Empire Airlines pins its future on shipping freight

COEUR D'ALENE - Empire Airlines Inc. owns just one airplane, but the Coeur d'Alene-based company is no fly-bynight concern.

Empire, which until the mid-1990s carried both passengers and cargo, now operates a successful regional feeder service for Memphis, Tenn-based FeclEx Corp., delivering freight from FedEx's hubs to smaller cities and towns. One of just eight such FeclEx contract carriers worldwide, Empire flies throughout the western U.S. and in Europe.

"We don't consider ourselves a regional airline," says Tim Komberec, Empire's newly named president. "We consider ourselves a transportation company. We provide service to people, and we just happen to use an airplane to get it done."

It's true that Empire Airlines owns just one plane, but the company operates 112 airplanes - Fokker F27s, Cessna Caravans, and Shorts 360s - that are owned by FedEx and leased to Empire, Komberec says. Empire employs 180 people, about 50 of whom work in the company's Coeur d'Alene headquarters, at 2115 Government Way. Nearly 30 employees work at the company's maintenance base at Spokane International Airport.