Canadian freight airline Cargojet has used its influence with the owner of 21 Air, a Miami-based contract carrier for DHL Express and Amazon, to remove CEO Tim Strauss and install an internal executive, according to industry sources familiar with the situation. The situation is complicated by rules governing foreign ownership and control of U.S. airlines. Strauss, 70, and top lieutenants left 21 Air when his contract was not renewed in February, an outside air cargo executive who works closely with the airline’s senior management, told FreightWaves. A person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed Strauss’s departure in a text message. Strauss, a former vice president of cargo at Air Canada joined 21 Air in early 2024 after a rocky three years as CEO of Miami-based Amerijet. The source, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the move, rejected the notion of a falling out with Cargojet or that Cargojet was behind the change, saying the expiration of Strauss’s two-year contract was a good time to bring in fresh leadership for its next growth stage. “We’ve more than doubled the business in that two-year period, plus opened up some other unique opportunities that are much longer term in their development cycle. For the corporation, it meant finding younger leadership that’s going to be there for the next five years, and beyond, that can help form and shape the company in the manner it needs to to play that long-term game,” the company insider said. Another…
