USGlobal Airways remains a curious outlier in aviation history—an airline that, despite existing for over 30 years, never operated one commercial flight.
Many airlines fade into obscurity without operating a single flight, but USGlobal, formerly known as Baltia Air Lines, managed to continue onwards from 1989 through aircraft acquisitions and interactions with governing bodies. Here’s the story of USGlobal Airways—so far.
Greetings from the Soviet Union
Baltia Air Lines was founded in August 1989 by Latvian pilot Igor Dmitrowsky. The airline’s main appeal was its ability to connect many different cities in the Soviet Union to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City.
Dmitrowsky proposed nonstop service from the United States to what is now Russia, which was billed as one of the primary means of connecting the two nations after the Cold War.
In 1991, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) granted Baltia authority to operate flights from New York to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and Riga. Baltia also wanted routes connecting Kyiv, Minsk, and Tbilisi, but the Soviet Union collapsed on 26 December 1991, liberating each destination.
Despite the DOT’s approval, Baltia didn’t have an aircraft to its name yet. Once it acquired a Boeing 747-200 from Cathay Pacific, the DOT revoked its route authority as the airline didn’t have the capital to fly.
Boeing After Boeing of False Starts
Undeterred, Baltia secured new capital in 2007 and regained DOT approval in 2008. The airline now had the right to fly from St. Petersburg to New York. However, the airline sold or scrapped its 747 at some point prior.
Baltia purchased another Boeing 747 from Pakistan International Airlines in 2009, though it didn’t have its engines. The airline gave it to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Malaysia, where it would ultimately be scrapped.
Dmitrowsky acquired another 747 from Northwest Airlines. This time, it was painted in Baltia’s livery. Despite being able to fly, this aircraft, too, never got approval from the DOT.
To save on operational costs, Baltia moved to Willow Run Airport (YIP), a small airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan. This airport was primarily for private jets and other small aircraft. The Boeing had to be parked outside, attracting much attention from locals.
The Boeing was on display at the Willow Run Thunder Over Michigan Airshow in 2014, attended by over 100,000 aviation enthusiasts. However, the airline had to sell this jet two years later.
Dmitrowsky passed away on 4 January 2016. Vice President Anthony Koulouris took over as the airline’s new CEO.
Failure to Launch
In 2017, reports stated that Baltia racked up $119 million in debt. The airline sold shares on the New York Stock Exchange to continue funding the business.
Once again, without a jet, Baltia relocated to Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, New York. Koulouris then renamed the airline to USGlobal Airways. In 2018, the new CEO shared the company’s aspirations to fly from New York to Tel Aviv, Israel, and Paris, France.
USGlobal signed a letter of intent to lease a Boeing 767-300ER from Kalitta Air and attempted to acquire Songbird Airways’ operating certificate, but both plans fizzled. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revoked USGlobal’s Certificate of Public Convenience in 2018.
Coupled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suspending the airline’s stock trading after failing to release a financial report in two years, the airline has never given an update since.
