How it started
History
In 1992, Atlas Air began operations when the airline's founder, Michael Chowdry, started leasing aircraft to airlines.
In 1993, China Airlines, the first customer, initiated operations with Atlas Air with one airplane on an aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) agreement. By 1995, Atlas Air began trading publicly. In 1997, Atlas placed an order for 10 new Boeing 747-400F aircraft with another two orders for 747-400Fs placed in 1998.
On January 30, 2004, Atlas Air Worldwide entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In July 2004, the parent company completed its restructuring plan and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
In 2006, Amnesty International released a report on extraordinary rendition, stating that Atlas Air was one of the airlines used by the US government for rendering detainees. This was the basis for the song "Atlas Air" recorded by Massive Attack for the album Heligoland. In 2007, Atlas Air began a multiyear training contract with the United States Air Force to provide training for the pilots of Air Force One. The contract also provided training for the Presidential Airlift Group. This program has been renewed several times and remains in place as of 2022.
In March 2010, Atlas Air was awarded the contract to operate the Boeing Dreamlifter (officially the Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter), transporting aircraft parts to Boeing from suppliers around the world. It commenced operation in September 2010 under a CMI contract. In 2011, Atlas Air took the first North American delivery of the Boeing 747-8 Freighter (Boeing 747-8F).
From Wikipedia’s article on Atlas Air, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3