MIAMI – Tim Strauss, the former CEO of Amerijet International and vice president of cargo at Air Canada, has quietly resurfaced as CEO of 21 Air, a small cargo airline that last week began flying for Amazon and also provides air capacity to DHL Express, FreightWaves has learned.
21 Air operates eight Boeing 767 medium freighters from a base at Miami International Airport and is owned by Avia Investments LLC, a joint venture that is majority owned by Houston Astros owner and logistics industry luminary Jim Crane. Canadian freighter operator Cargojet has a 25% stake in the company.
21 Air has yet to announce Strauss’ hiring, but three sources with ties to management, including two former employees, said Strauss took the helm around April of this year. The top executive listed on the company’s website is Chief Operating Officer Michael Mendez, who previously was CEO. The latest experience shown on Strauss’ LinkedIn profile is “Retirement.”
Strauss did not return calls or emails seeking details about the leadership change. A person in 21 Air’s Greensboro, North Carolina, corporate office took a message asking to speak to Mendez, but he did not respond.
Strauss was replaced in October 2023 after three turbulent years as CEO of Miami-based Amerijet. The veteran cargo executive has said he left of his own volition, but several sources close to the company at the time said investors that owned the airline declined to renew his contract. Strauss got into a power struggle with founder and predecessor Vic Karjian and resigned after one year on the job, but Amerijet’s board coaxed him back after 10 days.
Strauss presided over a major expansion that nearly tripled the size of Amerijet’s cargo fleet to about 22 aircraft just as a post-pandemic freight downturn was beginning. Amerijet lost money when six Boeing 757 converted freighters it rented took longer than expected to be approved for company use by aviation authorities and didn’t generate any revenue. Amerijet laid off some employees, closed a small freight forwarding unit and ultimately was forced to return the 757s to lessors in January.
Crane, who has a net worth of $2.4 billion, according to Forbes, made his fortune in logistics. He founded Eagle Global Logistics in the mid-1980s before selling it to a private equity firm in 2007. Eagle was eventually acquired by Ceva Logistics. With proceeds from the sale, Crane formed an investment management company, Crane Capital Group, and in 2008 he formed Crane Worldwide Logistics.
History of 21 Air
21 Air owns two of the planes in its fleet, and the rest are provided by customers. Amazon has agreed to supply seven B767 cargo jets for 21 Air to fly in its parcel network, one of which was deployed last week.
21 Air was founded a decade ago by Adolfo Moreno, who for years ran an airfreight wholesaler in Miami that bought space from charter operators to serve the South American market.
Frustrated with all-cargo carriers that wouldn’t customize service for smaller customers, Moreno started his own airline that he envisioned as more attuned to 21st century practices. He acquired an aircraft and then rented crews until 21 Air received an operating certificate allowing it to fly on its own.
The company began operating quasi-scheduled service, but the extreme seasonality of shipments in Latin America led 21 Air to become a full-time provider of dedicated contract charters.
21 Air began flying a couple of routes in mid-2020 for DHL. It now provides crews for five DHL 767 aircraft.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
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