Low-cost airline «Sun Country Airlines»

Sun Country Airlines is an American low-cost, cargo airline headquartered in Minneapolis and based at Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport.After the demise of Braniff International Airways in 1982, some former Braniff employees convinced the Minneapolis-St. Paul-based tourism company MLT Vacations to procure a Boeing 727-200 to fly to their vacation destinations. MLT used a Braniff Boeing 727-200, which was in Minneapolis-St. Paul was shut down for charter flights to their holiday destinations. In June 1982, the agreement to found Sun Country Airlines was closed. MLT took over 51% of the company, with the remaining shares going to the company’s pilots and flight attendants. An Air Florida B727-227 Advanced originally intended for Braniff was secured for the start of the flight.

Sun Country’s crew consisted of 16 pilots, 16 flight attendants, three mechanics and one clerk. The first flight took place on January 30, 1983 from Sioux Falls to Las Vegas. In the early days of the airline, the flight crew did all the necessary things before and during flights, such as selling liquor and preparing meals, while the pilots processed flight documents and additionally assisted in serving passengers. After only 6 months the airline was in the black.

The company flew profitably through slow but steady expansion in the 1980s. In 1986, the company operated its first «wide-body» aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 leased from Northwest Airlines.

Sun Country undertook charter flights for civic organizations, societies, sports groups and various other groups. In 1989, Sun Country became a member of the Civil Reserve Airfleet (CRAF).

Sun Country flew many charter missions during the first Iraq War in 1990-1991. To better support Operation Desert Storm, 130 company personnel were mobilized by the U.S. Air Force drafted.

After a record profit in fiscal 1991, additional Boeing 727s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s were purchased. Several tourism companies chose Sun Country as their airline and the network expanded with flights from the Midwest to Las Vegas, Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean.

In the mid 1990’s the Mark Travel Group bought the airline and changed the business profile to a small niche airline. The following years pushed the airline to its limits due to the obsolescence and length of use of the machines. A new management started a renewal program to meet the needs of the passengers. In June 1999, the company’s management decided to switch the fleet’s operations from charter to scheduled services. New routes were offered from Minneapolis and Milwaukee to Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, Washington, DC and Phoenix. In addition, a frequent flyer program called «Smile Award» was included.

In 2000, Sun Country began to renew its fleet with new Boeing 737s. Since the DC-10 fleet was outdated and too expensive to maintain, the fleet was reduced and the last DC-10 was retired in spring 2001.

The strong competition with Northwest Airlines and the events of September 11, 2001 forced the company to first reduce its offer and then cease operations on December 8, 2001. Sun Country lost most of its Boeing 727 fleet and its new Boeing 737s to bankruptcy. Despite everything, Sun Country retained its pilot’s license. In the months that followed, local MN Airlines, LLC filed for bankruptcy and started over. Freed from bankruptcy, Sun Country standardized the fleet to the Boeing 737-800 and began combined scheduled and charter services from Minneapolis to Laughlin, the casinos of Nevada and some charters. After that, charter flights with a focus on Florida, Mexico and the west coast were added.

On October 31, 2006, the airline was fully acquired by Petter Group Worldwide and Whitebox Advisor.

On April 1, 2008, the company announced that 45 of the 156 pilots would be on temporary retirement and that the aircraft would be used less than in normal summer flights in order to absorb the sharply increased fuel costs.

In May 2015, the board of directors announced that operations would be suspended if there was no agreement with the pilots’ union on a new employment contract. The talks have been going on since 2010.

In December 2019, Sun Country Airlines announced that it would also operate Boeing 737-800BCF cargo aircraft for Amazon Air in the future. The first cargo flight for Amazon Air was operated on May 14, 2020.