Tag: cargo (Page 14 of 18)

Delta Launches Innovative Solution for Pet Travel

January 27, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Delta is ushering in a new best-in-class travel experience for pets and their owners with the exclusive launch of CarePod. The introduction of this state-of-the-art pet travel carrier, which provides many industry-leading features including real-time updates throughout the journey, heralds a new standard of first-class safety and care for pet air travel.

After five years of research, development and testing, on top of a successful two-month trial, CarePod will be exclusively offered at eight U.S. locations: Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York (JFK and LaGuardia), San Francisco and West Palm Beach. There will then be a phased approach to roll out the CarePod pet travel carrier across Delta’s U.S. network.

“Continuous innovation is in Delta’s DNA and the launch of the CarePod pet travel carrier, an industry first, is an example of us seeking out innovative partnerships and looking at ways to improve the customer experience throughout all parts of their journey,” said Shawn Cole, Vice President — Delta Cargo. “As the only airline to offer this premium pet travel solution, it represents a significant improvement for the millions of people who want to travel with their four-legged family members.”

The CarePod pet travel carrier has several innovative safety features that make it the ultimate air travel experience for pets:

Stronger, industrial strength walls that are insulated to protect your pet against potential temperature fluctuations when moving between different climates and travel conditions.
Multi-layered windows and doors with specially angled blinds to help create a calming environment for pets by blocking out visual stress from unfamiliar environments.
The world’s first built-in hydration system for pet travel carriers, holding up to a liter of water that will auto replenish the spill-proof water bowl to ensure pets always have easy access to fresh water.
A powerful, enterprise level GPS tracking and monitoring system that connects your pet’s journey directly to the specialized Delta Cargo Control Center. The Center is managed 24/7/365 by trained experts who supervise and digitally monitor every CarePod pet journey from beginning to end, with the expertise and authority to send out the right staff on the ground to check on the pet if needed.
Seamless connectivity that enables you to use your mobile phone to view your pet’s key travel updates throughout their entire journey via deltacargo.com
CarePod pet travel carriers are made to the highest quality and standard, with human grade materials that are non-toxic, UV and antibacterial treated for longer lasting strength and protection.

The CarePod pet travel carrier is a next generation, IATA compliant pet travel carrier, which can accommodate dogs and cats permitted in a 300 series crate, or smaller, and can be booked between three and thirteen days prior to departure. The CarePod can be booked by visiting deltacargo.com or by calling Delta’s Cargo Customer Service Center at 1-800-352-2746.

“We’re thrilled that pet owners can now vacation and fly their pets with Delta’s best-in-class CarePod solution, having the peace of mind that their pets are protected in smart pet travel carriers, that are also digitally supervised by the Delta Cargo Control Center throughout the entire journey,” says Jenny Pan, founder and CEO of CarePod. “With the Delta partnership, we aim to raise the benchmark for pet air travel to allow families and pets to stay connected and travel safely together.”

Delta’s team of specialists and staff veterinarian constantly review processes and policies to identify areas of improvement to ensure the safety and health of pets. The airline has specially trained ground handlers who take care of pets at every step of their journey. Delta also has temperature-controlled holding areas and vehicles in numerous locations and overnight kenneling services. The Cargo Control Center in Atlanta also gives the airline 24/7/365 visibility into all shipments, including pets.

Delta Cargo started working with CarePod in 2018 and the relationship is the latest example of seeking out innovative partnerships to streamline and improve the customer experience. Delta is focused on tech-driven solutions to support the airline’s vision of the future, looking at the challenges throughout the customer journey and coming up with innovative solutions to transform travel to be less stressful and more enjoyable.

For further information on how to book the ultimate air travel experience for pets visit deltacargo.com.

American Airlines Reports Q4 and Full-Year 2019 Profit

January 23, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) today reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 financial results, including these highlights:

Fourth-quarter 2019 earnings were $0.95 per diluted share. Excluding net special items¹, earnings were $1.15 per diluted share, up 19% year over year.
Full-year 2019 earnings were $3.79 per diluted share. Excluding net special items², earnings were $4.90 per diluted share, up 8% year over year.
Accrued $213 million for the company’s profit-sharing program in 2019, including $74 million in the fourth quarter.
Returned $1.3 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in 2019.

“During the fourth quarter, we made important progress to address the issues that impacted our business in 2019, and, thanks to our incredible team, we ended the year with our strongest operational quarter on record,” said American Airlines Chairman and CEO Doug Parker.

