Western Global Airlines-WGA (Sarasota/Bradenton) according to ch-aviation, will begin cargo operations with a fleet of two McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighters (N415JN, msn 48415 and N435KD, msn 48435). Both freighters will be leased from Neff Air. The company has issued this statement:

Western Global Airlines LLC (WGA), a low cost, high quality all-cargo carrier, announced on August 4 that it received final FAA certification and has been issued a Part 121 Air Operator Certificate. In addition, WGA has been certified by the U.S. DOT to be fit, willing, and able to engage in interstate and foreign air transportation of property and mail. WGA plans to commence operations immediately.

Founder and CEO, Jim Neff, said, “We are very pleased by these approvals. As the first newly certified U.S. based wide-body air cargo operator in almost a decade, WGA is poised to offer the global marketplace a new large-scale, customer-oriented platform, focused on low cost, flexible service and high reliability. We also expect to benefit from the relative shortage of wide-body cargo carriers in the market today.” In addition to being WGA’s CEO, Mr. Neff also serves as CEO and Chairman of Helsinki based Nordic Global Airlines, Ltd. (NGA) and has had an unparalleled career in air cargo and aviation dating back to Flying Tiger Line, Continental Airlines, Emery Worldwide and Burlington Air Express. He was the founder and CEO of Southern Air Inc. from 1999 until 2010.

Mr. Neff added, “For me, this is the culmination of a lifelong dream. Having created and built the air systems for many of the leading U.S. based cargo operators over the past 30 plus years, I believe that the current global economic reality calls for freighter services to be both lower cost and more responsive to customers. This is the driving force and the vision behind WGA.”

WGA’s management team was hand-picked by Mr. Neff from among the industry’s most knowledgeable and experienced innovators. The company will begin operations with a fleet of MD-11Fs leased from Neff Air LLC, an affiliated leasing company which owns ten GE powered MD-11Fs and two GE powered 747-400BCFs directly without debt. WGA’s business plan is based on enabling its customers to profitably grow their air cargo business by seamlessly outsourcing all or part of their freighter operation to WGA. WGA’s sister company, NGA, has been providing low cost, flexible, and reliable service to the European market for the past three years with a fleet of four MD-11Fs leased from Neff Air. Going forward, the company expects to develop the WGA/NGA platforms jointly to achieve marketing and operational synergies to maximize service responsiveness, flexibility, and operating efficiencies.