Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve seen several new airline startups in the United States, including Avelo Airlines, Breeze Airways, and Aha!. There was another startup that claimed to have plans to launch operations soon, but that now seems much less likely to happen.
The basics of airline startup Airbahn
Airbahn was founded over four years ago (in February 2018) by Tariq M. Chaudhary. He is also the CEO of Airblue, which is Pakistan’s second largest airline, with a fleet of Airbus A320-family aircraft.
The carrier’s plan was to operate flights in the Western United States between mid-tier markets, initially from Southern California to Northern California, Nevada, and Western Canada. The intent was to operate one class Airbus A320s, and Airbahn even already had its first aircraft on the ground in Ontario (ONT), which was a 12 year old jet acquired from Airblue.
Well, Airbahn has just hit a major roadblock for launching operations, though this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, and one has to wonder what exactly the management team was thinking.
DOT revokes Airbahn’s transportation certificate
The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has this week revoked Airbahn’s certificate, after the company sought a further extension to meet the DOT’s requirements. The DOT gave the following reasons for this decision:
- Airbahn has been in Phase 3 of FAA certification for over three years
- Airbahn isn’t close completing safety certifications
- Based on how long it has been, Airbahn employees already require recurrent training without the company having operated a single flight
As the filing explains:
More than two years have elapsed since the Department found the air carrier fit, and Airbahn has still not provided the information necessary to make its authority effective and commence its operations. While the Department is willing to work with applicants, where warranted, and allow additional time to file information, we cannot allow…