Air Cargo is now the largest commercial owner and operator of Shorts aircraft in the world. At one time there were other operators with large fleets of Shorts aircraft, but these were all passenger operations. Passenger commuter operators are now repositioning their fleets to include more regional jets and larger turboprops with the Shorts aircraft being displaced. They are not particularly attractive in the passenger market because they are not pressurized and relatively slow when compared to newer aircraft. This negative view of the Shorts aircraft in passenger operations is an advantage to Air Cargo as they are excellent cargo aircraft. They are built almost square and have a great deal of internal volume in which to load and unload the aircraft and have the cubic capacity to accommodate the bulky packages and containers that are becoming the norm in the package express industry.
Air Cargo is also the most integrated Shorts operator. Air Cargo is extremely unique in having its own flight training device in-house for pilot training. This is one of only two Shorts simulators in existence in the world. The availability of this simulator on site allows Air Cargo to train and keep their pilots current on the Shorts aircraft at much lower cost than other operators who have to send their pilots to La Guardia (New York City) for training on the only other simulator.
Air Cargo, with its central maintenance facility in Milwaukee, has the equipment and tooling to perform all maintenance functions on the Shorts aircraft. Air Cargo performs Hot Section Inspections (HSI’s) on its engines. Air Cargo also owns the aforementioned STC’s that allow the conversion of the aircraft from passenger to cargo configurations and performs all of these conversions in its own shop. An avionics shop and instrument shop are also located at the Milwaukee facility.
Air Cargo has one of the largest Shorts parts inventories in the world. When operators have ceased Shorts operations, Air Cargo has acquired their aircraft, parts and tooling. Damaged aircraft have also been acquired and stripped for useful parts. This has allowed Air Cargo to acquire a very extensive parts inventory at a very attractive cost.
