International Jet Celebrates 40 Years of Private Charter

September 24 22:08 2019
International Jet Celebrates 40 Years of Private Charter
On September 25, 2019 International Jet celebrated 40 years of private charter jet services. The company has been based out of Centennial Airport in Centennial, Colorado since 1980 and is the longest tenured company at the airport. International Jet has a unique and varied history.
 
Aside from flying celebrities and private passengers for business and personal private charter, the company has flown missile codes to air bases around the country for the military, cancelled checks for banks, and even once flew a gorilla — BeBe — to the Cincinnati Zoo. International Jet has also flown over 10,000 AirLife flights over a twenty-five year period. Since 1991, International Jet has flown the Dream Chaser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2014 the company was honored with NBAA’s Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership.
 
The 40th celebration was held on September 25, 2019 at the International Jet offices and hangar at Centennial Airport.
 

Early Roots

In 1979 Lynn Krogh and Bill Milam began the company in Long Beach, California. The first plane was a 1975 Cessna 421 Turbo Prop. Business was good and in February of 1980 the company acquired a Lear 24 and moved the operation to Denver, Colorado, where space was rented from Tiger Air. During this time International Jet flew a lot of cargo flights for Emery Air Freight and Purolator.

In June of 1980 we added a Lear 25 and became the first charter Lear Jet at Centennial Airport. Our first hangar, today’s maintenance hangar, was built shortly after arriving in Denver. Today, International Jet is the longest tenured company at Centennial Airport.

We flew cargo for several years and at one point we even operated a helicopter charter. Long-time Denver residents might remember Mike Silva, pilot of the KCNC-TV helicopter. He was the first pilot for the International Jet helicopter charter services — Shy Charter.

During this time we also had a military contract to fly missile launch codes to the different air bases throughout the United States.

Transition To Passenger

Brian Smith joined International Jet in 1989 as the company was transitioning to more passenger charters. Columbia Air Life (later became HealthOne) became a long-time customer in the early ’90s. Over a twenty-five year period International Jet flew more than 10,000 medical transplants using twelve to fifteen different planes.

Groundbreaking Event

In 2002, we broke ground on the current building at Centennial Airport and it opened in 2003. A series of large aircraft were added in the mid-2000s as International Jet became a completely passenger charter company.

In 2008 Brian became a full partner in the business.

Dream Chaser and Make-A-Wish

At International Jet we believe in giving back to the community and we put those beliefs into action. Five times one of our jets has been turned into the Dream Chaser, or “like a Lifesaver,” as the kids say, and we do our best to make a few dreams come true by taking some of the kids on a flight to remember. This year (2019) we flew Make-A-Wish Foundation kids from Denver, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque and Los Angeles. The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) honored International Jet Aviation Services and the Make-A-Wish Foundation as co-recipients of NBAA’s 2014 Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership.

Clouds Of Fun!

We’ve flown a lot of interesting and wonderful people over the years, including: Neil Armstrong, Pat Bowlen, Johnny Cash, Jack Nicklaus, Julia Roberts and Oprah Winfrey. We look forward to flying them, other superstars, executives and families for another forty years.

It’s all been possible because of the great people who made International Jet their home — some for a short while, others for years. We couldn’t have accomplished it without you! Come celebrate with us. Follow the link below to confirm your reservation.

Media Contact
Company Name: INTERNATIONAL JET
Contact Person: Lisa Visin
Email: Send Email
Phone: 303-520-3104
Country: United States
Website: https://www.internationaljet.com