Tower Air: The US’s Largest Charter Airline

At one point in time, Tower Air and World Airways were the two largest charter airlines in the world. For the most part, World Airways was immortalized in popular culture, whilst Tower Air was forgotten!

During its prime, Tower Air had a fleet of 17 aircraft, some were configured for passengers, whilst others were configured for cargo. On top of a series of passenger and cargo contracts, the airline also had military contracts too.

However, in 2000, their empire would crumble and they’d cease operations. So what went so wrong?

Pre-Tower Air

In 1951, Morris K. Nachtomi joined Israeli flag carrier, El Al. Over the next 30 years, Nachtomi worked in several different divisions of El Al, including: finance, operations and marketing among others.

Thanks to this, Nachtomi was able to raise almost to the top of El Al’s senior management. Although he never rose to the level of becoming a C-Suite executive, he wasn’t far off.

Nachtomi would leave El Al in 1981, choosing to move to the United States. Due to the experience her gained at El Al, Nahctomi was approached by a number of US airlines looking to hire him.

The airline Nachtomi chose to work for was Flying Tiger Line. At the time, Flying Tiger was a cargo airline, however, Nachtomi was employed to begin their passenger division.

However, the airline would soon abandon the passenger airline business entirely in order to conserve cash. Annoyed, Nachtomi began to wonder what would happen if he started his own airline.

Wanting to use a well-established name, Nachtomi contacted the Tower Travel Corporation. Here, he would purchase the rights to the “Tower” brand, and officially incorporated his airline.

Formation

Travel Air was incorporated in 1982. After receiving private backing, Nachtomi would purchase a series of used Boeing 747-100s from Avianca and other airlines.

Using his experience as an airline executive, Nachtomi was intimately familiar with the different types of airlines. As such, Nachtomi chose to make his airline a charter airline, in order to lower costs.

With this experience, Nachtomi had picked out the perfect route to launch his airline on, New York to Brussels to Tel Aviv. This route would appeal to both business travelers and tourists alike!

Due to choosing this particular route, Nachtomi chose to base his airline in Building 178 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. However, the airline would relocate Hangar 17 within a few months of operations.

Nachtomi would apply for an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) in late 1982. After paying the fees, and subjecting himself and the airline to rigorous testing and verification, the CAB awarded Nachtomi with the AOC in early 1983.

Following this, Nachtomi officially launch his airline, commencing operations in early 1983. Nachtomi would inaugurate the flight by traveling the initial New York – Brussels – Tel Aviv route and back.

Passenger Service

After the inaugural flight, Nachtomi would strike several deals with major travel agencies in the US, as well as Israel. This would see the airline receive a steady flow of passengers during the summer months of 1983.

By the end of 1983, the airline was offering charter flights to Rome, Athens, Frankfurt, and Zurich from its New York hub. In 1984, the airline added a New York – Los Angeles route, however, this would only last a few months.

1985 would see the airline begin to offer new routes. A New York to São Paulo route was added in the peak summer, whilst New York to Paris’s Orly Airport was added in the winter.

Here, the airline would refine its business, scheduling all departures and arrivals to happen either before or after rush hour. This did many things, in particular, saving the airline millions of dollars in airport fees.

By the mid-1980’s, the airline had grown significantly and was now operating from JFK’s Terminal 7, famous for being British Airways’ terminal at JFK. During the 1990’s, the airline was operating from Eastern’s former terminal.

1993 would see the airline abandon the former Eastern terminal, in favor for the recently vacated former Pan Am terminal at JFK. This was larger, having three more terminals than Eastern’s former terminal.

In 1997, the airline was one of only a few airlines flying to Israel (due to the then-ongoing First Gulf War). Regardless, the airline would open a dedicated terminal at Ben Gurion Airport.

Cargo Service

Due to the nature of the airline business, the peak times of year are the late spring/early summer months and the early winter months. This is when the vast majority of people tend to go on vacation, either for pleasure or to visit family.

It was during these months that most aircraft don’t make as much money. During these months, it is quite often that airliners fly only half full, just about breaking even, or making only a slight profit.

In order to keep making money during these periods, Tower Air would also offer cargo services. Beginning in the mid-1980’s, the airline would purchase a few 747-100s and 747-200s to be used as cargo aircraft.

