Amazon Air Cargo confident it can balance third-party volumes with its own packages

When Amazon Air Cargo announced in September plans to start selling capacity on its aircraft to third party customers, one of the big questions was what would happen to cargo customers’ shipments during e-commerce peaks. Would shipments be left on the tarmac as the e-commerce firm prioritised its own volumes?

Speaking at the TIACA Air Cargo Forum, Amazon Air Cargo global director and general manager Tom Bradley was asked how the airline would balance its core Amazon business with its new air cargo business.

Bradley admitted it was a question he was being asked a lot but said technology and its wide network would help eliminate any potential clash between the two.

“Ultimately, we don’t need to make that decision [between an Amazon package and air cargo shipment] very often and that is mainly driven by technology and our network.

“From an air perspective we have a dense network with the combination of hub and spoke and point to point and that will give us a lot of air flexibility.

“But we also have a ground transportation network, both road and rail, that is the most dense in the US so that gives us a ton of options.

“That is paired with technology – we have real-time dynamic routing that can send Amazon customers packages by millions of different route combinations and we can make real time capacity adjustments – so we very rarely have to choose between an Amazon package and an air cargo packages because of that density and flexibility.”

He added: “Our service levels for Amazon Air Cargo are going to be what we stand by and when you sign a contract with us we will make sure your inventory flies.”

The airline can provide space on more than 100 aircraft with more than 250 daily flights, including partner airlines, and will also offer ad hoc, charter, or block space services.

The airline said it would be able to carry general cargo, pharmaceuticals, perishables, dangerous goods and parcels with its fleet of Boeing 737, Boeing 767 and Airbus A330 aircraft.

According to its website, the carrier has already provided services for Airblox, Apex Logistics and Naniq Global Logistics.

Elsewhere, Bradley was also asked about Amazon’s future plans for its fleet.

He said the company today mainly operates 767s and 737s but has also been adding Airbus A330s as it looks to bring in younger aircraft with better reliability, range and environmental performance. Yet, there are no plans for a major increase in the number of aircraft in the fleet.

“The [A330s] come with a slightly better range and slightly better payload [than existing models] and really the focus is on reducing the age of the fleet so we can drive higher service levels for our customers,” said Bradley.

“Generally speaking we are happy with the size of our fleet – around 100 aircraft feels about right – but on a periodic basis we evaluate new countries, new regions, expansion opportunities, new aircraft so we will continue to innovate and continue to make decisions and ultimately continue to provide the speed and reliability that both amazon customers and air cargo customers demand.”

Amazon Air takes on cargo carriers with launch of sales to third parties