Safety and Flight Crews at 21 Air

21 Air, LLC is a U.S. FAA Part 121 certificated all-cargo airline headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, with major operational hubs in Miami, Florida and additional support locations across the U.S. At 21 Air, safety is not just a department. It is a mindset the whole team carries every day and a discipline practiced at every level of the company, from the CEO's morning review with the Director of Safety to any frontline employee filing a report.

Since coming under new ownership in April 2021, 21 Air has grown significantly while building a system where safety information moves quickly and openly, and action is taken where it is needed, so that growth is supported by robust safety systems and culture.

How does 21 Air manage safety?

21 Air manages safety through its Safety Management System (SMS) and a safety culture that works in both directions. Executive leadership drives daily attention and accountability from the top, while a Just Culture empowers every employee to report concerns from the ground up without fear of retaliation.

A daily safety review led by the CEO

21 Air's CEO holds a direct, in-person safety review with the Director of Safety at the start of every workday. This review has continued without interruption through leadership transitions.

Our CEO is aware of every safety report filed through the company's safety reporting system, with real-time visibility from the moment a report is filed through investigation and closure.

Weekly reviews with leadership, ownership and regulators

Every Monday, 21 Air's leadership reviews the prior week's safety notifications with the full management team and company ownership, so safety information never stays within the Safety Department.

Every Wednesday, 21 Air holds a cross-functional safety meeting that includes participation from the company’s regulators.

Safety built into every department

Safety is part of 21 Air's operating rhythm at every level: daily reviews, continuous visibility into reports and risk assessments, weekly management reporting, weekly cross-functional meetings and ongoing safety data monitoring. 21 Air has also built a culture of open, transparent discussion, where pilots, crew, and team members at every level can raise ideas or concerns.

21 Air's risk management process draws on input from every operational department, including flight crews, maintenance personnel, dispatchers, ground-handling personnel and management.

How does 21 Air handle safety concerns from employees?

21 Air expects, not merely permits, employees and managers to raise safety concerns openly. A Just Culture is an aviation safety approach in which employees can report mistakes and hazards without fear of punishment, so the organization can learn from them. Under 21 Air's Just Culture policy, every employee is encouraged to identify hazards, report mistakes, help improve operations and raise concerns without fear of retaliation. Management reinforces these behaviors as essential to preventing accidents.

21 Air encourages voluntary reporting of hazards and operational concerns, because identifying risk early is one of the most effective ways to prevent accidents. We have deliberately built an environment where issues are raised and discussed rather than minimized or withheld. This includes regular meetings and discussions between our crews, pilots and management, and an anonymous reporting mechanism through our Safety Management System.

Our Just Culture policy is paired with clear accountability and does not excuse intentional violations or reckless conduct.

21 Air's CEO is aware of every safety report filed. Reports are reviewed weekly with leadership and ownership, and discussed at a safety meeting that the company’s regulators attend.

At 21 Air, safety is championed from the top and owned on the ground. Leadership shows up for it every morning, and employees know that when they raise a concern, they will be heard.

What happens after a safety report is filed?

At 21 Air, every safety report is treated as a learning opportunity, not paperwork to close out. Leadership's expectation is explicit: every report should result in learning, whether that means further investigation, a procedural change, training, increased monitoring or another corrective action.

Identifying trends and root causes

21 Air's safety reviews aim to determine whether an event is isolated or part of a broader trend. The safety team identifies contributing factors, starts safety actions and works to reduce the likelihood of recurrence. Where warranted, we launch focused campaigns and reviews that go deeper than the individual incident to uncover underlying causes.

At 21 Air, lessons learned are shared across departments, so knowledge gained from one event benefits the entire operation. Our business-intelligence dashboards track hazard severity, recurrence and trends by aircraft, location and event type, so the company can act before an issue escalates into a significant event.

Changes that came from safety reports

21 Air's safety reviews have produced tangible changes: updated procedures, enhanced training, improved operational communication, and new corrective and preventive measures designed to identify leading risk indicators before events escalate.