The cargo division would serve in two different kinds of roles: subcontractor and charter.

Most often, the airline would act as a subcontractor for other major cargo airlines. In this role, their cargo 747-100s and -200s would load up cargo and fly it internationally, but, all receipts would be issued in the name of the main cargo airline.

As with the passenger airline business, this too had low periods. Due to this, Tower Air would allow customers to charter an entire aircraft in order to transport large amounts of goods or those of immense personal or monetary value.

First Military Contract

Within only a few years of operating, the US Military approached Nachtomi about chartering some of his aircraft for US peacekeeping missions. Initially, Nachtomi was skeptical, however, the military assured him otherwise.

Here, the US military would use the airline for two purposes in one.

On the first leg, armed military personnel would transported to the US military’s overseas bases. Over the course of executing their contract, the airline would transport, USAF, US Army, USMC and US Navy personnel.

The return leg, would often see the airline bring back those military personnel from the US military’s overseas bases, back to the mainland US.

Occasionally, however, military journalists would be transported to the US’s overseas bases for stories they were writing. Once they had finished the research for their story, the airline would then transport them back to the US.

As a part of the same contract, the airline would also transport United Nations troops on peacekeeping mission.

Just as with the US military part of the conflict, journalists would also be transported to and from peacekeeping missions aboard the airline.

Gulf War Expansion

This contract would expire in 1990. However, Tower Air-UN/US military relations were still strong. Later that same year, the First Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Shield, would erupt.

Here, the United States would lead a coalition of 35 nations against Iraq’s illegal invasion of Kuwait.

Fearful of reprisal, the US State Department ordered all US citizens to evacuate both Iraq and Kuwait immediately, assuming that they had not done so already.

Due to the deteriorating relations between the US and many Middle Eastern nations, the US couldn’t get them to cross just one boarder. Instead, they were advised to flee to US ally, Israel.

From here, Tower Air was contracted to fly military personnel into Israel (as Israel and Saudi Arabia acted as makeshift Forward Operating Bases) in order to reinforce the Israeli and UN troops in the country.

On the way back to the US, the airline would transport the remaining Americans back to the US. Several of these flights would also see people from other US allies come as well, many of whom would stop off at London.

This contract was quite lucrative for Tower Air, who were paid handsomely for their services. During this time, Tower Air was the only US airline to operate flights to Israel, with every other US airline seeing it as too dangerous.

The Problem

The 1990’s was not as kind on the airline as the 1980’s had been. Over the course of the decade, a number of financial and operation issues would arise, coupled with the largest recession since the Great Depression (at the time!)

Due to the poor financial situation of the airline over the course of the 1990’s, executive pay was slashed. This resulted in a lawsuit from Charles Stanziale, who subsequently won $20 million in damages!

In 1997, the Zagat Survey ranked the 61 largest world airlines in terms of maintenance. Tower was ranked 59th to the bottom, ahead of only the struggling ValuJet and newly privatized Aeroflot.

Due to this, the FAA launched their own investigation. Here, they found that the airline was cannibalizing its own engines for spare parts. Because of this, the FAA fined the airline a total of $276,000.

On top of the fine, the FAA ordered the airline to buy new engines. In spite of this, the airline didn’t have the money, and as such, was forced to take out loans in order to finance the acquisition of new engines.

In early 1999, the Association of Flight Attendants sued the airline. They claimed that on its New York to Tel Aviv routes, the airline was forcing its flight attendants to stay in rundown Tel Aviv hotels, in order to save on costs.

At the same time, the aforementioned safety concerns caused the US military to suspend the airline’s military contracts.

Bankruptcy

Due to all of this, the airline was essentially rendered bankrupt. The airline had no routes in order to make money, and a piling mound of bills it needed to pay, not to mention its mounting legal fees.

The airline had barely enough money to put fuel in its aircraft, let alone pay all the other expenses it would incur.

Due to this lack of money, the airline also had to, once again, skimp on maintenance. However, instead of flying them, the airline would begin to cannibalize its own fleet, storing those aircraft at their headquarters.

By early 2000, the airline only had eight operable aircraft, with its other aircraft being cannibalized.

