Amazon Air (often branded as Prime Air) is a virtualcargo airline operating exclusively to transport Amazon packages. In 2017, it changed its name from Amazon Prime Air to Amazon Air to differentiate themselves from their Amazon Prime Air autonomous drone delivery service. However, the Prime Air logo remains on the aircraft.[4] Until January 2021, the airline had relied on wet-leasing its aircraft from other operators, but going forward it is looking to directly own some aircraft.[5] On the planes the airline owns, the airline will still rely on others for CMI (crew, maintenance, and insurance) leases.[6]
History
In late 2015, Amazon began trial cargo runs out of Wilmington Air Park under the code name Project Aerosmith. In December 2015, Amazon announced that it would begin its own cargo airline to expand its capability.[7]
In March 2016, Amazon acquired options to buy up to 19.9 percent of Air Transport Services Group's (ATSG) stock and began scheduled operations with 20 Boeing 767 aircraft.[8]
On January 31, 2017, Amazon announced that Amazon Air would make Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (KCVG) its principal hub,[9] and began operations on April 30, 2017. Amazon received $40 million in tax incentives and plans to begin construction on a 920-acre (370 ha) facility with a 3×10^6 sq ft (69-acre; 28 ha) sorting facility and parking space for over 100 cargo aircraft;[10] the project is estimated to cost $1.5 billion.[4]
In December 2017 the company, which was named Amazon Prime Air, announced its rebranding as Amazon Air to avoid confusion with the Amazon Prime Air drone delivery service, although it continues to operate under the callsign "Prime Air".[11]
Amazon leased 10 additional Boeing 767-300 planes from ATSG in December 2018.[12]
Amazon has completed a new regional air hub at Fort Worth Alliance Airport (KAFW) and does not airlift third-party packages.[13] The new regional hub began operating on October 2, 2019.
For 2019 and 2020, Amazon committed to leasing 10 additional 767-300 aircraft from Air Transport Services Group,[14] which would bring active aircraft to a total of 50. Phase one of the CVG sort facility, encompassing 440 acres (180 ha) was completed in 2020, while the remaining 479 acres (194 ha) will be developed by 2025–2027 during phase two.[15] Amazon eventually plans to have over 100 aircraft based at CVG with over 200 daily flights[10] and 15,000 employees.[16]
In July 2020, Amazon Air had secured up to six million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supplied by Shell Aviation and produced by World Energy.[19]
In September 2020, Amazon committed to buy four aircraft under their own operations. These are the first aircraft the company will own rather than lease. The four 767-300 aircraft were previously under the ownership of WestJet, who purchased them from Qantas in 2015.[20] In January 2021, with passenger air traffic severely depressed and cargo traffic higher due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon announced it had completed the purchase of 11 Boeing 767-300s from Delta Air Lines and WestJet.[5]
In March 2021, Amazon exercised its warrants to acquire a minority stake in Air Transport Services Group, the parent company of Amazon Air sub-lessor Air Transport International. The deal was valued at $131 million for 13.5 million shares in the company. Amazon also holds warrants to acquire a minority stake in Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, the parent company of Atlas Air.[21][22]
In September 2022, a study conducted by the Chaddick Institute found that Amazon Air had a system expansion of 5.8% without adding more warehouses.[23] The study also showed that in the same year, the carry capacity had increased, making it 14% and 23% as large as FedEx and UPS, respectively.[23]
In October 2022, Amazon announced the lease of ten Airbus A330-300P2F freighters from Altavair, and would be operated by Hawaiian Airlines. These aircraft are being converted to freighters by Elbe Flugzeugwerke, and the first of these aircraft is expected to join the fleet in late 2023.[24]
In January 2023, Amazon launched Amazon Prime Air in India in partnership with QuikJet. The service will use two branded Boeing 737-800 freighters to deliver goods in four metro cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. The company plans to increase the number of dedicated freighters in India to six by the end of 2023, and will also continue to utilize the cargo space of other passenger airlines.[citation needed]
Operation
The primary function of Amazon Air is to transport Amazon packages from distant fulfillment centers that are outside of Amazon's local ground linehaul network for a specific area. Once the buyer's order is flown from the distant fulfillment center to the buyer's region, the package may be transported to the regional Amazon Sortation Center to be routed either to a local Amazon Logistics Delivery Station for last mile delivery or to a local post office for delivery by the United States Postal Service. Some Amazon Air packages bypass the regional Amazon Sortation Centers completely and are routed directly to local Amazon Delivery Stations for last mile delivery by Amazon Logistics.
