Western Global Airlines, LLC 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

Estero, Florida Estero is a village in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,939. During the 2010 census, Estero was an unincorporated community, or census-designated place, the population at that time was 22,612. Est ...

. The company's services include

aircraft leasing Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

, commercial charters and military charters. Its main hub is located at

Southwest Florida International Airport Southwest Florida International Airport is a major county-owned airport in the South Fort Myers area of unincorporated Lee County, Florida, United States. The airport serves the Southwest Florida region, including the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, N ...

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

. In July 2018, the company established a

aircraft maintenance Aircraft maintenance is the performance of tasks required to ensure the continuing airworthiness of an aircraft or aircraft part, including overhaul, inspection, replacement, defect rectification, and the embodiment of modifications, compliance ...

facility in

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 ...

, capable of housing three wide-body aircraft simultaneously.

History

Western Global Airlines was founded on March 6, 2013, by Jim Neff. It was certified by the United States Department of Transportation on February 24, 2014 with

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

approval being granted on August 1, 2014 for operations using the

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 ...

Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...

freighter operations were approved by the FAA on November 16, 2015 and Department of Transportation approval was granted on May 25, 2016. In June 2019,

Flexport Flexport Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on supply chain management and logistics, including order management, trade financing, insurance, freight forwarding and customs brokerage. The company is headquartered in San ...

filed a complaint against Western Global Airlines, claiming that the airline failed to meet the reliability rate mandated by their contract. On June 7, 2019, Western Global Airlines ceased operations for Flexport, which then switched to

Atlas Air Atlas Air, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, is a major American cargo airline, passenger charter airline, and aircraft lessor based in Purchase, New York. Atlas Air is the world's largest operator of the Boei ...

Fleet

As of May 2020, Western Global Airlines operates a fleet of 21 Boeing 747-400 freighters and

Incidents

*On February 13, 2016, Western Global Airlines Flight 4425, a

McDonnell Douglas MD-11 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 ...

F (registered as N545JN) took off from

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany on a flight to

King Shaka International Airport King Shaka International Airport , abbreviated KSIA, is the primary international airport serving Durban, South Africa. Located in La Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, approximately north of the city centre of Durban. The airport opened its doors to passen ...

, South Africa carrying banknotes intended for the

South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...

. While making a fuel stop in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, Zimbabwe, the aircraft was impounded and its crew were arrested after ground staff reported seeing blood dripping from the aircraft. A subsequent search found a corpse in the lower compartment. Zimbabwean Police reported the man was likely a stowaway who died from a lack of oxygen. The crew and the aircraft were later released.

References

{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Cargo airlines of the United States Companies based in Sarasota, Florida Airlines established in 2013 2013 establishments in Florida Airlines based in Florida