Amazon buys planes from airlines struggling with pandemic slowdown

Amazon has purchased 11 passenger planes from Delta and WestJet that will be converted to cargo jets, according to a press release from the Seattle-based online retailer. It’s the first time Amazon bought planes outright rather than just leasing them and comes as the airline industry struggles with slowing demand during the covid-19 pandemic.

The 11 planes are all Boeing 767-300s, seven from Delta and four from WestJet. WestJet’s planes are already being converted to cargo planes and will join Amazon Air’s fleet this year, while Delta planes will be part of Amazon’s network in 2022.

Launched in 2016, Amazon Air recently established hubs in Germany and the United States, as well as other countries, as it seeks to rely less on companies like FedEx and UPS to ship goods around the world. While Amazon Air now owns eleven planes, the company still relies on third-party carriers to operate its planes.

Amazon has not disclosed how much it paid for the planes, but airlines have made efforts to offload its older plane as the demand for passenger flights continues to suffer across the world. Covid-19 the pandemic has forced many airlines to make tough choices, and while vaccines are currently being rolled out, there are no guarantees consumer demand will immediately rebound in 2021.

The United States still has a surprisingly high level number of coronavirus cases, with more than 21 million cases of covid-19 identified since the start of the pandemic and more than 357,000 US deaths. TSA examined roughly 1.3 million passengers on Sunday January 3, the end of the holiday weekend, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, but still half of the passengers screened on the same day in 2020.

TThe loss of the airline industry has been Amazon’s gain time and time again throughout the pandemic. Americans are no longer at home and the businesses that supply online shopping has reaped the benefits.

“Our goal is to continue to deliver to customers across the United States as they expect from Amazon, and purchasing our own aircraft is the natural next step towards that goal,” said Sarah Rhoads, vice-president. president of Amazon Global Air, in a statement. published online.

“Having a mix of leased and owned aircraft in our growing fleet allows us to better manage our operations, which helps us keep pace to deliver on our customer promises.