Evergreen International Airlines

Evergreen International Airlines was an Oregon-based cargo and charter carrier, formed in 1975 as part of Delford Smith's Evergreen group and known for US military work and its Boeing 747 freighters. Debts and falling military and freight demand grounded the fleet in late 2013, and the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on 31 December 2013.

How it started

Evergreen's roots lie with Delford M. Smith, who began operations in 1960 as Evergreen Helicopters. According to Wikipedia, the airline itself was formed in 1975, when Smith acquired the operating certificate of Johnson Flying Service and merged it with Intermountain Aviation, a company described there as a CIA front. The result was a US supplemental (charter) air carrier based in McMinnville, Oregon. Wikipedia gives 28 November 1975 as the start of operations. The holding company, Evergreen International Aviation, followed in 1979.

The early fleet was made up of propeller aircraft and early jets: Convair 580s, Lockheed Electras, Curtiss C-46 and Douglas C-47 piston aircraft, then DC-8s and DC-9s, according to the fleet list on Wikipedia (which carries a "citation needed" tag).

The heyday

Evergreen was known for doing difficult jobs anywhere. Smith later said the group had flown in 168 countries, a figure reported by Wikipedia. The airline carried freight for the US military and the US Postal Service, and flew charters and wet-lease work for other operators. It also maintained a large facility at Pinal Airpark in Arizona, a site with Air America links.

The company had long been associated with the Central Intelligence Agency. Smith himself played the connection down in 1988, according to the same source. Other work included NASA support, UN peacekeeping flights and firefighting. Boeing 727 freighters were followed from 1988 by a long line of Boeing 747s. From 2006 the airline flew 747 Dreamlifters carrying 787 parts for Boeing, until that contract passed to Atlas Air in 2010. In 2006 it also gained FAA certification for a 747-100 converted into the "Supertanker" firefighting aircraft.

Its workforce peaked at 950 full-time employees in 1991, according to a report by The Oregonian carried on AviationPros.

What went wrong

By 2013 the airline was in heavy debt. The Columbian reported that creditors were seeking millions of dollars. Smith acknowledged that the business had been hurt by reduced military spending and weak global economic conditions. Staff numbers had fallen to 215 by September 2013.

The Oregon Department of Justice was also investigating alleged commingling of funds between Evergreen's commercial businesses and its non-profit arms, which included an aviation museum and a water park.

On 8 November 2013 the company notified Oregon officials that it would lay off 131 workers and cease operations on 30 November. Smith issued a statement the same day calling reports of a closure false rumours, as Alaska Dispatch News reported.

The last flight

Sources differ slightly on the date. A pilots' union memo reported by The Oregonian said the final military flight was on Friday 29 November 2013 and that all remaining aircraft were then parked. ch-aviation reported the last scheduled flight as a Boeing 747-400F from Tokyo Yokota to Fairfield Travis. The aircraft was ferried to Victorville for storage on the Monday. Wikipedia cites a statement from parent company chairman Mike Hines that the last flight was on Monday 2 December, which probably reflects that ferry flight. Hines had still said publicly on 2 December that managers hoped to save the company.

A group of creditors then filed an involuntary petition. On 31 December 2013 Evergreen International Airlines and six affiliates, including Evergreen International Aviation and Supertanker Services, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in Delaware, according to AviationPros. ch-aviation reported estimated debts of up to USD 500 million against assets of up to USD 100 million.

What happened next

• Some leased aircraft were repossessed by creditors, according to ch-aviation.
• The group's assets, including the McMinnville headquarters campus, were liquidated.
• Smith died on 7 November 2014. By then, according to Wikipedia, what remained of his Evergreen empire had been sold off, shut down or placed in bankruptcy.
• No airline is documented as having taken over Evergreen's operations. Some ex-Evergreen aircraft later flew for other operators, such as a DC-9-15F with Mexico's Aeronaves TSM.

Sources: Wikipedia: Evergreen International Airlines, The Columbian: McMinnville's Evergreen International Airlines remains open, AviationPros / The Oregonian: Evergreen Flies Its Last Flight, Union Says, ch-aviation: Evergreen International operates last flight, ch-aviation: Evergreen International Airlines files for Chapter 7, AviationPros / The Oregonian: Evergreen Files Chapter 7, Alaska Dispatch News: Evergreen International Airlines may be closing