Oh Baltia, oh Baltia, oh Baltia... Could America's oldest "startup airline" finally be coming to an end? As with any post about Baltia, it probably makes sense to start with some background information.
Continue reading: Baltia Hit With $22 Million Judgment, Largest Shareholder Arrested
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Just about any ‘airline startup’ with Russian connections and shady management is a money laundering operation.
See: Air Belgium.
Fascinating reading Lucky. What a story. It could make a movie at the and. The airline which never flew.
From the evidence you present, I doubt investors are 'poor/stupid'. I think they have just paid the price for money laundering.
Crazy. Drago posted all the time on the Baltia message board on investors hub (I think he was “The Lieutenant”). Seemed like a true believer in Baltia.
Does this mean the Baltia Charge Card I signed up for and the 100,000 mile welcome bonus is worthless? I was hoping to use it to upgrade from proletariat to bourgeoisis class on their planned Palm Springs - Murmansk SunSeeker direct service next year. Oh well, win some lose some. Luckily I hung onto my Braniff Metroplex Club points for a rainy day although I have to say their colourful 727s are a rare sight at LAX these days.
The Lieutenant is accepting donations: https://www.gofundme.com/nqu4ad-drain-the-swamp
I’m surprised this is filed under “other airlines”, I though for sure that Baltia would have its own seperate category by now.
This may be a stupid question, but how would it be used for money laundering? I always thought the front company had to be seemingly profitable?
This is a forum that is amusing to read. It starts back in 2009.
https://www.indeed.com/forum/job/flight-attendant/Baltia-Air-Lines-hottest-United-Sates-startup-Airline/t60823
Also another story about them in 2009.
http://theairlineblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/baltia-air-lines-20-year-old-startup.html
From the latter story their VP of finance at that time stated -
"As for finances, Clare claims that one 747 will generate $40 million in profit off of $100 million in revenue annually, even with a 64% load factor. Voyager tickets will be between $800 and $1,200; Super Voyager seats will be around $2,000 apiece. Business class seats will go in the range of $4,000 to $5,000, while first class seats will set you back a slick $16,000. "First class has only twelve seats," "
I know nothing of the airline business but I can't imagine any airline making 40% of profit of that revenue, if that was true, none of them would ever go bankrupt.
A number of the comments are pretty funny. Comments suggesting the write had no clue what he was talking about (the writer didn't believe Baltia would succeed).