Kalitta Air LLC

Kalitta Air LLC, a for-profit limited liability company headquartered in Superior Township, Michigan, operates as a U.S. certificated all-cargo carrier providing Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) air transportation, domestic and international charter services, and heavyweight cargo delivery to the Department of Defense and federal agencies as a full-and-open prime contractor with no SBA certifications or set-aside designations.

Kalitta Air is one of the largest privately owned freighter operators in the country, with a fleet exceeding 20 Boeing 747 freighters. The company delivers concrete air transportation capabilities spanning CRAF operations for military airlift augmentation during peacetime, contingencies, and wartime mobilization; domestic and international charter flights supporting federal agencies; and specialized heavyweight and oversized cargo delivery to strategic global locations. The vendor competes exclusively in full-and-open competition without pursuing small business set-asides.

Customer concentration centers on the Air Mobility Command, which accounts for 521 awards and $6.43 billion in combined potential value—98 percent of the vendor's recent portfolio by award count and 95 percent by potential value. The Office of the Secretary of Defense is the second-largest customer with 130 awards ($27.5 million combined potential value), primarily under the Global Heavyweight Services contract for door-to-door delivery of heavyweight and oversized cargo. The Department of the Army Materiel Command Surface Deployment and Distribution Command places 7 awards ($269.7 million). This concentration is pronounced: Air Mobility Command's share is driven by the International Charter Airlift Services in support of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet IDIQ, awarded October 1, 2024, with a ceiling of $479.754 million and running through September 30, 2030. As of the source snapshot, Kalitta Air has received approximately 399 delivery orders against this parent vehicle since June 2025, with individual order values ranging from $24 thousand to $78.6 million, spanning performance locations across Poland, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti, Germany, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Jordan, Great Britain, and other strategic global regions. Representative recent CRAF delivery orders include a $2.31 million order for Jordan air transportation (October 2, 2025), a $1.45 million order for Japan services (October 6, 2025), and a $949 thousand order for Great Britain operations (October 6, 2025), all at firm fixed price with economic price adjustment or firm fixed pricing, all extending through September 30, 2030.

Kalitta Air's vehicle footprint consists of three major indefinite delivery contracts totaling approximately $2.68 billion in potential ceiling value. The primary vehicle is the $479.754 million International Charter Airlift Services in support of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) IDIQ with Air Mobility Command (486 task orders, $409.8 million combined potential value). The second is the Global Heavyweight Services (GHS) contract with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, valued at $1.5 billion, supporting specialized door-to-door delivery of heavyweight and oversized cargo (70 task orders, $11.5 million combined potential value to date). The third is a domestic and international charter air transportation contract with Air Mobility Command, valued at approximately $700 million. Recent GHS delivery orders include $185 thousand for heavyweight delivery services in Ypsilanti, Michigan (December 1, 2025), and $47.9 thousand for services in Greece (November 1, 2025).

Activity has grown sharply year over year, from 13 awards in 2022 to 295 in 2025, with 157 awards recorded in 2026 through August. The source identifies 719 total awards (prime and sub) spanning 2003 to August 2026, with combined potential value of $6.73 billion and $470.8 million in obligated dollars. Kalitta Air operates as the prime contractor on 100 percent of awards; the vendor holds one identified sub-award (Sierra Nevada Company LLC on Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft parts, June 2025), representing less than one percent of the portfolio and reflecting the company's primary role as a direct service provider rather than a subcontractor.

The award portfolio is almost entirely concentrated in air transportation. The top NAICS codes are Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation (540 awards), Scheduled Freight Air Transportation (146 awards), and Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation (19 awards). The top PSC codes are Transportation/Travel/Relocation—Air Charter (549 awards) and Transportation/Travel/Relocation—Air Freight (144 awards). Kalitta Air has no notable subcontract partners; the company operates as the sole prime on virtually all federal awards and does not compete as a subcontractor to larger primes.

The corporate structure includes Kalitta Charters, LLC, a subsidiary also operating as a for-profit limited liability company. The source does not specify the operational distinction between the parent and this subsidiary, though both entities operate in air transportation.