“While our results for the quarter reflect this progress, we know there is more work to be done. Looking to 2020, we are focused on three key areas. First, we will continue to deliver operational excellence and build on our strong fourth-quarter results. Our team has done a tremendous job, and we will keep driving improvement in key operational metrics in the year ahead. Second, we will deliver those results while growing where we have a competitive advantage in our most profitable hubs. And third, these initiatives combined with our capital plan will enable us to drive significant free cash flow in 2020 and beyond.”

Fourth-Quarter Revenue and Expenses

Pre-tax earnings were $571 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Pre-tax earnings excluding net special items for the fourth quarter of 2019 were $679 million, a $90 million increase from the fourth quarter of 2018, or 15.1% year-over-year increase from the same period last year.

Continued strength in passenger demand and a record passenger load factor drove a 3.4% year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter 2019 total revenue to a record $11.3 billion. Driven by a 2.4% increase in passenger load factor, passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) grew 0.9% to 14.72 cents, a record for the fourth quarter. Cargo revenue was down 18.3% to $216 million due primarily to a 15.6% decline in cargo volume. Other revenue was up 5.4% to $750 million due primarily to higher loyalty revenue. Fourth-quarter total revenue per available seat mile (TRASM) increased by 0.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2018 on a 2.9% increase in total available seat miles.

Total fourth-quarter 2019 operating expenses were $10.6 billion, up 2.1% year over year, driven primarily by higher salaries and benefits, maintenance, and regional expenses. Total fourth-quarter 2019 cost per available seat mile (CASM) was 15.06 cents, down 0.8% from fourth-quarter 2018. Excluding fuel and net special items, consolidated fourth-quarter CASM was 11.59 cents, up 2% year over year.¹

2020 Priorities

In 2020, American is focused on operational excellence, efficient and profitable growth, and generating significant free cash flow.

Operational excellence: Running a reliable operation is a significant driver of customers’ likelihood to recommend and American’s goal to become customers’ airline of choice.
Efficient and profitable growth: Grow in high-revenue markets that produce at or above average unit revenues, largely due to new gates in Dallas-Fort Worth and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Generating significant free cash flow³: Use free cash flow to naturally de-lever the company’s balance sheet and return capital to American’s shareholders.

SpaceX Dragon Resupply Mission (CRS-19) Splashdown

January 10, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Packed with about 3,800 pounds of cargo and science, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft departed the International Space Station on Tuesday, January 7. A parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean occurred that morning just west of Baja California. A recovery team then secured Dragon on a boat for the return trip to the Port of Los Angeles, wrapping up SpaceX’s 19th resupply mission to the space station.

Filled with approximately 5,700 pounds of supplies and payloads, Dragon launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on December 5, 2019 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and arrived at the space station on December 8. The Dragon spacecraft supporting the CRS-19 mission previously supported the CRS-4 mission in September 2014 and the CRS-11 mission in June 2017. Dragon is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth.

EmbraerX and Elroy Air Sign Agreement to Collaborate on Unmanned Air Cargo

January 8, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

EmbraerX, Embraer’s disruptive business subsidiary, announces its expansion into the commercial air cargo market, via a collaboration agreement with Elroy Air, at CES 2020. This collaboration will allow the companies to accelerate the unmanned air cargo market worldwide, leveraging Embraer’s 50 years of industry experience with Elroy Air’s bold new developments in autonomous aircraft systems.

“In order to stay the course of creating solutions that benefit humanity at large, we believe the cargo market is prime for an autonomous aircraft,” said Antonio Campello, President & CEO, EmbraerX. “Booming eCommerce is forcing the cargo market to grow and seek new solutions, creating a distinct need for more flexibility. Our holistic approach to accelerating this market will include working with Elroy Air and its Chaparral system, capable of delivering cargo (250-500 lbs) over distances up to 300 miles, as well as our work in associated services and air traffic management solutions.”

“Elroy Air aims to open a new chapter for the logistics market with point-to-point autonomous aerial cargo systems” said Dave Merrill, CEO of Elroy Air. “Elroy Air’s Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) cargo delivery aircraft, the Chaparral, will operate without airports or charging stations, and is optimized for freight with automated cargo loading and unloading. Our collaboration with EmbraerX will accelerate our path to deployment in commercial freight markets.”

This collaboration is part of EmbraerX’s multi-project approach to further develop the air mobility ecosystem and create the conditions for people and goods to move from A to B in a seamless and affordable way. Beyond cargo, EmbraerX is engaged in several projects, including the development of an Urban Air Mobility focused eVTOL, a tailored Urban Air Traffic Management (UATM) system and a fleet-agnostic business platform, designated Beacon, to streamline services.