Destinations
Amazon Air flies scheduled flights to the following destinations:[25]
Amazon Air uses Boeing 737, Boeing 767 and Airbus A330 aircraft, all of which are operated by contracted partners.[4] As of February 2024, the Amazon Air fleet consists of the following aircraft.[52][53]
On February 23, 2019, Atlas Air Flight 3591 (a Boeing 767-300BCF, operating for Amazon Air) crashed into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas.[55] The crash occurred approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of George Bush Intercontinental Airport while the aircraft was on approach to the airport. The aircraft was operating a regularly scheduled trip from Miami International Airport to George Bush Intercontinental. All three people on board (two crew members and one passenger) were killed.[56][57][58]
^Greene, Jay; Gates, Dominic (17 December 2015). "Amazon in talks to lease Boeing jets to launch its own air-cargo business". The Seattle Times. ISSN0745-9696. OCLC9198923. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Amazon.com is negotiating to lease 20 Boeing 767 jets for its own air-delivery service, cargo-industry executives have told The Seattle Times. The online retail giant wants to build out its own cargo operations to avoid delays from carriers such as United Parcel Service, which have struggled to keep up with the rapid growth of e-commerce.
^Kraatz, Nathan (9 March 2016). "2nd Update: ATSG, Amazon, strike deal at Wilmington Air Park". The Times-Gazette. AIM Media. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2019. In conjunction with the commercial agreements, ATSG also has agreed to grant Amazon warrants to acquire, over a five-year period, up to 19.9 percent of ATSG's common shares at $9.73 per share, based on the closing price of ATSG common shares on Feb. 9, 2016.
^ abEngel, Liz (5 October 2017). "Amazon latest: Company will lease office space at CVG". WCPO-TV. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Amazon will lease office space at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport while it shapes plans for its massive air cargo hub there.
^ abWetterich, Chris; Caproni, Eric (31 January 2017). "Amazon to create $1.5B air hub at CVG". Cincinnati Business Courier. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2019. In a massive economic win for Northern Kentucky and Gov. Matt Bevin, Amazon.com.com Inc. will build a $1.49 billion worldwide air services hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, airport officials said Tuesday. The Amazon Prime Air hub at CVG will be the company's largest in the world and add to the 10,000 employees the company already has in Kentucky.
^Boyle, Alan (26 December 2017). "Beyond Prime: Amazon Air gets a shorter name for Christmas, at least in the news". GeekWire. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Even though "Prime" isn't included in Amazon's latest references to its cargo air fleet, it looks as the company is sticking to its custom of using prime numbers as the tail numbers for its planes. So it's a good thing there's an unlimited supply of primes.
^Perez, Sarah (21 December 2018). "Amazon Air expands with 10 more cargo aircraft, bringing fleet to 50 planes". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Days after FedEx CEO Frederick Smith dismissed the Amazon threat to its business during the company's earnings call, Amazon announced an expansion of its two-year-old Amazon Air operation, which will now add to its fleet 10 767-300 dedicated Amazon cargo aircraft. The planes are being leased from existing partner Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (ATSG), which Amazon had previously tapped back in 2016 for 20 Boeing 767 freighter aircraft.
^"ATSG Expands and Extends its Aircraft Leasing and Operating Agreements with Amazon" (Press release). Wilmington, Ohio: Air Transport Services Group. 21 December 2018. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2019. Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATSG), the leading provider of medium wide-body cargo aircraft leasing, air cargo transportation and related services, today announced agreements to lease and operate ten additional Boeing 767s for Amazon.com Services, Inc., to extend leases for twenty 767 aircraft ATSG currently provides to Amazon, and to extend the operating agreement through which ATSG's airlines operate those aircraft in the Amazon Air network.
^Engel, Liz (29 November 2017). "Amazon facility on track to begin operations at CVG by 2020". Hebron, Kentucky: WCPO-TV. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Amazon has an update on its massive air cargo facility at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and it appears the online shipping behemoth could be operational -- or at least partially up and running here -- by 2020.
^McKee, Tom (3 November 2017). "Experts: Amazon Prime Air could bring up to 15K jobs over time". Hebron, Kentucky: WCPO-TV. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2019. In addition to the Prime Air hub, an unnamed developer announced at a June Sanitation District meeting it wants to reserve sewage capacity for a 2.2 million square foot sortation building with 15,000 employees.
^Swartz, Karl L. (28 December 2017). "Featured Map for 28 December 2017: Amazon Prime Air's Christmas Rush". gcmap.com. Great Circle Mapper. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Amazon Prime Air is a planned system to deliver packages to customers using unmanned aerial vehicls (UAVs) or drones, but currently it uses a fleet of 21 Boeing 767-300ER freighters to carry packages between distribution centers. These 767s, converted from former passenger aircraft, are owned by Amazon but operated by Air Transport International (ATI; eight aircraft) and Atlas Air (13 aircraft).
^"Amazon Air avvia il volo Malpensa – Cagliari" [Amazon accelerates: the Malpensa – Catania flight is also underway]. aircargoitaly.com (in Italian). February 10, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
^Goldman, Dave (20 June 2019). "Amazon Air coming to Anchorage, speeding up package delivery". KTVA. Archived from the original on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019. Amazon Air is joining other cargo carriers at Ted Stevens International Airport. The move could mean faster delivery for Amazon Prime customers. The announcement was made Thursday on the airport's Facebook page. According to the Facebook post, the company will begin flight operations on June 27.
