World Airways - History

History

World Airways was founded in 1948 by Benjamin Pepper with the introduction of ex-Pan American World Airways Boeing 314 flying boats. Edward Daly, however is thought of as World's founder. He bought the airline in 1950 for $50,000 and proceeded to acquire DC-4s.

World got its first government contract in 1951 and has had a substantial amount of government business since then.

Later, World acquired DC-6s and Lockheed Constellations. World entered the jet era in the late 1960s with Boeing 707s and 727s. In the early 1970s, World acquired Douglas DC-8s.

World became a key military contractor during the Vietnam War, flying troops and equipment between the war zone and World's base at Oakland International Airport. On March 29, 1975, World operated the last airlift flight out of Đà Nẵng, Vietnam. Two 727s were flown to Đà Nẵng, one of which landed with Daly aboard. Thousands rushed the airplane and it took off on a taxiway under heavy fire. The aircraft with Daly aboard started its takeoff roll with the 727's back airstairs still down with Daly fending off additional people trying to leave due to over capacity (The film of this was later broadcast on the CBS Evening News on March 30, 1975). When the airplane landed at Saigon, there were 268 people in the cabin and possibly 60 or more in the cargo holds. World did not return to Đà Nẵng until April 17, 2002, then with an MD-11 aircraft to pick up a team of people resolving Missing-In-Action cases from the Vietnam War.

World Airways garnered considerable international attention in 1977 when a West German passenger named Erwin Kreuz, while on a charter flight from West Germany to San Francisco, California, mistook Bangor, Maine, a refueling stop, for San Francisco. Kreuz was feted by officials both in Maine and San Francisco.

Also, in the early 1970s, World operated three Boeing 747 aircraft and was the launch customer for the "flip nose" front-loading variant of the 747. Later, World acquired DC-10s that have been retired in 2010. World experienced heavy losses in the 1980s as a result of an attempt at scheduled service. In the late 1980s, the company moved its headquarters from Oakland to Washington Dulles International Airport, acquired Key Airlines from Bain Capitals' Presidential Airways, and established ties to Malaysia Airlines. World was burdened financially as its cash was siphoned off by parent WorldCorp to support a telecommunications venture in which the parent had invested. During the first Persian Gulf War, World did a substantial amount of profitable business for the military, enabling the addition of the MD-11 to the fleet. During the mid 1990s, World operated the military passenger trunk route from Osan Air Base, Korea and Kadena Air Base, Okinawa to Los Angeles, using MD-11 aircraft. World has been headquartered near Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport.

Today's World fleet consists of MD-11 trijet aircraft both in freighter and passenger configurations and of 747-400 freighters.

World Airways does not currently have any scheduled passenger service. Instead, it provides airlift for customers who need long-haul widebody aircraft for passenger and cargo service.

The airline still receives a substantial amount of its business from the military, especially in its role connecting American bases in the U.S. to the Middle East. It also thrives on passenger and freight contracts with private organizations, as well as wet leases to other airlines. With such "wet lease" arrangements (also known as "ACMI" standing for aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance provided by the airline and fuel and other fees paid by the chartering entity), World Airways essentially functions as a cargo airline arm or subsidiary, of another airline in which a separate division would not be an efficient use of an airlines resources. Among some of these agreements include Etihad Airways and Lufthansa's subsidiary, Lufthansa Cargo.

In 2006, World Airways and North American Airlines became subsidiaries of World Air Holdings, Inc. North American had both charter and scheduled operations to Georgetown, Guyana in South America; Accra, Ghana; and Lagos, Nigeria in west Africa. North American discontinued this service in May 2008.

In 2006, for the third year in a row, World became the official air-travel provider of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League.

On April 5, 2007, World Airways and their ensuing parent companies returned to their Oakland and Bay Area roots where they were headquartered from 1956 to 1987. It was later agreed that the airline would be acquired under the New ATA Holdings Inc. with the financial assistance of the Matlin Patterson Global Opportunities investment firm.

ATA Holdings renamed holding company, managerial structure now known as Global Aero Logistics Inc., concluded with a financial transaction valued at $315 million. With this, ATA's President, Subodh Karnik became the head of all three certificated airlines autonomous operations, namely: ATA Airlines, North American Airlines, and World Airways. In 2007 GAL moved its operation to the World Airways building in Peachtree City, Georgia. Robert Binns was named Chief Executive Officer of GAL in April 2008 and Charlie McDonald was named president. Larry Montford became COO of World Airways.