Rich International Airways

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Rich International Airways was the Miami charter-and-cargo airline built by aviation entrepreneur Jean Rich. She began the venture in 1969 with a Curtiss C-46 bought with a $10,000 loan; Rich International Airways, Inc. was incorporated in Florida on April 28, 1970. Its headquarters stood by Miami International Airport on NW 36th Street—an exceptionally appropriate address for an outfit that lived on ramp noise, freight deadlines, and improbable flight plans.

The carrier grew from workhorse prop aircraft into a supplemental air carrier, receiving Civil Aeronautics Board authority in 1977. It carried cargo in the Americas, flew Department of Defense work, and later added passenger charters. Douglas DC-6 and DC-8 freighters gave way to bigger ambitions, including Lockheed L-1011 TriStars for vacation, cruise, military and transoceanic charter flying.

Rich endured a 1983 Chapter 11 filing and a subsequent return to service. In 1991, it entered a joint venture with George E. Batchelor’s International Air Leases to use aircraft that met newer noise standards. By the mid-1990s its Miami operation was flying a very 1990s mixture of Hawaii holiday runs, Las Vegas charters, cruise traffic, and military transport—because apparently one niche was never enough.

Our Rich International Airways collection celebrates Miami charter swagger, cargo-ramp grit, and the glorious era when a small independent airline could point a TriStar toward somewhere sunny and make it happen. Operations ceased on September 1, 1996; the company announced bankruptcy in February 1997.