Global Crossing Airlines

Global Crossing Airlines
IATA ICAO Call sign
G6[1] GXA[2] GEMINI[2]
FoundedSeptember 5, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-09-05)
Commenced operationsAugust 7, 2021; 4 years ago (2021-08-07)
AOC #GCXA466Q[3]
Operating bases
Fleet size18
Traded asNEO: JET
ISINUS37960G4010
HeadquartersMiami, Florida, United States
Key people
Websiteglobalairlinesgroup.com

Global Crossing Airlines, Inc. (operating as GlobalX Airlines) is an American Part 121 domestic, flag, and supplemental charter airline headquartered in Miami, Florida. GlobalX operates the majority of deportation flights on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.[4][5][6] This includes contracts by the Donald Trump administration where GlobalX planes deport immigrants to an El Salvador maximum security mega-prison known as CECOT.[5]

The airline was founded in 2018 by Ed Wegel, who previously co-founded the reincarnated Eastern Air Lines. The airline provides ad-hoc and scheduled passenger, charter, and cargo airlift to destinations throughout the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

History

In 2020, GlobalX completed a merger and spin-out with Canada Jetlines, an ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario.[7] In late 2020, GlobalX formed CubaX, a tour operator that provides weekly non-stop flights from Miami to Havana, Cuba.[8] In 2021, CubaX began operating daily charter flights using GlobalX aircraft on behalf of Havana Air.

Deportations

Main article: Deportation in the second presidency of Donald Trump

GlobalX began operating deportation flights in 2024, and has handled more than half of deportation flights in 2024 and 2025. It operates many transfer flights of migrants within the United States, and immigration lawyers say these transfer flights have made it difficult to track their clients.[6]

In January 2025, a flight operated by GlobalX transporting shackled deported migrants from the United States to Brazil experienced repeated technical problems, including struggles to take off, broken air conditioning, and an unscheduled landing due to technical issues. During the flight, multiple people fainted from heat exhaustion. The conditions on the flight led to diplomatic tensions between the United States and Brazil, with Brazilian government ministers describing the handling of the deportees on the flight as "unacceptable" and "degrading".[9]

GlobalX handled several controversial flights in March 2025. On March 15, three GlobalX flights, aircraft tail numbers N278GX, N837VA, and N630VA, were used to transport Venezuelan nationals being held at El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas. The deportation flights traveled from Harlingen, Texas, to Honduras, where the plane sat on the tarmac for three hours before taking off again for El Salvador. There, the prisoners were transferred to Salvadoran custody and imprisonment.[10][11] On March 20, GlobalX operated a flight to bring hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador, despite a federal judge blocking the flight.[6]

An investigative article by ProPublica, published April 1, 2025, reported concerns for passenger safety by flight attendants on GlobalX detainee flights chartered by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE).[12] The attendants were concerned about how they would be able to evacuate aircraft in the event of an emergency given that the passengers were handcuffed and shackled.[13]

On April 16, GlobalX's executive chairman, Chris Jamroz, resigned from the board of directors of the Royal Ontario Museum after his links to the deportation flights were reported on by Canadian independent journalist Rachel Gilmore.[14]

On May 5, 404 Media reported that the airline's computer systems had been hacked and its website defaced by the hacker group Anonymous. The individuals claiming to be the hackers provided 404 Media with flight records and passenger manifests from January 19 through May 1, 2025, and 404 Media reported that the data matched other publicly-available records. The hackers claimed that they accessed an Amazon Web Services account belonging to the airline, with 404 Media reporting that "The hacker told 404 Media they managed to find a token belonging to a GlobalX developer. They then used that to find access and secret keys for GlobalX's AWS instances which contained the data."[15] GlobalX later filled a report with the SEC confirming the attack, though it did not confirm or deny the claim that data was leaked.[16]

Airline agreements

On January 14, 2025, GlobalX announced an electronic interline agreement with United Airlines regarding cargo space on their Chicago–San Juan route through the online platform Airblox.[17]

Fleet

Current

A GlobalX Airbus A320-200 with an alternate blue livery.
Another GlobalX Airbus A320-200 with an alternate white livery.

As of August 2025, GlobalX operated the following aircraft:[18]

GlobalX fleet
Aircraft In
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
B P E Total
Airbus A320-200 10 — 68 – – 68
12 24 114 150
– – 179 179
– – 180 180
– 24 156 180
Airbus A321-200 4 – 12 22 149 183
– – 200 200
– – 210 210
XCargo fleet
Airbus A321-200P2F 4 – Cargo
Total 18 —

Former

Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A319-100 1 2023 2025 [19]

See also

References

  1. ^ "IATA Airline and Location Code Search". iata.org. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Preformatted (Free Fields) GENOT Message" (PDF). faa.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  3. ^ "Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". Federal Aviation Administration. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  4. ^ "Airline at center of Brazil fiasco key to Trump's deportations". MSN. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Funk, McKenzie (April 1, 2025). "Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is "Only a Matter of Time"". ProPublica.
  6. ^ a b c Singh, Maanvi; Craft, Will; Witherspoon, Andrew; Alzona, Angelica; Peabody, Marcus (September 10, 2025). "Plane to purgatory: how Trump's deportation program shuttles immigrants into lawless limbo". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  7. ^ "Global Crossing Airlines appoints new president of Canada Jetlines affiliate". Skies Mag. December 14, 2020. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  8. ^ "Global Crossing Airlines Launches Its First Tour Operator, CubaX". Yahoo. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  9. ^ "U.S.-Brazil Deportations Spark Diplomatic Tensions". The New York Times. January 28, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  10. ^ Satter, Raphael; Hesson, Ted; Shepardson, David (March 17, 2025). "Flight data shows timeline of the Venezuelan deportation operation". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 19, 2025. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  11. ^ Blitzer, Jonathan (September 8, 2025). "Enemies of the State". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  12. ^ Funk, McKenzie. "Flight attendants on deportation planes voice concerns". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  13. ^ Funk, McKenzie (April 1, 2025). "Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is "Only a Matter of Time"". ProPublica. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  14. ^ Fawcett-Atkinson, Marc (April 16, 2025). "Royal Ontario Museum board director steps down after links to deportation flights surface". National Observer. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
  15. ^ Cox, Joseph; Koebler, Jason (May 5, 2025). "GlobalX, Airline for Trump's Deportations, Hacked". 404 Media. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  16. ^ Kovacs, Eduard (May 12, 2025). "US Deportation Airline GlobalX Confirms Hack". SecurityWeek. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  17. ^ "Global Crossing Airlines and United Airlines Collaborate Through Airblox for Seamless Cargo Transportation Between San Juan and Chicago". January 14, 2025. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  18. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2025 - GlobalX". Airliner World. September 2025. p. 81.
  19. ^ Daniel Martinez Garbuno (July 1, 2025). "US's GlobalX retires only A319-100". Ch-aviation.com.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlobalX_Airlines