iAero Airways
IATA ICAO Callsign
WQ SWQ SWIFTFLIGHT
Founded1997 (1997)
(as Swift Air)
AOC #I5EA212N[1]
Hubs
Fleet size43
Parent companyiAero Group
Headquarters
Key peopleTimothy Rainey (President)
William Garrett (Chief Financial Officer)
Jon Corbi (Chief Revenue Officer)
Websiteiaerogroup.com

iAero Airways, previously Swift Air, is an American airline based in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. It operates charter flights for nationally known fractional aircraft operators, financial institutions, construction and transportation as well as many collegiate athletic departments, professional sports organizations, and major tour operators.[2] It is also a major contractor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, operating many of the agency's deportation flights as well as flights transporting detainees between immigration detention facilities within the United States.[3][4] The airline also provides aircraft management services for private owners. Its main hub is Miami International Airport.[5]

Following the acquisition of assets from the second Eastern Air Lines in 2017, Swift Air began operating charter flights to Cuba for Havana Air.

History

A Swift Air Boeing 737-400 in older livery

The airline was established in 1997 and was a customer for the Embraer ERJ-135.[5] In November 2006, the airline received authorization for Part 121 operations and began flying three Boeing 737-400s. These aircraft are each configured with all first class interiors, electrical outlets, and club work areas with tables. The primary use of these aircraft is air transportation for major professional sports team (NBA, NHL, MLB) and for VIP charters.[6]

John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign utilized one of Swift Air's Boeing 737-400s, which was dubbed the Straight Talk Express, the same name given to his bus used earlier in the campaign.

In June 2011, Swift Air originally planned to operate public charter flights from Chicago to some European destinations such as Belgrade, Zagreb and Kraków; however, these destinations were only flown in June 2011.

On June 17, 2011, Swift Air voluntarily suspended their Part 121 operations pending an inquiry by the FAA.[7][8] Swift Air resumed normal part 121 operations on June 25, 2011 after making manual changes to satisfy the FAA.

In 2017, Swift Air announced plans to acquire the Boeing 737-800 assets of the second iteration of Eastern Air Lines stating, "Eastern Air Lines’ name, assets, and associated trademarks will be retained within the transaction.".[9] One aircraft remains painted in Eastern livery to protect the trademark, although the fleet of Dynamic Airways (owned by a co-owner of Swift Air) would eventually take the Eastern name and trademark (as Eastern Airlines, without the space), retaining the Dynamic AOC.

In May 2019, Swift became a subsidiary of iAero Group, an aviation service firm minority owned by The Blackstone Group.[10]

As of December 2019, Swift Air began its transition to rebrand as iAero Airways.[11]

As of September 20th, 2023, the airline announced that it would be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[12]

Rebranding

Swift Air has announced that it intends to rebrand itself as iAero Airways, following its recent takeover by the iAero Group. A filing with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) on September 9, 2019 stated that, at present time, it intends to retain its corporate name - Swift Air, LLC - and therefore does not seek the re-issuance of its operating licenses and certificates.[13]

Fleet

Current

Swift Air Boeing 737-400 in new livery

As of October 2023, the iAero Airways fleet includes:[14][15]

iAero Airways fleet
Aircraft In
service		 Orders Passengers Notes
Boeing 737-300 8 — 138
Boeing 737-300BDSF 1 — Cargo
Boeing 737-400 18 — 150
Boeing 737-400SF 2 — Cargo Operating for DHL Aviation
Boeing 737-800 5 — 189
Boeing 737-800BDSF 9 — Cargo Operating for DHL Aviation
Total 43 0

Former

As Swift Air, it consisted of the following fleet:

iAero Airways former fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Boeing 727-200 1 2010 2013
Boeing 767-200ER 1 2010 2013
2017 2018
Boeing 767-300ER 1 2022 2022
Bombardier Challenger 800 1 2006 2008
Cessna Citation V 4 1997 2006
Cessna Citation X 9 1997 2010
Dassault Falcon 2000 3 1999 2006
Embraer ERJ-135 5 2002 2005
Embraer Legacy 600 2 2002 2004
Swearingen Merlin 1 1998 2001

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  2. ↑ "About Us - iAero Airways". www.iaeroairways.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-18.
  3. ↑ MacDonald-Evoy, Jerod (17 July 2019). "'ICE Air' flew more than 32K immigrants out of Mesa in less than 10 months". AZ Mirror. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  4. ↑ "How ICE Helped Spread the Coronavirus". The New York Times. 10 July 2020.
  5. 1 2 Flight International 12–18 April 2005
  6. ↑ "Swift Aviation Group, Inc. - Sales, FBO, Charter & Management". Archived from the original on 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  7. ↑ "Swift Air Operations". Archived from the original on 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
  8. ↑ Bukvic, Lj. (2011-08-16). "Svift er kažnjen zbog otkazivanja leta za Beograd i Zagreb". Danas (in Croatian). Retrieved 2019-12-19. / Google Translate. "Swift is fined for canceling flight to Belgrade and Zagreb". Retrieved 2017-04-29. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  9. ↑ "Swift Air / Eastern Air Lines - Swift Air". flyswiftair.com.
  10. ↑ "Swift Air Joins iAero Group". prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  11. ↑ "About us iAero Airways". iaeroairways.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  12. ↑ "IAero Airways files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection". iaeroairways.com. 20 September 2023.
  13. ↑ "Arizona's Swift Air to rebrand as iAero Airways".
  14. ↑ "Charter - iAero Airways". iAeroAirways.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  15. ↑ "iAero Airways Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
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