Northern Air Cargo, an Alaska-based freighter operator with ties to Hawaii, is winding down long-haul flight operations with Boeing 767 freighters, as well as operations in Miami and Honolulu, to concentrate on more profitable routes in both states and shoring up shaky finances.
Northern Air Cargo in June pulled out of the Caribbean/Latin America market, where it operated 767-300 converted freighters for logistics provider StratAir. Both companies are owned by Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources, a diversified freight transportation, logistics and energy distribution conglomerate.
The airline will end all 767 flying in October when it closes a daily service between Los Angeles and Honolulu, April Spurlock, Saltchuk’s director of marketing and communications, told FreightWaves.
“Saltchuk Aviation is concentrating on our core cargo operations in Alaska and Hawaii. This change is part of a broader effort to streamline operations and focus on the services where we are strongest, ensuring long‑term stability and growth across our core businesses,” Spurlock said in an email message.
Northern Air Cargo released 30 employees in Miami, according to a notice filed with the Florida Department of Commerce. It also furloughed more than 40 pilots, according to a pilot on an online chat board and a local media outlet.
“The decision to exit the 767 program did require us to restructure parts of our operation, including difficult reductions in teams that supported those aircraft. We’ve worked hard to support those employees through the transition, while continuing to focus on the services and routes where we remain strong,” Spurlock said. She declined to provide specifics on the number of employees impacted by the moves.
Northern is returning the four B767 cargo jets it operated to NAS Aircraft Leasing Co., another Saltchuk subsidiary, which will determine what to do with them, she said.
One of the 767s was delivered last week to the Roswell International Air Center in New Mexico, a large desert storage facility for unutilized aircraft, according to database Flightradar24.
Aviation trade publication Cargo Facts first reported that Northern Air was abandoning widebody freighters.
The news comes as growth in global air cargo demand slowed to about 3% in the first half from double digit growth last year. North American airlines have experienced large volume contractions on international routes, as the industry feels the impact of falling consumer confidence and shifting Trump administration tariff wars that have caused retailers and manufacturers to rethink import strategies until there is more cost certainty. But Northern Air Cargo’s business is mostly affected by local market conditions and tough competition.
The airline’s transported cargo tonnage fell 24% in the 12 months ending in April and revenue ton miles, a measure of an airline’s pricing power, dropped 38% year over year. It served 20 local cargo markets — seven fewer than in April 2024, according to data on file with the Transportation Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. In the 12 months ending in April 2024, Northern Air Cargo lost $30 million. The company hasn’t filed more financial reports with the agency, as required by law, since September because of turnover and training challenges in an administrative position, according to BTS.
StratAir, a freight forwarder that internally contracted Northern Air Cargo to fly shipments out of Miami to islands in the Caribbean and southern locations like Lima, Peru, will now focus on providing import/export services from its warehouse near Miami International Airport, said Spurlock. It also provides airport ground handling services for cargo operators at San Juan International Airport in Puerto Rico.
Miami International Airport has several other all-cargo carriers serving the Caribbean, Central America and Latin America, including Global Crossing Airlines, 21 Air, Amerijet and IBC Airways.
FreightWaves previously reported that two Boeing 767-300 passenger aircraft received early last year were immediately placed in storage because of slow business. NAS Aircraft Leasing purchased the used passenger jets and had them converted to a main-deck cargo configuration. Spurlock said the aircraft were never flown by Northern Air. NAS eventually leased them to GeoSky Airlines, a freighter operator based in the country of Georgia.
In June 2024, Aloha Air Cargo shut down an underperforming triangle route between Honolulu, Seattle and Los Angeles, operated under a charter agreement with Northern Air Cargo. Earlier this year, Aloha Air launched daily service between Los Angeles International Airport and Honolulu with a wet-leased Northern Air freighter, but will terminate the service in October.
Northern Air Cargo will continue to fly narrowbody freighters. It currently operates a Boeing 737-800 hauling packages for DHL Express between Reno, Nevada; Phoenix; and Los Angeles. Two Boeing 737-400s provide inter-island service in Hawaii under the Aloha Air Cargo brand. NAC also operates two 737-400s from Anchorage to communities around Alaska.
Aloha Air Cargo operates on its own five Boeing 737-300 converted freighters, according to Flightradar24.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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