KaiserAir Inc.
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KaiserAir is a business jet and 737 Charter company, that also provides aircraft management services and has two San Francisco Bay Area FBO located in several Bay Area locations,
Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States. The airport is located south of downtown Oakland and east of San Francisco, serving the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The airport is ...
and
Sonoma County Airport Sonoma may refer to: * ''Sonoma'' (beetle), a genus of beetles * Sonoma County, California, a county in northern California in the United States ** Sonoma, California, the city for which the county is named ** Sonoma Valley, the region in Sonoma ...
. KaiserAir operates a fleet of charter aircraft and two FAA certified airlines (which consist of three Boeing 737's). There are currently two weekly shuttle services to Hawaii operated by KaiserAir known as the Kona Shuttle and Hawaii Shuttle, in addition to exclusive VIP charters for corporations, athletic teams, families and other large groups. KaiserAir also operates an aircraft sales department with both purchasing and selling aircraft. The company was originally part of the in-house flight department of industrialist
Henry Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known for his shipbuilding and construction projects, then later for his involvement in fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, ...
. The flight department was sold off to its chief pilot, Ronald J. Guerra, in 1980.


History

KaiserAir grew out of the flight department of industrialist
Henry J. Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known for his shipbuilding and construction projects, then later for his involvement in fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, ...
. The flight department was formed in 1946 to organize the transport requirements of the Kaiser group of companies. The department flew Gulfstreams, Hawkers,
Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distribu ...
and JetStars. The company began providing transport, maintenance and aircraft management services to third parties in 1967. In 1980 Kaiser Steel sold the company to Ronald Guerra, KaiserAir's chief pilot, for $150,000. The
Kona Shuttle Kaūpūlehu is the site of a historic settlement on the west coast of Hawaii island, the largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Devastated by a lava flow, the area is now the home of luxury hotels such as the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai. Geography KaŠ...
, an exclusive air service to Hawaii for VIPS, used the KaiserAir terminal at
Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States. The airport is located south of downtown Oakland and east of San Francisco, serving the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The airport is ...
. When the companies providing these flights ( Primaris Airlines and
Ryan International Airlines Ryan International Airlines, Inc. was an American FAR 121 airline with domestic, flag, and supplemental authority. Synopsis and history Based at Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford, Illinois, the US Postal Service was once the ...
) failed, KaiserAir acquired its first large passenger jet, a
Boeing 737-700 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it has been pr ...
and took on the service itself. It initially flew under the certificate of
Miami Air International Miami Air International was an American Air charter, charter airline based in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It operated worldwide passenger charter flights for diverse groups including cruise operators, professional sports teams and ...
, but in 2011 the company obtained a certificate of their own becoming the first new airline on the Oakland Airport in over 50 years. KaiserAir has since acquired four Boeing 737s.William Garvey
"Inside business aviation"
''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', p. 14, 17–30 September 2018.
KaiserAir's past clients have included former U.S. Presidents, Royalty, Celebrities, and Fortune 500 Executives. KaiserAir's Boeing 737-500 was chartered for the
Joe Biden 2020 Presidential Campaign On April 25, 2019, former vice president Joe Biden released a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. On November 3, 2020, Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, defeated incumbent Republican p ...
.


Operations

KaiserAir's main operation is from
Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States. The airport is located south of downtown Oakland and east of San Francisco, serving the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The airport is ...
where it runs its charter airline, managed aircraft for private clients, and
fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction ...
(FBO) services. It has been operating from this site since 1946. It has a second FBO at Santa Rosa Airport. In 2011, KaiserAir had 150 employees across both sites. KaiserAir has a large VIP lounge and other passenger facilities. KaiserAir has provided team transport to the
San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
team since 2015.


Fleet

KaiserAir operates a fleet of both charter (FAA part 135 certification) and airline (FAA part 121 certification) aircraft. The Part 135 fleet consists of three Cessna Citations and Gulfstreams. While the Part 121 Fleet consists of three Boeing 737's, two of which are Next Generation. As of 2011 (when KaiserAir had only one Boeing 737) they had a total of approximately twenty jets and ten
turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
s based at Oakland.Thierry Dubois
"FBO profile: Kaiser Air is long on experience"
''AIN Online'', 1 November 2011, accessed and archived 6 November 2021.


References


Further reading

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External Links

* {{Airlines of the United States Airlines based in California Companies based in Oakland, California 1946 establishments in California