Sun Country Airlines is an airline company founded in June 1982, and it commenced operations on January 1983. It was an American ultra-low-cost passenger and cargo airline and the eleventh largest in the United States by passengers carried. The airline operates over 100 passenger routes between 81 destinations in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Central America, and the Caribbean. It operates at Dallas/FortWorth International Airport and Harry Reid International Airport. On the Cargo side, this airline company is a contract cargo operator for Amazon Air.

History

The airline began its operations in January 1983 with a single Boeing 727-200 jetliner. The original staff of the airline company consisted of sixteen pilots, sixteen flight attendants, one office persona, and three mechanics. Many employees had worked for Braniff International Airways, which ceased operations on May 12, 1982. Captain Jim Oslen was the founder and the first President who acted as a Chief Pilot.

In the year 1988, the headquarters of the airline company was located on the grounds of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. In the year 2001, the company suspended operations due to its financial troubles. The airline was also acquired by Petters Group Worldwide and Whitebox advisors in July 2006.

The airline also furloughed 45 of its 156 pilots and also scaled back its summer schedule due to the rising fuel costs. This airline company indicated it had hoped to get $50 million in loans or some other kind of financial help from the state of Minnesota and the airport's commission. At the end of September 2008, Gadek also called for a 50% pay deferral to all the remaining employees. Tom Petters resigned from his position after an FBI probe discovered that this airline had suffered financial fraud on a massive scale.

Rebuilding and Davis's brother’s ownership

Sun Country was brought out of bankruptcy for $34 million by the Davis family in July 2011. In 2015, the airline company board hired ZarirErani as the President and CEO. This airline had a net income of $27 million in 2015, dropping by 41% to $16 million in 2016.

Apollo Global management ownership

On December 14, 2017, Davis brothers announced they would sell this airline company to funds affiliated with the New York based Apollo Global Management. Amazon Air also bought a minority stake in Sun Country on December 14, 2019. It had plans for the airline to operate cargo flights under the Amazon Air brand. The passenger model of this Airline Company is heavily leisure focused and designed to help stabilize the revenues during non-peak seasons.

Sun Country announced that they would begin operating Cargo flights for Amazon in December 2019. On March 2021, this airline company became listed publicly and traded on the NASDAQ under the ticket SNCY.

Services

The airline company previously offered two classes of service with First Class and Economy seats. When the airline company was sold to the Apollo Global Management, they changed this airline to an ultra-low-cost carrier with aircraft operated in all-economy configuration. The airline company now offers three variations of economy seats Best, Exit Row, and Standard.

The airline company ran the first frequent flyer program Sun Country VIP Club from the year 2004 to July 2006. It was then replaced by Ufly, and Ufly was then replaced by Sun Country from November 2018.

Sun Country airlines flies to around 81 destinations and it operates more than 100 routes as of March 2022. It operates throughout the Caribbean, United States, Mexico and Central America. This airline company also provides charter services for the United States Armed Forces and NCAA Football teams.

Fleet.

As of November 2022, the airline company fleet consists of entirely all the Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft. Many destinations are seasonally served as demand tends to grow and falls throughout the year.

The airline company has interline agreements with Condor, EVA Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Icelandair and China airlines.