Western Air-Crews International
Western Air-Crews International was founded in December 1991 by Karel J. Muns, a DC-10 flight engineer operating out of Mesa, Arizona. Initially, Western Air-Crews International specialized in B-747/DC-8 and DC-10 recurrent training. Our contracts with United Airlines Training Center, NATCO and Dalfort Training (Louisville, Kentucky) assured all re-qualifying flight deck crew members held FAA 121 level of instruction.
Since our inception, many of our crew members who re-qualified on wide-body equipment found employment overseas and in the United States on B-747’s and DC-10/DC-8 passenger and freight carriers.
A History of Excellence, Experience
In 1995, Western Air-Crews International expanded its services to provide worldwide ferrying of DC-10, B-747 and B-727 aircraft. Captain R.B. Miller, a 30-year veteran with American Airlines, was added to the DC-10 staff as chief pilot. Later that year, our organization was hired by a major aircraft leasing company to ferry a number of DC-10 (DC-10-10 and DC-10-15) aircraft from Marana, Arizona to several locations in Europe. With this contract, Western Air-Crews International proved to be ahead of its competitors by providing on-time, economical and dependable service in positioning aircraft worldwide.
The next year, a major European leasing company contracted with us to reposition DC-10-40 aircraft from Japan to Europe. We introduced a shorter route by offering their clients qualified crews to ferry aircraft over South Korea and Russia to Italy. Considerable fuel cost savings and reduced ground time proved to be a welcome bonus for the aircraft owner.
In 1988, several B-727 and B-737 and DC-10 (-10 and -30) were moved worldwide. This was followed by the repositioning of several B-747/400 aircraft from the Far East for a prominent British banking/leasing consortium. At this time, Western Air-Crews International could truly offer worldwide ferry service by highly qualified crews operating under FAA Part 121 level. As always, safety and considerable cost savings to the client remained our highest priority. This was coupled with a variety of related services, including post-maintenance flight testing after completing “C” or “D” checks and after-cargo modifications.
A Record of Service Unequalled in the Industry
Western Air-Crews International continues to offer reliable reporting on aircraft performance, condition and post-maintenance write-ups. These essential services have proven to be a great asset in marketing the equipment. We’ve also found a unique niche as one of the few DC-10 ferrying companies qualified on all models of McDonnell-Douglas aircraft.
Beginning in 1997, a further expansion of the company introduced our “turn-key” ferry program. In addition to ferrying, Western Air-Crews International began offering fuel navigation, over-flight permits, clearances, flight following and ground handling.
In the new millennium, the company began to include ferrying of B-747/400, MD-11 and Airbus A300-600 aircraft, including A-320 and A-330, for international leasing companies. That same year, the DC-10/40 passenger to freighter conversion flight test program in Italy was completed, followed by the delivery of several DC-10/40F aircraft to Aeroloft, based in Russia.
That same year, Western Air-Crews International initiated our B-747/200/400 recurrent pilot training program, shortly followed by a B-757/767 course. This was capped by positioning several B-747/200 passenger aircraft for a client to various maintenance facilities in Holland, Jakarta and Israel.
We look forward to another successful decade of our international ferry program, positioning all types of Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas and Airbus aircraft for years to come. Above all, we’ll continue to keep our clients, and our safety record, our top priorities.
