Born in Pakistan in 1954, Michael A Chowdry went to London in 1969 and then to the USA in 1976 where he attended the University of Minnesota, learned to fly and started on his career in aviation crop dusting.
1978 Started Airlink, a small commuter airline in Colorado.
1981 After US air traffic controllers struck and were fired, US airports became capacity constrained. Chowdry sold Airlink's take-off and landing slots to United Airlines, giving him the capital to start other businesses. He later bought and sold slots at other major airports.
1984 Acquired seven Boeing 727s through a leveraged buy-out from Frontier Horizons. They were converted to cargo use for domestic feed for Flying Tigers International, Chowdry's first ACMI operation.
1983 Started Aeronautics Leasing, Inc. to lease passenger aircraft to airlines around the world.
1992 Created and incorporated Atlas Air, which started flying in 1993, with a single ex-Pam Am Boeing 747-200 converted from passenger to cargo use.
1995 Took Atlas public, with a fleet of 10 aircraft.
1997 Saw Atlas listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
2000 Atlas' fleet now consists of 37 747s. Moved HQ to Purchase, NY. After a share offering raising $104 million and diluting his holdings, Chowdry owned 47.3% of Atlas' common stock. Chowdry is married with two children. He enjoys hunting, fishing and flying.
Source: Airline Business
