Is This The End For US Airline Startup Airbahn?

Is This The End For US Airline Startup Airbahn?

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Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve seen several new airline startups in the United States, including Avelo AirlinesBreeze 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 applications to remain pending indefinitely. Furthermore, processing and maintaining incomplete applications delay the Department’s ability to process applications from companies that have prepared complete filings and are prepared to complete the steps necessary to commence operations.

So while Airbahn could likely go through the whole process again, this is a major setback if the company actually did plan on launching operations. That being said, there’s a lot that’s very strange here:

  • There is someone legitimate behind the airline who has run another airline, unlike some other “airline” startups
  • At the same time, it hasn’t seemed to me like launching operations has been a priority for Airbahn, as the company has been moving at a glacial pace
  • Yet oddly Airbahn has been hiring employees and even has an Airbus A320 parked in Ontario, so management must have on some level been serious about launching operations
  • I could never really make sense of Airbahn’s business model to begin with, as the airline would be going head-to-head against other airlines in most markets, as SoCal is a pretty competitive airline market

Bottom line

It sounds like we shouldn’t expect Airbahn to launch operations anytime soon, as the DOT has revoked the carrier’s authority. It has been an exciting couple of years for airline startups in the United States, but it looks like that trend is ending with Airbahn.

I’m still not sure I get what was going on with Airbahn. If launching operations was a priority for Airbahn, the airline wouldn’t have had its certificate revoked, as it would have moved through phases of certification more quickly.

Yet the airline is clearly legitimate on some level, in the sense that the company had a plane at its base and was hiring. Very odd…

What do you make of this whole Airbahn situation?

(Tip of the hat to @IshrionA)

Conversations (10)
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  1. Ann Guest

    Hello!
    I had a couple of interviews with Airbahn in 2021, for Flight Attendant….I am hopeful they may regroup and re-apply with the DOT. Does anyone know if they are going to try and launch as a new Orange County airline again ? I have been so hopeful. Can anyone give me any info? Thanks, Ann. email. [email protected]

  2. Super Diamond

    Are we just forgetting that a pandemic happened in which demand for air travel fell to almost zero? Hardly a welcoming environment in which to launch a new airline. Perhaps the company paused in its application process because it was cheaper than continuing the application and figured it could resume once demand for air travel sufficiently recovered.

    1. Essam A. Ismail Guest

      We are not forgetting the Pandamic down times for Operational airlines ONLY , this a company in the start up certification phase, the FAA was available 24/7 to help process and approve the certification process, but the company has no management structure except for money hungry owner and CFO, who are constantly minipulating the system, FAA Regs, trying to start an American carrier in the shadow of another Pakistani national carrier he owns as well....

      We are not forgetting the Pandamic down times for Operational airlines ONLY , this a company in the start up certification phase, the FAA was available 24/7 to help process and approve the certification process, but the company has no management structure except for money hungry owner and CFO, who are constantly minipulating the system, FAA Regs, trying to start an American carrier in the shadow of another Pakistani national carrier he owns as well. He also owns the aircraft leasing company which owns the ONLY 1 aircraft and leased same to airBahn,
      The bottom line, airbahn was and still on a collision course heading for a distaster. finally the FAA/DOT had enough of this International garbage and time to dump it.

  3. GBOAC Diamond

    Seems to. me you can't end something that has yet to be started:-)

  4. Steve Diamond

    Surely a merger with BALTIA is in order.

  5. Andrew Guest

    Not be TOO cynical but...

    Sounds like a money laundering scheme to me.

    1. Dick Bupkiss Guest

      My thoughts exactly.

  6. TravelinWilly Diamond

    OT: What ever happened to that bogus US-based airline with one 747-200 that’s been around for years but has never flown anywhere?

    1. ConcordeBoy Diamond

      Well, not that, but "Air Gumbo" was a proposal from 1998 that continues to renew its website, 24yrs later....

      https://airgumbo.com/aboutus.html

  7. DCAWABN Guest

    And not a single person was shocked.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Steve Diamond

Surely a merger with BALTIA is in order.

1
TravelinWilly Diamond

OT: What ever happened to that bogus US-based airline with one 747-200 that’s been around for years but has never flown anywhere?

1
Ann Guest

Hello! I had a couple of interviews with Airbahn in 2021, for Flight Attendant….I am hopeful they may regroup and re-apply with the DOT. Does anyone know if they are going to try and launch as a new Orange County airline again ? I have been so hopeful. Can anyone give me any info? Thanks, Ann. email. [email protected]

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