Zantop International Airlines Pilot Hat Badge 1st Issue

Ypsilanti, MI 1968-1999

Zantop traces its origins to 1946 when the Zantop family set up Zantop Flying Service. In 1952 it was granted a license for commercial flying: The name was changed to Zantop Air Transport and the company operated as a freight airline for the auto industry. In 1962 Zantop took over Coastal Airlines and through the purchase acquired a license to carry passengers as well as freight. In 1967 the Zantop family sold the airline and it became Universal Airlines. This venture went bankrupt in 1972 and the Zantop family restarted operations under "Zantop International Airlines", based at Willow Run Airport at Ypsilianti, Michigan. In 1978 Zantop also purchased the freight division of Hawaiian Airlines. By this time Zantop was one of the largest airlines in the freight business. In the 1990s, Zantop continued the LogAir Contract until its expiration in late 1991. Zantop continued to operate through the 1990s, and into the next millennia. Then the airlines established contracts with Channel Express which operated from England and Scotland. There was additional growth in Europe and the United States and Zantop contracted with Lynden Air Cargo of Alaska for their US Postal Service subcontracts. Eventually, all of the contracts held by the company were passed along to other cariers. Its operating certificate and FAR 121 Air Carrier Certificate was given back to the FAA as was the FAR 125 Certificate. It was then that Zantop International Airlines ceased operations.

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