Amazon Purchases 11 Used Jets To Build Its Air Cargo Capacity

Amazon

Years after launching its air fleet, Amazon has for the first time purchased jets to expand its cargo capacity. The e-commerce giant has purchased 11 used Boeing 767-300 jets. According to reports, Amazon bought these jets from WestJet and Delta. This will give a major push to its cargo capacity, which the company has been building over the years. So far the company was doing this through leasing agreements, but now it has decided to move a step forward. The move by Amazon to purchase its own aircraft comes at a time when the airlines are in rush to shrink their fleets because of coronavirus lockdown. Demand for passengers airlines have been witnessing a downfall across the globe and this has resulted in a steep fall in prices of jets.

Out of 11 jets, Amazon has purchased four aircraft from WestJet and seven from Delta. These aircraft will join the air cargo network of Amazon by 2022, the company said in a release. “We are leaving no stone unturned in making the delivery as per the expectations of or our customers across the United States. Purchasing our own aircraft will make us a step closer in achieving that goal,” vice president of Amazon Global Air Sarah Rhoads said. “We will be able to better manage our delivery operation with a mix of both owned and leased jets. This will help us in fulfilling promises made to our customers.”

For the uninitiated, Amazon started its own air fleet in the year 2016 with the aim that the company will have more than 85 planes by 2022. The purchase is a well-thought-out plan as a year old analysis suggests that the e-commerce giant delivers over half of its packages in the United States on its own. The company has been pushing to have its own logistics chain and end its dependency on companies like UPS and FedEx. However, the company will for now rely on third party carriers to operate newly purchased aircraft. The pandemic has led to a surge in online orders and the company hopes that new planes will help speed the delivery. Amazon has soon emerged as one of the major players in the world of transportation.

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Steven Burnett
Being one of the leading news writers of the dailyheraldbusiness, Steven holds a specialization in the domains of business and technology. The passion he has for the new developments in the connected devices, cloud technology, virtual reality, and nanotechnology is seen through the latest industry coverage which is done by him. His take on the consequences of digital technologies across the world gives his writing a modern and fresh outlook.