Cargo-focused Western Global Airlines will pay nearly $85,000 in back wages and interest to resolve alleged gender-based pay discrimination at the company’s headquarters in Estero, Florida, the U.S. Department of Labor said Tuesday.
A routine compliance review determined that Western Global Airlines discriminated against female managers, support professionals, technicians and administrators in terms of base pay and bonuses, in violation of a long-standing executive order that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment.
A large portion of Western Global’s current business is for U.S. Transportation Command, carrying supplies to U.S. and allied bases in Europe and the Middle East, including military aid for Israel and Ukraine. Since 2023, Western Global Airlines has been paid more than $4.5 million through federal contracts to provide scheduled airfreight services to the Department of Defense.
The airline’s active fleet has shrunk to five aircraft – two Boeing 747-400 and three MD-11 cargo jets – since the start of the year. Four 747 jumbo jets and 15 MD-11s were flying nine months ago, according to public aircraft databases. Western Global has parked more aircraft in response to a reduction in customers as years of financial struggles catch up with the company, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December.
A severe downturn in the air cargo sector hit WGA harder than most competitors during 2022 and 2023, with the loss of its contract with Amazon being the biggest blow. Sharply lower revenues combined with high maintenance costs for its aging fleet of freighters, as well as a shortage of pilots, made it difficult to pay off a heavy debt load.
Western Global Airlines, which operates from nearby Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, agreed to resolve the Labor Department’s preliminary findings by paying 18 female workers $79,977 in back wages and interest, as well as $4,750 in bonuses. As part of the conciliation agreement, the company will conduct an annual review of its compensation policies and practices and provide training to company officials responsible for determining compensation. During the department’s compliance evaluation, the company also made $157,500 in adjustments to equalize pay for female employees.
“As a federal contractor, Western Global Airlines Inc. must ensure their employment practices are free of discrimination, provide all employees with equal employment opportunities and audit their processes to make sure no barriers to equal employment exist,” said Diana Sen, a regional director in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, in a news release.
More than 350 Western Global employees in a class-action lawsuit recently agreed to settle with the company for $14.5 million. The employee group alleged Western Global owner Jim Neff and the company fraudulently devalued their shares in an employee stock ownership program. A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware gave preliminary approval to the settlement, pending a final hearing in January.
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Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@www.freightwaves.com.
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