American carries its largest cargo volume during harvest flight
24 / 04 / 2020
American Airlines Cargo has broken its record for freight volume while carrying soybean seeds on a flight from Buenos Aires to Miami.
The Boeing 777 flight on April 16 carried 115,349 lbs (52,321 kg) of the seeds — the equivalent weight of 76 cows or 20,900 chickens — as part of harvest season operations.
The soybean seeds flight was completed shortly before the US government announced its Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, a $19bn initiative aimed at supporting farmers and ranchers.
As part of the programme, after the northern hemisphere’s harvest each year, seeds from the grown plants are shipped back to Argentina for the next growing season in the warmth of the southern hemisphere. This process improves planting yield by up to 40 %.
Lorena Sandoval, American Airlines director of cargo Sales for Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, commented: “We are proud to be a part of this important cycle that supports local farming and provides vital food and fuel for the global economy. Transporting record-breaking volume in the process is just icing on the cake.
“With reduced flight schedules due to Covid-19, it’s more important than ever to maximize every inch of available cargo space. We’re here to support the world’s food supply, no matter what we face.”
In addition to seeds, American Airlines is continuing to fly life-saving medical supplies and materials to the US, including personal protective equipment and pharmaceuticals.
The carrier has expanded its cargo-only schedule to 46 weekly flights to offer more than 6.5m lbs of capacity to transport critical goods each week between the US and Europe, Asia and Latin America.