^ abcdefHobart, C. Dana (20 July 2017). "Why Amazon Is Taking To The Skies". Law360. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019 – via Buchalter. With CVG as the hub, Amazon Prime Air flights are operating from Ontario, California; San Antonio; Seattle; Tampa; and Charlotte among other spokes in the wheel. Few companies besides Amazon even boast the resources to go from zero aircraft to a major player in air cargo this quickly.
^Hagen, Ryan (2 August 2018). "Amazon Air cleared for 5 cargo flights a day from March Air Reserve Base". The Press-Enterprise. MediaNews Group. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Five Amazon flights per day will be allowed at March Air Reserve Base, despite residents' fears that they'll again be subject to loud flights like those that disrupted sleep for three years. Airport officials voted Wednesday, Aug. 1, to OK the flights after consultants said the impact will be significantly smaller than the DHL flights that rattled residents from 2005 to 2008.
^"Amazon sorting center approved for Lakeland Linder airport". WTVT. Lakeland, Florida: Fox Television Stations. 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019. LAKELAND, Fla. (FOX 13) – Lakeland city commissioners gave their blessing to a project that is expected to bring considerable money and jobs to the city. They voted unanimously Monday to OK an Amazon sorting center at Lakeland Linder International Airport.
^Calhoun, Michael (6 September 2019). "More cargo flights at Lambert could mean getting your package faster". KMOX-AM. Entercom. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019. ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – More cargo flights will start landing at Lambert Airport soon, but will those planes deliver your online shopping order any faster? Airport commissioners this week approved contracts with two cargo airlines; each would operate daily flights using Boeing 767 aircraft. The city still must give final approval. ABX would begin service this month, while Air Transit International would commence in October.
^Huffenberger, Gary; Hamilton, John (12 November 2018). "UPDATED: Amazon primed to land again at Wilmington Air Park; info on applying for jobs coming soon". Wilmington News Journal. Wilmington, Ohio: AIM Media. ISSN8750-4847. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019. WILMINGTON — Amazon is again preparing to land in Wilmington. The global e-commerce giant, which utilized the Wilmington Air Park beginning in 2016 in a pilot project — but announced the next year it would leave Clinton County for the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport — announced Monday it is making a big return to Wilmington to "open a new air gateway" at the air park.
^Assad, Matt (25 April 2017). "LVIA expanding to handle more Amazon planes". The Morning Call. Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2019. The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority on Tuesday agreed to begin what could be a more than $4 million project to build an additional cargo plane ramp at the airport before Amazon's Christmas rush hits in November.
^Sreenivasan, Raoul. "Amazon Air Director SJU Tweet Announcement"(Tweet). Retrieved May 30, 2020 – via Twitter. We are excited to begin gateway operations today for @Amazon Air in San Juan, Puerto Rico, via @SunCountryAir . Welcome to the Amazon Air family, SJU!
^Nesi, Ted; LoSciuto, Shiina (1 June 2018). "Amazon's distributor leaving RI for Hartford; 149 layoffs". WPRI-TV. Nexstar Media Group. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019. NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) – A company that helps Amazon.com handle distribution in Rhode Island abruptly informed employees Friday it will shut down next month, Eyewitness News has learned. The Texas-based company, Pinnacle Logistics, will lay off 149 workers, according to a letter sent to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training by Mark Elsea, the company's chief operating officer. Pinnacle has had a busy warehouse operation at the Quonset Business Park and T.F. Green Airport.
^"National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Investigation: Atlas Air #3591 crashed into Trinity Bay (DCA19MA086)". ntsb.gov. National Transportation Safety Board. 12 March 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019. On February 23, 2019, at 1239 central standard time, Atlas Air flight 3591, a Boeing 767-375BCF, N1217A, entered a rapid descent from 6,000 ft and impacted a marshy bay area about 40 miles southeast of George Bush Intercontinental Airport (KIAH), Houston, Texas. The two pilots and one nonrevenue jumpseat pilot were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed and highly fragmented. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 domestic cargo flight, which originated from Miami International Airport (KMIA), Miami, Florida, and was destined for KIAH.
^Kraft, Melanie (23 February 2019). "BREAKING A Prime Air Boeing 767 has crashed into Trinity Bay near Houston Bush Airport". AirLive.net. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019. A Boeing 767 has crashed into Trinity Bay shortly before 12:45 p.m. The Federal Aviation Administration issued an alert on Atlas Air Fight #5Y3591 after losing radar and radio contact with the plane approximately 30 miles southeast of Bush Intercontinental Airport.
^Hughes, Trevor (24 February 2019). "Three confirmed dead after Amazon Prime Air cargo plane crash in Texas". USA Today. ISSN0734-7456. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019. The three people aboard the Amazon Prime Air cargo plane that crashed outside Houston have been confirmed dead, the plane's operator said Sunday. The Boeing 767 operated by Atlas Air was a scheduled cargo flight for Amazon from Miami to Houston on Saturday when it nosedived into a swampy area about 30 miles from George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
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