For example, 21 Air crew members reported that some routes with multiple short legs were causing fatigue concerns, even though those routes complied with federal duty-day and flight-time rules. In response, we now limit those multi-leg days to two days per week before rotating crews to other assignments.

In a safety review conducted with a customer, we examined the use of ladders during Boeing 757 loading operations, which led to broader operational improvements.

21 Air measures success by what it learns and implements, and by how its overall safety posture improves over time, not by how quickly it closes a report. Every report is a chance to make the operation safer than it was the day before.

Who oversees safety at 21 Air?

Safety at 21 Air is overseen by the Director of Safety, the company's senior technical authority on safety matters. The Director of Safety works with a dedicated safety and operations leadership team, company executives and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which certificates and oversees 21 Air as a Part 121 air carrier.

The safety leadership team

21 Air's safety and operations team includes a Chief Operating Officer, Director of Operations, Assistant Director of Operations, Chief Pilot, Assistant Chief Pilot and Fleet Manager. Our safety team is more robust than would typically be found at an airline of 21 Air’s size, reflecting the company's commitment to safety as it grows.

How 21 Air protects independent safety reporting

At 21 Air, executive involvement in safety does not replace the authority of the company's safety leaders. The Director of Safety, Director of Operations, Director of Maintenance and other FAA-required management personnel keep their regulatory responsibilities, so safety reporting stays independent even with daily executive oversight.

How 21 Air works with the FAA, customers and outside experts

21 Air pairs executive accountability with deep technical expertise from internal and external resources. Leadership sets the tone and drives urgency, while trained safety, operations and maintenance professionals lead the technical work, coordinated with regulators and customers. 21 Air’s regulators participate in a weekly cross-functional safety meeting.

Safety at 21 Air is a team effort that includes employees, customers and regulators, because collaboration and partnership on safety lead to the best outcomes.

Who flies for 21 Air?

As of 2026, 21 Air employs approximately 150 pilots: 77 captains and 71 first officers. At the time of hire, captains averaged approximately 11,000 flight hours and first officers approximately 7,000. Both are far above the regulatory minimum of 1,500 flight hours.

21 Air hires pilots with diverse operational backgrounds, including military, cargo and commercial aviation. More than 98% of pilot hires come with prior Boeing fleet experience, giving them strong familiarity with Boeing controls and systems.

How does 21 Air hire and train its pilots?

21 Air’s hiring standards

• Direct-entry captains at 21 Air must have previous pilot-in-command (captain) experience, along with experience flying in the United States.
• Pilots with extensive international flying experience who do not meet U.S. flight-time requirements must fly 1,000 hours as a first officer at 21 Air before becoming a captain.
• Some pilots accept first officer positions at 21 Air despite being captain-qualified elsewhere.
• All 21 Air hiring decisions are based on established qualifications, experience and demonstrated ability to meet 21 Air's operational standards.
• 21 Air conducts comprehensive background reviews on all pilot candidates, regardless of experience level or qualifications.

Training

Every pilot completes 21 Air's full training program, regardless of previous experience. 21 Air's training goes beyond regulatory requirements: it is updated using SMS and incident data, so it reflects real-world operations.

21 Air's training uses state-of-the-art full-motion simulators and highly experienced instructors. Our pilot training covers crew resource management (CRM), simulator and actual flight training, and initial operating experience (IOE) before a pilot is signed off as captain.

What is it like to work as a pilot at 21 Air?

21 Air invests in its pilots through above-average pay, substantial training and a strong company culture, and that investment has earned 21 Air a reputation among experienced aviators as a great place to work. Pilot turnover at 21 Air remains low, and open positions are filled through direct applications and peer referrals.

At 21 Air, we listen to our flight crews. Safety is an ongoing process of continuous improvement, and crew feedback shapes how the airline operates, as shown by our decision to limit some multi-leg days to two per week after crews raised potential fatigue concerns.