Amazon has purchased 11 passenger planes from Delta and WestJet that will be converted into cargo planes, according to a press release from the Seattle-based online retailer. It is the first time Amazon has bought planes directly rather than just leasing them and is because the airline industry is grappling with a slowdown in demand during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 11 planes are all Boeing 767-300 planes, seven from Delta and four from WestJet. WestJet’s planes are already being converted into cargo planes and will join Amazon Air’s fleet this year, while the Delta planes will join Amazon’s network in 2022.
Amazon Air was launched in 2016 and recently established hubs in Germany and the US, along with other countries, as it wants to be less dependent on companies like FedEx and UPS to ship goods around the world. While Amazon Air now owns 11 aircraft, the company still relies on third-party airlines to operate its aircraft.
Amazon has not disclosed how much it paid for the planes, but airlines have made every effort to unload it older aircraft as demand for passenger flights around the world continues to suffer. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many airlines to make tough choices, and while vaccines are currently being rolled out, there is no guarantee Consumer demand will immediately pick up again in 2021.
The US is still at a surprisingly high level number of coronavirus cases, with more than 21 million covid-19 cases identified since the start of the pandemic, and more than 357,000 US deaths. TSA was roughly screened 1.3 million passengers on Sunday, January 3, the end of the holiday weekend, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, although still about half of the passengers screened on the same day 2020.
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T.The loss of the airline industry has been a profit for Amazon time and again during the pandemic. Americans stay more at home and companies provide them online shopping has reaped the rewards.
“Our goal is to continue to deliver to US customers in the way they expect from Amazon, and purchasing our own aircraft is a logical next step toward that goal,” said Sarah Rhoads, Amazon Vice President. Global Air in a statement. published online.
“With a mix of both leased and owned aircraft in our growing fleet, we can better manage our operations, which in turn helps us deliver on our customer promises.”