate flights during reorganization. In December 2008, Tradewinds Airlines was purchased by Sky Lease One, based out of Florida.

Sky Lease Cargo

Tradewinds Airlines was renamed Sky Lease Cargo in 2011, and also changed its IATA and ICAO codes. The company operates two 747-400s to various points in South America from

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...

Destinations

McDonnell Douglas MD-11(F) Skylease Cargo N955AR, HHN Hahn, Germany PP1304333914

As of March 2020, Sky Lease Cargo operates the following services:

Fleet

Current fleet

As of October 2020, Sky Lease Cargo's fleet includes:

Former fleet

The airline formerly operated the following aircraft: * Airbus A300B4F *

Canadair CL-44 The Canadair CL-44 was a Canadian turboprop airliner and cargo aircraft based on the Bristol Britannia that was developed and produced by Canadair in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although innovative, only a small number of the aircraft were ...

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, also known as the L-1011 (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") and TriStar, is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter comme ...

McDonnell Douglas MD-11F The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is an American tri-jet wide-body airliner manufactured by American McDonnell Douglas (MDC) and later by Boeing. Following DC-10 development studies, the MD-11 program was launched on December 30, 1986. Assembly of t ...

(one was involved in

China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 was a commercial passenger flight from Shanghai, China, to Los Angeles, United States, operated by China Eastern Airlines. On April 6, 1993, the McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 operating the service was cruising above ...

) * McDonnell Douglas MD-11CF

Incidents and accidents

*On June 7, 2006, a

by the (registered N922FT) had an engine failure on takeoff at

José María Córdova International Airport José María Córdova International Airport is an international airport located in the city of Rionegro, south-east of Medellín, and is the second largest airport in Colombia after El Dorado International Airport of Bogotá in terms of infra ...

. The take-off was aborted, but the plane overran the runway. None of the 6 on board were injured. However, the plane was substantially damaged. *On November 7, 2018,

Sky Lease Cargo Flight 4854 On November 7, 2018, Sky Lease Cargo Flight 4854 was a flight served by a Boeing 747-412F which overran the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Nova Scotia due to pilot error and fatigue. The incident injured three crew members ...

with (registered N908AR) overran the 2350 meters/7700 feet runway at

Halifax Stanfield International Airport Halifax Stanfield International Airport is a Canadian airport in Goffs, Nova Scotia, a rural community of the Halifax Regional Municipality. It serves the Halifax region, mainland Nova Scotia, and adjacent areas in the neighbouring Maritime pro ...

, went down a slope and through the localizer antenna and came to a stop about 200 meters past the end of the runway. The aircraft was written off.

References

External links

* * {{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Airlines established in 1969 Airlines based in Florida Cargo airlines of the United States Companies based in Miami Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008 1991 establishments in North Carolina