Western Global Airlines

Western Global Airlines

IATA ICAO Call sign KD WGN WESTERN GLOBAL
Founded	March 6, 2013
Commenced operations	August 1, 2014
AOC #	9WGA495N [1]
Hubs	Fort Myers
Secondary hubs	Anchorage Hong Kong Liege Los Angeles Miami Seoul–Incheon Shreveport [2]
Fleet size	19
Parent company	Western Global Holdings
Headquarters	Estero, Florida, United States
Key people	Jim Neff (President and CEO)
Website	www.westernglobalairlines.com

Western Global Airlines, LLC is an American cargo airline based in Estero, Florida. The company's services include aircraft leasing, commercial charters and military charters. Its main hub is located at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Florida. In July 2018, the company established a 160,000 sq ft (15,000 m²) aircraft maintenance facility in Shreveport, Louisiana, capable of housing three wide-body aircraft simultaneously.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 7, 2023, and exited in December 2023.

History

Western Global Airlines was founded on March 6, 2013, by Jim Neff. ^[3] It was certified by the United States Department of Transportation on February 24, 2014, with FAA approval being granted on August 1, 2014, for operations using the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F.^{[ citation needed ]} Boeing 747-400 freighter operations were approved by the FAA on November 16, 2015, and Department of Transportation approval was granted on May 25, 2016.^{[ citation needed ]}

In June 2019, Flexport filed a complaint against Western Global Airlines, claiming that the airline failed to meet the reliability rate mandated by their contract. On June 7, 2019, Western Global Airlines ceased operations for Flexport, which then switched to Atlas Air. ^[4] On August 7, 2023, Western Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. ^[5] On December 5, 2023, Western Global announced that they exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy with less than US$100 Million in debt. ^[6]

On May 8, 2025, Western Global Airlines announced the company will establish an aircraft maintenance facility at Shreveport Regional Airport. Western Global made a capital investment of $3 million for tooling and equipment to support the 152,000 square feet (14,100 m²) Hangar 40 formerly leased by ExpressJet Airlines. The company selected Shreveport as a conveniently located and well-qualified hub for maintaining its fleet of Boeing 747-400 and McDonnell Douglas MD-11 wide-body freighter aircraft. ^[2]

Fleet

A Western Global MD-11 in storage at Mojave Air & Space Port

As of August 2025 ^[update] , Western Global Airlines operates the following aircraft: ^[7]

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Notes
Boeing 747-400F	4	—
Boeing 777F	—	2 [8]
McDonnell Douglas MD-11F	15	—	4 aircraft in service, but grounded due to the crash of UPS Flight 2976. [9] 11 aircraft are stored as of November 2025.
Total	19	2

Incidents

• On February 13, 2016, Western Global Airlines Flight 4425, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (registered as N545JN) took off from Munich, Germany on a flight to King Shaka International Airport, South Africa carrying banknotes intended for the South African Reserve Bank. While making a fuel stop in Harare, Zimbabwe, the aircraft was impounded and its crew were arrested after ground staff reported seeing blood dripping from the aircraft. A subsequent search found a corpse in the lower compartment. ^{[10] [11] [12]} Zimbabwean Police reported the man was likely a stowaway who died from a lack of oxygen. The crew and the aircraft were later released. ^{[11] [13] [14]}

See also

• List of airlines of the United States

References

1. "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
2. "La. Gov. Edwards, WGA's Jim Neff Announce Shreveport Project". westernglobalairlines.com (Press release). May 8, 2025. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
3. "Western Global takes off | Cargo Facts". cargofacts.com. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
4. "Flexport files complaint against Western Global, switches to Atlas Air for 747F ops | Air Cargo World". aircargoworld.com. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
5. "Cargo airline Western Global goes bankrupt amid cash crunch". Bloomberg. August 7, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
6. "US's Western Global Airlines exits Chapter 11". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
7. "Global Airline Guide 2025 - Western Global Airlines". Airliner World . September 2025. p. 83.
8. "Western Global Airlines Purchases Two Boeing 777 Freighters". Boeing Media Room.
9. "UPS and FedEx ground some cargo planes after Kentucky air disaster". www.bbc.com. November 8, 2025.
10. "Blood dripping from plane leads to body". IOL News. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
11. Hradecky, Simon (16 February 2016). "News: A Western Global MD11 in Harare on Feb 14th 2016 and the results of the fuel stop". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
12. "Western Global Airlines Issues Update on Aircraft Situation". Business Wire. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
13. Gladstone, Rick (2016-02-15). "U.S.-Owned Plane Carrying Corpse and Cash Is Impounded in Zimbabwe". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-08-23.
14. "Cash and a body found in U.S. cargo jet in Zimbabwe". CBS News/Associated Press . February 15, 2016. Retrieved 2021-08-23.