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ICE Barbie Handed $140M Plane Contract to Boss of Bankrupted Airline

Kristi Noem handed a massive contract to a firm whose chief executive was also accused of corruption.

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Kristi Noem gave a $140 million contract for ICE’s deportation fleet to a firm whose chief executive led his previous airline into bankruptcy.

Noem, 54, was dismissed as Homeland Security secretary by President Donald Trump, 79, this month amid a slew of allegations surrounding massive spending she oversaw at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This latest revelation, uncovered by the Daily Beast, adds a fresh dimension to the mounting questions over how contracts were awarded on her watch.

Joshua Bustos is the chief executive of Daedalus Aviation, the two-year-old company awarded the deal in December to supply DHS with six Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for deportation flights.

He previously served as CEO of Safi Airways, Afghanistan’s largest private airline—but within a year of taking charge in October 2015, the Afghan Civil Aviation Authority suspended its operations after Safi failed to clear more than $16.7 million in outstanding taxes and debts.

The carrier had been warned repeatedly before authorities moved to confiscate its assets in early September 2016. It ceased operations days later.

Bustos’ lawyer, David Panza, told the Beast: “Mr. Bustos was hired at Safi Airways as the Chief Commercial Officer to help improve their revenue. Following his success, Mr. Bustos was promoted to CEO to help improve the company’s remaining (and pre-existing) challenges. The implication that somehow Mr. Bustos contributed to or caused any challenges for Safi is false.”

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In June 2019, Bustos’ appointment as chief commercial officer of SriLankan Airlines was questioned by some of the country’s parliamentarians, who cited his work at Safi Airways to argue that he had a questionable record in the industry. Six years later, Noem entrusted Bustos with one of the most significant aviation contracts in DHS history.

A DHS source told the Daily Beast: “Given Bustos’ background, it should be asked of the U.S. government, why exactly was Daedalus Aviation chosen to head this vitally important project for the federal government? And who made the decision to choose them to lead this project?”

Daedalus was incorporated in February 2024 and registered its headquarters in Virginia three days after Trump won the presidential election, according to corporate records. Its name appears to be a nod to Daedalus, a figure in Greek mythology who happens to be the father of Icarus, a more well-known mythical figure famous for tragically flying too close to the sun.

The company’s registered president, William Allen Walters III, simultaneously serves as chief executive of Salus Worldwide Solutions, a separate firm holding a $915 million DHS contract.

Incorporated on June 7, 2023, in Wyoming, less than two years before the award, it apparently had no prior federal contracting track record. That means two newly created companies, founded within months of each other, control nearly $1.1 billion in federal business.

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A Project on Government Oversight investigation published this week found that another Walters-owned company, Valkyrie Aviation Holdings, owns the luxury Boeing 737 MAX 8 reportedly dubbed the “Big, Beautiful Jet” by DHS staffers—the plane Noem used for official travel and which DHS is seeking to purchase for $70 million. DHS leadership had argued that plane was necessary for deportation flights, despite its plush queen-sized bed in a private cabin, kitchen, and bar.

Walters donated $10,000 to a political action committee tied to Noem in October 2024, just weeks before her nomination as DHS secretary, POGO reported.

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The Salus contract has its own troubled history. A DHS contracting officer found the procurement had “created an appearance of favoritism,” due to the company apparently enjoying “unequal access to information” about the contract from DHS officials, according to previously unreported court documents cited by POGO.

A rival contractor, CSI Aviation, is suing the government to halt the contract award, calling it “a sham competition with a predetermined outcome.” The program also appears to be badly underperforming, with Salus having completed just nine charter flights supporting 917 voluntary departures since May 2025, against a departmental target of 1,480 flights over three years.

The economics of the Daedalus deal have drawn independent skepticism. Simple Flying, an online aviation publication, warned that DHS’s claimed $279 million in savings depend entirely on whether the planes fly frequently enough to offset fixed ownership costs that accrue whether or not the jets leave the tarmac.

John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director under former President Barack Obama, told The Washington Post he was “surprised” by the decision, arguing it is “so much easier to issue a contract to a company that already manages a fleet of airplanes.”

The Daedalus questions arrive as Noem fights fires on multiple fronts. Trump fired her last week alongside top adviser and rumored lover Corey Lewandowski, 52, whose influence over departmental contracting has drawn bipartisan alarm.

NBC News reported this week that Trump has been grilling aides about whether Lewandowski personally profited from a $220 million advertising campaign starring Noem—now under Senate investigation.

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A ProPublica investigation found part of the campaign’s funding flowed to a consulting firm run by the husband of Noem’s own press secretary, awarded without competitive bidding.

Lewandowski, expected to leave DHS imminently, has told the Daily Beast he received no money from the contract in question.

DHS nominee Markwayne Mullin, the Oklahoma senator tapped by Trump to take over the department on March 31, has not said whether he will review contracts signed during the Noem era.

The Daily Beast has contacted DHS, Daedalus Aviation, Salus Worldwide Solutions, and Joshua Bustos for comment.

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Tom LatchemLead Global Correspondent

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