Flight Express, Inc.

Last updated
Flight Express
IATA ICAO Callsign
FLXFLIGHT EXPRESS
Founded1985
Ceased operations2013
Hubs
Focus cities Addison, Texas Nashville, Tennessee
Fleet size84
Headquarters Orlando, Florida
Website http://www.flightexpress.com/

Flight Express, Inc. was a cargo airline owned by Bayside Capital. [1] Bayside Capital acquired Flight Express on November 4, 2008. [2] Flight Express, Inc. operates as an air courier company in the Southeast and Midwest United States. It offers air freight and ground courier services. The company also operates aircraft. It specializes in the transport of cargo for banking and financial institutions, life sciences organizations, newspaper publishers, overnight freight delivery companies, and payroll and photographic processors. [3] It operates 84 aircraft from facilities in eight states. [2] It was founded in 1985 and is based in Orlando, Florida, United States. [4]

Contents

History

Flight Express originally started as a company named Chapman Air in May 1978. James E. Chapman started his FAR-135 operation with two aircraft, a Cherokee Six and a Cessna Skyhawk, with a base at KORL in Orlando Florida. In the early days of the company aircraft were tied down in a grassy area to the east of Hangar 191 at KORL. (28 33 01.21 N, 81 20 19.19 W) The main source of business revenue was flying bank documents, cancelled checks, and photographic materials under contract for the Pony Express Courier Corporation throughout Florida.

In 1982 the company moved to the east ramp at KORL and opened a small aircraft maintenance facility. (28 33 02.54 N, 81 19 35.15 W) This first facility was actually one of the recently constructed "T" hangars located on the ramp. By this time the fleet had expanded to ten aircraft. By the end of 1984, Chapman Air was operating a fleet of 20 aircraft consisting of PA-32s, C-210s, M-20s and C-172s, logging over 14,000 total flight hours annually. The company now employed sixteen pilots, and two full-time mechanics.

On April 1, 1985, Chapman moved its operation to the larger Hangar 190 located at 3614 E Amelia St, on ORL. (28 33 01.11 N, 81 20 21.62 W) The company was still doing well and at this time the maintenance staff had increased to three full-time mechanics, and a larger business office was added inside the hangar.

On November 1, 1985, Jim Chapman sold his company, lock, stock, and barrel, to a group of investors and the company became known as Flight Express, Inc. John Kirchhoefer, one of the investors, became the President of the new company. The Director of Operations at this time was Brian Smith and the Director of Maintenance was Edward Redfield. The organization continued to grow and prosper and in the first quarter of 1993 the company took over a "sister" hangar (Hangar 191) to the east of its operation and doubled its floor space. A larger parts room was constructed and a maintenance library, break room and sales office were also added.

By the early 1990s Flight Express was operating over 50 aircraft and employed over 100 people. The fleet was logging more than 39,000 flight hours annually. A full-time Flight Control/Dispatch Department was staffed 24-hrs to control crew schedules and to dispatched and monitored flights. The mainstay of their business continued to be the transportation of banking materials and cancelled checks.

In 1995 Flight Express established FLX Courier Systems. FLX was a ground courier company and was a natural progression for the company. FLX Courier Systems augmented Flight Express's air courier fleet and could now move parcels door-to-door instead of airport-to-airport.


By the mid-1990s the air network covered much of the Southeast US. Flight Express began to acquire leaseholds in other locations to support the fleet. The first was Tampa Florida with a maintenance hangar and an above ground fuel farm on KTPA. (27 58 23.59 N, 82 31 06.58 W) It was during this period the company began to acquire some competing air-courier companies as well. With each acquisition the fleet and air network grew.

Flight Express was acquired by Bayside Capital (a financial holding company) in Oct 2008. The company continued to operate as “Flight Express” from its original base at the Orlando Executive Airport for another 5-years. After the purchase, Bayside Capital began the process of merging Flight Express with an existing FAR-135 courier operation they already owned called Airnet Systems in Columbus, OH. It took 5-years to fully complete the merger and on 30 April 2013 the Orlando facilities that once served as the base and headquarters of Flight Express, permanently closed. For a time, Airnet continued using the “Flight Express” name, mainly in the form of an Internet web site. However, the name no longer appears in any Airnet advertising or branding. The exact date Airnet ceased using the name “Flight Express” is not known.

Fleet

The Flight Express, Inc. fleet consists the following aircraft (as of 4 September 2012):

Flight Express, Inc. Fleet:
AircraftIn FleetOrdersNotes
Cessna 210 580
Beechcraft Baron 260

Accidents and incidents

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References

  1. "Bayside Capital | H.I.G. Capital Credit Affiliate". Bayside.com. November 3, 2008. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Bayside Capital Acquires Flight Express, Inc". Istockanalyst.com. November 4, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  3. "Flight Express, Inc.: Private Company Information - BusinessWeek". Investing.businessweek.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  4. Rose, Marla Matzer (November 8, 2008). "Air shipper gets a partner". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
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  7. "Plane Makes Emergency Landing At Wheeler Airport - Kansas City News Story - KMBC Kansas City". Kmbc.com. Retrieved December 31, 2011.[ permanent dead link ]