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With large groups of people needing to travel all across the country, one company easily saw an opportunity to do business with several sports teams that had to fly to 20 to 30 destinations in a single season.
For over twenty years, Champion Air became a trusted name for NBA, NHL, and collegiate teams. In the late 2010s, it inspired teams to start purchasing their own jets. This article explores Champion Air’s history.
Champion Air’s Big Bet
Champion Air started out as MGM Grand Air in 1987. It was founded by businessman Kirk Kerkorian, who also owned the titular hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline initially focused on upscale leisure travel on Boeing 727s and Douglas DC-8s.
The airline flew the LAX to JFK route and catered primarily to businessmen and celebrities who had a lot of money to spend. However, the airline later discovered it was losing business to private jet companies. After realizing the uphill battle, Kerkorian wanted to sell the airline in 1994.
In July 1995, MGM Grand sold the airline to Front Page Tours, a tour operator based in Edina, Minnesota. Front Page Tours planned to use the airline to charter sports teams and their fans. The airline’s name was changed to Champion Air, and the fleet was updated to customized Boeing 727s.
Champion Air would move its hub to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) and establish other destinations in Detroit, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, St. Louis, and Oklahoma City.
The airline would then serve two purposes: charter sports teams during seasons and charter customers who had purchased MLT Vacations packages, as Northwest owned MLT Vacations at the time.
Champion Air Goes for Gold
In March 1997, Front Page Tours sold the airline to a joint venture between Northwest Airlines and Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad. Champion Air’s headquarters relocated to Northwest’s Minneapolis headquarters. Though Northwest owned Sun Country Airlines, this acquisition allowed Champion Air to surpass Sun Country as the number-one charter operator in the region.
It didn’t appear Champion Air was open to flying the everyday passenger as early reports indicated. Based on the list of destinations, the airline would charter teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves and/or Wild, Detroit Pistons and/or Red Wings, Dallas Mavericks and/or Stars, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, and the St. Louis Blues.
In the mid-2000s, Champion Air wasn’t doing too well financially, despite interest in MLT vacations among travelers. In late 2007, Northwest would transfer all MLT customers’ flights from Champion Air to Northwest. Seeing that most of Champion’s revenue came from MLT, this was a big blow for the carrier.
The writing was on the wall for Champion Air in December 2007. Champion Air CEO Lee Steele told reporters that the airline ‘lost all contract revenue’ on its pre-existing charter arrangements for the 13 NBA teams and Northwest’s subsidiary MLT Vacations.
Champion Air Eliminated from Contention
On 31 March 2008, Champion Air announced that it would cease operations on 31 May, when most NBA teams were finished playing that season. At the time of closing, the airline had 14 Boeing 727s and around 550 employees.
The explanation was the high cost of jet fuel, which, at the time, was oil at more than $100 per barrel. A representative claimed the airline had enough money to pay for staffing and operations until the last flight.
One anonymous employee commented on the airline’s closing at the end of May 2008.
‘I am not going to discuss or debate the circumstances only to say that the company responsibly closed out operations without leaving passengers stranded or filing for bankruptcy,’ he said.
Most of the remaining 727s were later scrapped, while the rest were sold to ‘foreign carriers.’
Northwest Airlines would later handle the contracts of the 13 NBA teams, though the airline didn’t even make it to the following preseason. Delta Air Lines acquired Northwest Airlines later in 2008. MLT Vacations then rebranded as Delta Vacations, which is still in business today.
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