WinAir Airlines

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

WinAir Airlines was the Salt Lake City, Utah-based start-up founded by Richard I. Winwood in 1997. It began flying as a charter carrier in early 1998, including a Super Bowl charter on January 25, 1998. The name was short, punchy, and extremely confident—the kind of name that assumes the departure board will cooperate.

In November 1998, WinAir shifted into public scheduled charter service from Long Beach Airport in California. Its network linked Long Beach with Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Oakland, and Sacramento, using Long Beach as its operating hub while the company remained based in Utah.

The expansion was brief. WinAir pursued additional capital while navigating the notoriously unforgiving economics of a young airline. By July 6, 1999, the carrier shut down after its financing effort failed. Contemporary reporting described more than $15 million in losses over roughly eight months of scheduled operations.

Our WinAir Airlines collection celebrates a late-1990s aviation moonshot: Salt Lake City ambition, Long Beach runway energy, and a very short stay at cruising altitude.