Originally Posted by
Almost There
"After months of speculation, Amazon confirmed it is leasing 20 planes and contracting with Air Transport Services Group Inc. to operate the cargo network."
This is great news for the 2 Airlines (ABX AIR & ATI) who will be doing the flights for Amazon. Amazon may also purchase up to 20% of ATSG stock.
This is not good news for the air cargo industry, because it moves a significant volume of freight from first-tier carriers to third- and sub-third tier carriers. That won't affect UPS or FedEx's bottom lines by much since it's already heavily-discounted, but it will have a direct impact on the amount of flying done by their pilots. It will also increase the pressure to drive down wages at both of those companies, which, in-turn, may have severe repercussions among the ACMI carriers that will be flying that work.
Under the current administration and for at least the foreseeable future, Amazon has no incentive to bring it's airline ops in-house. None. And being a perma-temp flight crewmember for Amazon isn't going to be the panacea some people seem to think it's going to be, either. Good luck, guys......