For the first time, Amazon has bought a bunch of “old” commercial planes for the carriage, all thanks to Covid
Amazon announced it has purchased 11 used Boeing 767-300 aircraft from Delta and WestJet, the first aircraft owned by the e-commerce giant.
Amazon has steadily strengthened its cargo capacity by air over the years through lease contracts, but this is the first time Amazon has owned its own aircraft. Agreement was reached when the price of aircraft fell due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Airlines have been rushing to reduce their fleet size as passenger demand has plummeted due to global commercial shutdowns.
The new members, including 7 aircraft from Delta and four from WestJet, will join Amazon’s carrier fleet in 2022, according to company representatives.
- In a press release, Sarah Rhoads, vice president of Amazon Global Air, said: “Our goal is to keep our customers shipping across the United States the way they expect from Amazon, and owning own aircraft is the natural next step towards that goal. There is a mix of charter and exclusive aircraft in our growing fleet allows us to better manage operations, which in turn helps us keep our promises to customers ”.
- Amazon launched its fleet in 2016, on the assumption that by 2022, it will have more than 85 aircraft, including rental and ownership.
- According to a year-long analysis, Amazon distributes more than half of its total packages in the US as it accelerates its ownership of the entire logistics chain and terminates partnerships with companies like FedEx and UPS. .
- The newly purchased planes are intended to speed up the delivery of packages purchased through Amazon, the e-commerce platform that has seen record demand in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Amazon said it will continue to rely on third-party carriers to operate these new planes.
- Amazon is quickly becoming a major player in the transportation world. Clearly, as one of the largest logistics and forwarding companies in history, Amazon is destined to play a huge role in the way people and goods move around the globe.
But some of Amazon’s most recent deals show that Jeff Bezos’ company has ambitions to expand beyond just package delivery.
- Amazon recently acquired self-driving car startup Zoox, which just announced its self-driving omnidirectional taxi prototype.
- The e-commerce giant has also participated in multiple funding rounds for tram company Rivian, which is designing a battery-powered truck for last-mile deliveries and contributes to a 530 grant. $ million for truck and driverless car startup Aurora, which recently acquired Uber’s self-driving car division.
- And of course, Amazon is interested in delivering drones (drones). The company was recently authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate as a drone airline in the US, paving the way for the provision of commercial delivery services on a trial basis.
- The FAA says the ruling allows Amazon to “deliver packages to customers safely and efficiently” and allows their drones to carry packages beyond the operator’s visual field of vision. controller.
Source: The Verge
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