Ameriflight

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Ameriflight
IATA
A8		 ICAO
AMF		 Callsign
AMFLIGHT
Founded 1968
Hubs BUR, ONT, SJU, DFW, BIL, PHX, PDX, SLC, BFI, OAK, CVG
Fleet size 173
Destinations
Headquarters Burbank, California, USA
Key people Gary Richards, President; Jeff Drees, Exec VP-Airline Operations; Dave DeRose, Exec VP-CFO; John Hazlet, VP-Safety & Stds, Dir of Ops; Andrew Lotter, VP-Flight; John Nanney, VP-Maint, Dir of Maint; Dan Guerrero, Dir of HR; Pete Schiess, Dir of Marketing
Website: http://www.ameriflight.com/

Ameriflight is an American cargo airline based in Burbank, California, USA. It is the largest United States FAA Part 135 cargo carrier, operating scheduled and contract cargo services to destinations in 30 US states, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Ameriflight serves major financial institutions, freight forwarders, laboratories and overnight couriers in the western USA and provides feeder services for overnight express carriers nationwide.[1]

The majority of Ameriflight's flying consists of "air feeder" service for major package express integrators such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL. On schedules set by the customers, cargo is received in the early morning from large jet freighters at hub airports and distributed by Ameriflight airplanes to smaller communities whose traffic (or airports) wouldn't support the big airplanes. In the evening, the Ameriflight aircraft fly inbound to the hubs with cargo to be transferred to the big jet freighters, which carry it onward to the integrators' distribution centers for sorting and redistribution to the ultimate destinations.

Although demand is decreasing as use of digital imaging and electronic data transfer increases, the company also transports high priority intercity financial documents. Pharmaceuticals, film for development, medical laboratory samples, and other miscellaneous cargo are also carried.

The Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) base is unique to Ameriflight as a large part of their business is last-minute on-demand auto parts and other time critical parts needed to keep assembly lines moving. CVG has also been growing Ameriflight's time-critical radioactive medical raw materials business.[citation needed]

The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) base is unique in that it has both scheduled/contracted flights and on-demand cargo charter service. With spare Metroliner aircraft and crew based at DFW, the base chiefly serves requests for transportation originating from Texas customers destined for all parts of US, and to Tijuana International Airport and Hermosillo International Airport in Mexico. The DFW base also ships time-critical radioactive medical material.[citation needed]

In addition, the company conducts on-demand passenger charter operations using three Learjet 35As and a Beechcraft King Air 200.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] History

The airline was established in 1968 and started operations as California Air Charter. It merged in 1971 with United Couriers (UCI), a wholly owned subsidiary of ATI Systems International (ATIS). In April 1993 the fixed-wing division of Wings Express of Van Nuys was purchased and the outstanding shares of Sports Air Travel were purchased in mid-1997. In March 2007, When Canadian company Garda Security bought ATIS, Ameriflight was sold to a group of investors including the company's president, Gary Richards. Ameriflight has about 600 employees.

[edit] Main Bases and Hubs

As of March 2007,[1] Ameriflight's headquarters is Burbank Bob Hope Airport, with hubs at:

Early in 2008, Ameriflight announced the closure of BIL as a crew domicile -- although the BIL base facilities remain active for aircraft maintenance pending further business developments.

[edit] Fleet

The Ameriflight fleet includes the following aircraft (as of March 2007):[2]

All aircraft are "straight freighters" except for the King Air 200, and three Learjet 35As, which are passenger-configured.[2]

Previously operated:[2]

As of 7 November 2008, the average age of the Ameriflight fleet is 18.5 years ([1]).

[edit] Accidents and incidents

  • January 16, 1987 – A Cessna Caravan flying from Ontario, California to North Las Vegas, Nevada crashed into mountainous terrain near Ciima, California. The pilot, who was the only person onboard, was killed. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: Altitude not maintained, Pilot-In-Command descent inadvertent, Pilot-in-Command Fatique (Lack of Sleep). Contributing Factors: Terrain Condition Mountainous/Hilly [2]
  • September 15, 1989 – A Piper Chieftain departing Ontario, CA for Santa Barbara, CA crashed shortly after takeoff when the right propeller separated from the aircraft and the corresponding damage to the airframe rendered it uncontrollable. The pilot was the sole person on board and was fatally injured. [3]
  • October 25, 1989, Ontario, California – Two aircraft operated by the same company were holding short of the runway, with the engines running, awaiting separate takeoff clearances. The Beechcraft Model 99 was ahead of the Piper Chieftain. The pilot of the Piper Chieftain stated that his foot slipped off the brake pedal and his aircraft rolled forward, striking the empennage of the Beechcraft Model 99. The Piper Chieftain received minor damage to its propellors and nose and the Beechcraft Model 99 received substantial damage to its tail and horizontal stabilizer. There were no injuries. [4], [5]
  • November 16, 1994: A Beechcraft Model 99 flying between Burbank, California and Oakland, CA crashed near Avenal, CA during an uncontrolled descent. The pilot, who was the only person onboard, was killed.[6]
  • February 12, 1999: A Beechcraft Model 99 operating between Tonopah, NV and Bishop, CA crashed about 18.1 miles NE of the Bishop Airport in the vicinity of the Inyo National Forest. The plane was found the next day along a valley close to White Mountain inside the forest. The pilot was killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be the failure of the pilot to follow proper procedures. [7]
  • October 14, 1999 – A Piper Chieftain departed VFR from KVGT; North Las Vegas, NV enroute to Sacramento, California and collided with terrain. The pilot, who was the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The failure of the pilot-in-command to maintain separation from terrain while operating under visual flight rules. Contributing factors were the improper issuance of a suggested heading by air traffic control personnel, inadequate flight progress monitoring by radar departure control personnel, and failure of the radar controller to identify a hazardous condition and issue a safety alert. [8]
  • November 29, 2003: Flight 1966, a Fairchild Merlin IV-C was flying Boeing Field–Spokane when it impacted trees about 3.4 miles from Felts Field where it was to land. The pilot, who was the lone person onboard, was killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be the pilot's failure to maintain proper glidepath alignment during an ILS approach in poor weather. [9]
  • January 21, 2004 – Flight 132, a Piper PA32R, was flying the route between Inyokern, California and Bishop, CA when the aircraft impacted terrain just south of Big Pine, CA, killing the lone pilot.
  • March 18, 2006: Flight 2591, a Beechcraft Model 99 was flying the route Helena, MT-Butte, Montana when it crashed about 8.1 miles SW of Butte. The plane impacted trees and then mountainous terrain, during heavy snow and icing. The wreckage was not located until March 20. Both pilots were killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be the pilot's failure to follow the proper instrument approach procedure. [10]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 75. 2007-03-27. 
  2. ^ a b c Airline Pilot Central
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