The Story Of Kalitta Air: Who’s Connie?

The tale of how Conrad ‘Connie’ Kalitta’s unwavering passion for drag racing led him to found an international jet freighter

fleet is quite a story indeed. In 1971, Kalitta gave up driving to focus on growing his airline company. Before getting back into a Top Fuel dragster himself in 1978, he later returned to the drag racing scene as Shirley Muldowney’s crew chief, notably during her run for the 1977 Top Fuel championship.

Kalitta Air is based at the former location of Wurtsmith Air Force

Base and recently earned the FAA

‘s highest award for maintenance training, the Diamond Award. More than 1,500 workers use the majority of the airport and multiple hangars to maintain the aircraft all day and all night.

Risky Business For The Bounty Hunter

Connie Kalitta’s aviation enterprise has flirted with bankruptcy more than once. His passenger charter flight venture died out due to competitive and financial pressures. Even in the air freight world, Atlas Air remains a more dominant presence and name. Still, in spite of the many obstacles and challenges, Kalitta Air has done more than survive, and it thrives to this day.

Kalitta Air supported the Department of Defense (DOD) almost immediately following the September 11th attacks, with its first relief mission taking off on September 12th. According to Kalitta, “people at the office were doing 13 to 16-hour days,” as the airline ramped up from just a few daily flights to near-continuous operations.

A contract with the US Postal Service soon had Kalitta aircraft delivering mail to US forces stationed in the Middle East, while DOD operations surged. Kalitta stated that “Kalitta Air always has been and always will be a strong supporter of the DOD and the Civil Reserve Air Fleet.”

Kalitta Air Experienced A Hijack In 1989

In a particularly extreme incident, as documented by NHRA, a knife-wielding man stormed into Kalitta Air’s headquarters demanding a Learjet to the White House on October 4th, 1989. Connie Kalitta, then 51, stepped in and boldly agreed to fly him while secretly planning to depressurize the jet in midair to knock him out.

“When you are under pressure, you have to think well on your feet. If you don’t, you’re in trouble.” – Conrad Kalitta

With a knife pressed at his ribs, Kalitta stayed calm under pressure. As the hijacker raged in the cockpit, he grabbed the engine’s throttle control and began revving the engine up and down. A state trooper blocked the runway with his cruiser, and Connie himself went after the man. Trooper Jerry Cooley got help from a maintainer to open the cockpit and finally subdued the criminal. The cargo business is full of risks such as these, but also many rewards, as noted by IFA Forwarding:

Kalitta Air’s Origins

The airline began as Connie Kalitta Services in 1967, when he began moving auto parts with a twin-engine Cessna 310. In 1984, he would change its name to American International Airways. The mission has grown to include air freight, air ambulance, and charter passenger flights with an expanded fleet that included Boeing 747

, Lockheed L-1011

, Douglas DC-8

, Twin Beech, and Learjet

aircaft. Using DC-9s and MD-80s, destinations Served by American International Airways included:

• Atlantic City.
• Boston.
• Chicago Midway.
• Cleveland.
• Detroit.
• Fort Lauderdale.
• Miami.
• Norfolk.
• Orlando.
• Pittsburgh.
• Tampa.
• West Palm Beach.

In 1981, American International Airways had a hub at Philadelphia International Airport

and also operated charter and scheduled passenger flights under the same brand name. In September, the airline discontinued operations after declaring bankruptcy on July 19, 1984. Nevertheless, Kalitta persisted in operating cargo

-only flights under the AIA name as ‘Kalitta | American International Airways’ until 1997.

In the latter part of the 1980s, several of the company’s cargo planes still bore the Kalitta brand name. 600 missions were flown by AIA between 1990 and 1991 to support military operations such as Desert Storm and Desert Shield.

Following AIA’s 1997 merger with Kitty Hawk Inc., Connie left the company to found Kalitta Leasing, which specializes in the purchase, sale, and leasing of large aircraft. In April 2000, the former AIA, Kitty Hawk International, shut down. Kalitta opted to save it, and the new airline, Kalitta Air, started operations in 2000.

Kalitta Air Today

The last Boeing 747-200

F operated by Kalitta Air was decommissioned from service on April 21st, 2017. This was one of the last few that were still in service at the time. Kalitta still operates 20 Boeing 747

airplanes in its fleet. Kalitta Maintenance has its MRO (maintenance, overhaul, and repair) located in Iosco County, Michigan, at the Oscoda–Wurtsmith Airport. Headquartered in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, Kalitta Air has operating bases at:

Involved In Recent Repatriations

Kalitta Air was hired by the US Department of State in 2020 to evacuate American citizens from Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic. A memorial patch honoring the ‘Wuhan Evac Team’ with a Kalitta Air aircraft is part of the artifact collection at the National Museum of American Diplomacy.

