Omni Air International, LLC. is a United Statescharter airline headquartered in Hangar 19 on the grounds of Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. It specializes in passenger charter flights, and Aircraft Crew Maintenance Insurance wet leasing. Omni is an FAA Part 121 certificated airline with IATA Operational Safety Audit registration. Omni Air is one of the few airlines willing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in controversial deportations. The company has been characterized as engaging in price-gouging over its role in deportation flights. For its role in deporting 163 people on Nov. 18, 2019, Omni Air charged U.S. taxpayers $1.8 million. In 2020, Omni Air obtained $67 million in coronavirus relief aid, as well as a $77.65 million contract with the Trump administration's Department of Defense for "international charter airlift services."
History
The airline was established under the name Omni Air Express and started operations in March 1993 with a Boeing 727 freighter aircraft. In 1993, Omni started its Part 121 air carrier operations with Boeing 727F equipment in the narrow body cargo market. Customers included many of the industry's largest integrated shipping companies such as BAX Global, DHL, Emery Worldwide and UPS. In 1997 the company changed its name to Omni Air International and launched passenger operations with D McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10s. In 1998, the company sold its Boeing 727F fleet to focus exclusively on its growing passenger business. From 1998 to 2000 the company acquired three second-hand long rangeMcDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s and began providing international charter service to wholesale companies, cruise lines, wet leaseAircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance for other airlines and the US Department of Defense. In April 2003, the Boeing 757-200 passenger aircraft was added to its fleet. The 757-200 fleet was approved for extended range over water operations. With the addition of these aircraft to its fleet, Omni was awarded 180-minute ETOPS approval by the FAA. This was the second time in the history of US aviation that immediate 180-minute ETOPS approval was granted. Boeing 767-300ER aircraft were added starting in August 2009, and Boeing 777-200ER aircraft began operating in April 2011. That same year the Boeing 767-200ER was added to the fleet. In 2011 Omni retired the McDonnell Douglas DC-10s from the fleet and received its IATA Operational Safety Audit registration. In 2012 Omni retired the Boeing 757-200. On October 2, 2018 Air Transport Services Group announced it will acquire Omni subject to regulatory approval. On November 9, 2018 Air Transport Services Group completed its $845 million acquisition of Omni. In September 2019, Omni joined the largest ever repatriation of British citizens in peacetime after the catastrophic collapse of the UK’s Thomas Cook Airlines. The airline was contracted by the Civil Aviation Authority under the instruction of the British government to operate rescue flights returning stranded Thomas Cook passengers to the UK.
Fleet
Omni currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of B767 and B777 aircraft. As of June 2020, the Omni Air International's all wide-body aircraft fleet consists of the following aircraft:
