North American Airlines - History

History

North American Airlines is a subsidiary of Global Aviation Holdings, Inc., formerly Global Aero Logistics, Inc. Unlike the other airlines that are or were a part of Global Aviation, ATA Airlines (now defunct) and World Airways, North American was founded after airline deregulation in the United States.

North American was established in 1989 and began operations on January 20, 1990. It was founded by Dan McKinnon, former head of the then-Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), mainly to provide feeder services to El Al gateways in North America, and to provide services for Club Med. The cooperation with El Al lasted until the early 2000s when El Al signed a codeshare agreement with Delta Air Lines and began shifting some of its feeder business to Delta instead, while also increasing the use of its own equipment in intra-US travel. El Al held a 24.9% stake in the airline until it sold it back to McKinnon in July 2003. The airline was acquired by World Air Holdings in April 2005.

It began by flying charter flights on Boeing 757 aircraft. The company grew during the 1990s, adding flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico, various spots in Mexico and other destinations. North American also started a scheduled flight from Los Angeles International Airport to JFK to complement El Al's existing Tel Aviv-JFK-LAX run and provide the Israeli airline with more passengers. North American also opened operations in Newark, New Jersey, and Oakland, California, at that time. In addition to their original 757s, North American also operates Boeing 767s for long-range, high-density charter flights.

On April 5, 2007, New ATA Holdings, Inc., bought out North American Airlines parent company World Air Holdings, Inc. and promptly changed the name of the holding company to Global Aero Logistics, Inc. to reflect the worldwide desires of the latest owners. The same firm, MatlinPatterson recently divested themselves of Varig at the end of March 2006, although they still maintain financial interests at its former cargo subsidiary VarigLog (LC). The company was renamed Global Aviation Holdings, Inc., on Feb. 26, 2009. Two Global Aviation Senior Vice President executives also serve as Chief Operating Officers (COO) at the certificated airlines of which Global Aviation is composed and Charlie McDonald serves as President. Rob Binns is the CEO for Global Aviation Holdings.