Despite some setbacks in 2024, as reported by Freight Waves, Kalitta Air is going strong in 2025 as it has fostered a new partnership with Japan Airlines. Beginning on Saturday, May 10th, regular cargo flights from Tokyo Narita Airport

(NRT) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport

(ORD) will use a codeshare agreement, as noted by Air Cargo News, between Japan Airlines

(JAL) and Kalitta Air. These will be the first cargo operations for JAL in 13 years.

“The new codeshare agreement with KALITTA will enable JAL to meet the continued strong demand for cargo transportation between Asia and North America by providing stable and flexible air cargo services with the addition of large cargo aircraft from another company.” – Japan Airlines

The Racing Connection

Conrad Kalitta was born on February 24, 1938, and his nickname from drag racing days was “The Bounty Hunter.” Connie Kalitta’s foray into racing began in 1965 when he partnered with Ford and helped introduce the 427 SOHC engine to the NHRA Top Fuel class. Two years later, in 1967, he won four important races and used the winnings to buy his first plane, a twin-engine Cessna 310. Ford executives asked him to deliver parts to stations along his route while he was flying himself to other racing events.

They offered fuel reimbursement or a little additional cash in exchange. Connie eventually realized that, compared to racing, flying freight was more lucrative. He completely changed his focus after coming to this revelation, turning air cargo into his full-time endeavor and drag racing into a hobby. Connie Kalitta earned a total of ten NHRA national titles. In 1992, he was admitted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America and was granted the first-ever NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

Most famously, Kalitta became the first Top Fuel driver to hit 290 mph (470 km/h) during the 1989 NHRA Winternationals. Doug Kalitta is his nephew, and Scott Kalitta, who tragically passed away in a crash, was his son. Currently, Kalitta Motorsports is home to three championship drivers: 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion J.R. Todd, 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon, and 2023 NHRA Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta.

“He did a lot of custom jobs during the Gulf War, all military equipment to Kuwait. At the spur of the moment during COVID-19, he went over to China and brought home US personnel. He’s got the capability to be flexible and do those custom jobs, where FedEx and UPS may have a regular schedule every day. Connie’s more custom. He’s capable of doing things that other companies aren’t or don’t want to do.” – Graham Light, NHRA Vice President of Competition via Speed Sport

The Detroit Airlift

Corporate leadership in the automotive sector would rather minimize the visibility that contributions by ad hoc charters make to the operation of their production lines. Less than 1% of Ford’s parts deliveries are just-in-time charters, according to Bill Storves, the company’s North American Supply Manager for vehicle operations and power trains. This can be a good deal considering the expenses of closing a vehicle assembly line.

Pilots have described the scene as one that resembles medevac more than air freight. Active Aero’s Marty Goldman has witnessed helicopters waiting to meet his planes so they can fly the parts straight to the crippled factory. Mark Huber of Smithsonian Magazine reported in 2001 that an industry source told him that flying parts ad hoc adds an estimated $300 ($542 USD in 2025) to the cost of each vehicle built by General Motors, Ford, and Daimler-Chrysler.

Given the nature of the client relationship, the charter operators themselves also do not want to talk about the economics of the service they offer. Having that big-plane fleet makes it easier to handle outsized cargo. Kalitta Air advertises its fleet as ready to go at any time, and that entails a lot of overhead and demanding maintenance needs. But it turns a good profit when you have the right plane in the right place when an industrial emergency strikes, or the government needs essential medical or military supplies airlifted.

The Bottom Line

As a former drag racer and aviator as well, this writer is a big fan of Connie “The Bounty Hunter” and looks forward to seeing the future of Kalitta Air as it continues to grow and expand. Looking forward, Kalitta Air seems set to keep growing, especially with additional Boeing 777-300ERSFs on order. As Celebrity Net Worth notes, Connie is currently worth a cool $100 million.

Connie Kalitta’s underlying key is a mindset forged by the fire of racing, where preparation is paramount and hesitation is the enemy.

Codeshares, government contracts, and industrial collaborations keep flights filled and money coming in. The best heavy-lift aircraft, the most qualified crews, and a steady stream of new contracts promise Kalitta Air will push forward to new and greater heights, yet to come.