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Omni Air International cooperates with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in controversial (sometimes termed "high-risk") deportations.[5] Omni Air International has been characterized as engaging in price gouging over its role in deportation flights.[5] The US Government paid Omni Air $1.8 million for its role in deporting 163 people on 18 November 2019.[5]
History
The airline was established under the name Omni Air Express and started operations in March 1993 with a Boeing 727 freighter aircraft. In 1993, Omni started its Part 121 air carrier operations with Boeing 727F equipment in the narrow-body cargo market. Customers include integrated shipping companies such as BAX Global, DHL, Emery Worldwide, and UPS.[6]
In 1997, the company changed its name to Omni Air International and launched passenger operations with DC-10s (including N270AX, the last DC-10 ever built).
In April 2003, the Boeing 757-200 passenger aircraft was added to its fleet. The 757-200 fleet was approved for extended range over water operations (ETOPS). Boeing 757s were flown on vacation routes between Las Vegas (LAS) and Honolulu (HNL) year-round, between Minneapolis/St.Paul (MSP) and Cancun (CUN), Cozumel (CZM), Mazatlan (MZT) and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo (ZIH), Mexico and to Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) and also between Boston (BOS) and Aruba (AUA), Netherlands Antilles, seasonally. Boeing 767-300ER aircraft were added starting in August 2009, and Boeing 777-200ER aircraft began operating in April 2011. That same year the Boeing 767-200ER was added to the fleet. The B-767s and DC-10s were operated on Department of Defense flights between the US and Kuwait (KWI), Kuwait and between the US and overseas bases in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and Central Asia. Omni also occasionally operates sub-service/wet-lease flights for foreign airlines from Canada, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Bolivia.
In September 2019, Omni aided in the repatriation of British citizens after the collapse of the UK’s Thomas Cook Airlines. The airline was contracted by the Civil Aviation Authority under the instruction of the British government to operate rescue flights returning stranded Thomas Cook passengers to the UK.[9]
In 2020, Omni Air obtained $67 million in coronavirus relief aid, as well as a $77.65 million contract with the Donald Trump administration's Department of Defense for "international charter airlift services."[10]
On 28 August 2020, an Omni Air International Boeing 767 (registered N423AX) operated a flight between Kabul, Afghanistan and Washington, United States with a scheduled refueling stop at Bucharest, Romania. During landing at the Romanian capital, the aircraft’s left main landing gear collapsed. The aircraft continued to skid along the runway. Emergency slides were used to evacuate the 80 passengers from the aircraft without injury.[14]