Due to all of this, the airline was forced to apply for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection on February 29 2000. By May 1, restructuring had not gone as planned, and the airline was forced to cease operations.

By November, the airline had relinquished its Air Operator’s Certificate and liquidators sold the airline’s remaining assets, most notably, its four remaining 747 airliners.

What Was it Like to Fly on Tower Air?

Luckily, I was fortunate enough to travel on Tower Air on a number of occasions, both for business and to go on vacation. On top of my own experiences, I have also interviewed several former employees and passengers.

For me, I found that the airline was very typical for airlines of the era. In all honesty, there wasn’t anything that really made the airline stand out in my eyes. The flight and the service were good, but not anything spectacular.

Due to the company I worked for (at the time), we used the cargo aspect of the airline on multiple occasions. This was to securely transport items of immense monetary value, here I found the service to be outstanding!

I was also fortunate enough to interview a soldier who’d flown on Tower Air during the First Gulf War, he had this to say about the airline:

I flew on the airline on my first tour. I remember my entire company lining up, seemingly for miles, all packing into a 747-200. We’d then fly on the 747-200 for 11 and a half hours to Iraq (not including stoppages).

During my time in the military I have flown on multiple aircraft, both military and civilian, to and from military bases all over the US and the world. But Tower Air was different, even among the civilian aircraft I flew on.

At least to me, it was quite clear that Tower Air offered passenger services. They didn’t really change it for us, meaning that the seats were comfier than standard military aircraft!

As soon as I got home from my tour, I booked a vacation and flew on Tower Air once again! Dare I say that the service was better.

How Safe Was Tower Air?

Sadly, unless you had a time machine, you will never get to fly on the airline. Nevertheless, it is still quite important to know how safe and/or dangerous the airline was.

By both contemporary and modern standards, the airline is considered to have been quite safe.

In its 17 year history, flying thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of passengers, the airline only ever had one aviation-related accident. This took place on December 20 1995.

The airline had operated Flight 41, between New York’s JFK Airport and Miami International Airport, during the winter for several years previously. December 1995 was no different.

Upon taking off, a snowstorm caused the 747-100 to veer off the runway and crash. Thankfully, there were no fatalities, but one flight attendant was seriously injured, and 24 passengers received minor injuries.

NTSB ruled it as pilot error as he should have never attempted to takeoff during a snowstorm. The airline rejected these claims, citing the pilot’s military career, and previous work experience (almost 30+ years as a pilot).

In terms of the aircraft that the airline operated, the airline only operated the 747-100 and 747-200 variants of the Boeing 747. Although these variants are more dangerous than subsequent 747s, they are still incredibly safe!

Legacy

Due to its immense success, the airline left a huge legacy on the aviation industry as a whole! It may not be as big as World Airways’, but it is still just as noticeable!

Airline Industry

Although Tower Air was a charter airline, its initial success was noticed by a number of major world airlines. In particular, many of them saw its success as an airline as a potential rival.

Tower was so successful because it didn’t really act like your typical commercial airline. Not only did it offer passenger services, but also cargo services, which was rather uncommon during the 1980’s.

After seeing Tower (and other charter airlines’ success) many major world airlines began evaluating adding a cargo division. By the end of the 1990’s, most major world airlines would add their own cargo division.

In part, this would also inspire many airlines to diversify their business beyond just cargo and passenger operations. In recent years, this has been into executive aviation, such as Qatar Airways’ Qatar Executive division.

Charter Airlines

The first charter airlines originated in the 1960’s and 1970’s, meaning that Tower was fairly late to party! Regardless, by the late 1980’s, Tower Air was among the largest charter airliners of its time!

As a result of this, many of the changes Tower implemented were later implemented by other charter airlines. Many of these were small changes, a few were quite major.

The concept of the military giving air charter companies contracts had been used since the Vietnam War. However, by the late 1980’s, they made up a significant portion of Tower’s revenue.

With this, several other air charter companies would also begin to rely on military contracts. When these began to wind down in the 1990’s, many of the smaller air charter companies would also go out of business.

What did you think of Tower Air? Did you ever fly on them? Tell me in the comments!

Featured image courtesy of Aero Icarus via Flickr.