Boeing Rolls Out First Space Launch System Core Stage for Delivery to NASA

January 8, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Teams at Stennis Space Center prepare for core stage hot-fire testing ahead of Artemis I lunar mission

Boeing [NYSE: BA] today delivered the core stage of NASA’s first Space Launch System (SLS) deep space exploration rocket, moving it out of the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to the agency’s Pegasus barge.

The event marks the first time a completed rocket stage has shipped out of Michoud since the end of the Apollo program. SLS Core Stage 1 is the largest single rocket stage ever built by NASA and its industry partners.

The rollout follows several weeks of final testing and check-outs after NASA’s declaration of “core stage complete” during a December 9 Artemis Day celebration at Michoud.

NASA will transport the SLS core stage to its Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, in the next few days for “Green Run” hot-fire engine tests later this year. After inspection and refurbishing for launch, the stage moves to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At Kennedy, the core stage will be integrated with the Interim Cryogenic Upper Stage (ICPS) and NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the uncrewed Artemis I mission around the moon – the first launch of a human-rated spacecraft to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

“The Boeing SLS team has worked shoulder-to-shoulder with NASA and our supplier partners to face multiple challenges with ingenuity and perseverance, while keeping safety and quality at the forefront,” said John Shannon, Boeing SLS vice president and program manager.

SLS is the world’s most powerful rocket, evolvable and built to carry astronauts and cargo farther and faster than any rocket in history. Its unmatched capabilities will deliver human-rated spacecraft, habitats and science missions to the moon, Mars and beyond as part of NASA’s Artemis program.

“We are applying what we’ve learned from development of the first core stage to accelerate work on core stages 2 and 3, already in production at Michoud, as well as the Exploration Upper Stage that will power NASA’s most ambitious Artemis missions,” said Shannon.

Space Launch System Core stage 1 rollout from Michoud Assembly Facility to NASA’s Pegasus barge; for Green Run test. MSF20-0002 Series. Leanne Caret_President and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

Atlas Air Lands El Al As New Customer

January 8, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

El Al Israel Airlines is outsourcing operation of its main freighter route between Tel Aviv and Liege, Belgium, to Atlas Air Inc. under an extended charter arrangement.

Atlas, an aviation services company headquartered in Purchase, N.Y., said Tuesday it is leasing El Al a Boeing 747-400 all-cargo aircraft, operating it with its own crew and providing maintenance and insurance (ACMI) beginning this month.

El Al, a new customer for Atlas, is experiencing strong growth in demand across its freight network, according to the announcement. The Israeli carrier sells the space on the plane and covers expenses such as ground handling, landing fees and fuel.

No terms of the commercial cooperation were disclosed, but ACMI deals typically run for one to three years.

Click the link for the full story!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/atlas-air-lands-el-al-164407972.html

China Southern Air Holding Sets Up One Billion Yuan Cargo Company

December 26, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

China Southern Airlines Airbus commercial passenger aircraft is pictured in Colomiers near Toulouse

BEIJING (Reuters) – China Southern Air Holding, the parent of China Southern Airlines <ZNH>, has set up a cargo company with registered capital of 1 billion yuan ($143 million), as it looks to consolidate its air cargo assets through state-led reforms.

The move from December 24 was disclosed by a filing approved on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System and comes as China prioritizes implementing mixed ownership reforms to revamp its bloated, debt-ridden state sector.

China Southern is among 96 centrally owned companies supervised by the state assets regulator, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

As such, China Southern Airlines would offload its old freight unit to the newly registered company, according to a statement from SASAC in October. The cargo company would also take over other air cargo assets under the parent company such as belly cargo services, cargo terminals and international logistics.

The cargo business would be managed in a market-oriented way and would become a major source of profits, said the SASAC.

The air cargo market, an economic bellwether linked to global trade, saw its traffic decline by 3.3% in 2019, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said, driven by a tariff war between the United States and China.

In 2017, China Eastern Air Holding <CEA> sold almost half of its freight unit to four firms, while Air China <AIRYY> last year offloaded a majority stake in its cargo arm in face of market uncertainties.

($1 = 7.0016 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Stella Qiu and Brenda Goh; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Bain Capital To Invest In Atlas Air’s Aircraft Leasing Unit

December 18, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Investment firm Bain Capital Credit will invest an initial $360 million in a joint venture with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (NASDAQ: AAWW), a major provider of outsourced all-cargo aircraft operations and other aviation services, to lease freighter aircraft, the companies said Wednesday.

Under the agreement, Atlas’ leasing subsidiary Titan Aviation Holdings Inc. will contribute $40 million of equity towards the portfolio, which ultimately could have a value of $1 billion with additional commitments to acquire aircraft over the next several years. The number and type of planes to be acquired are still to be determined. Titan will identify and source aircraft, as well as provide lease-management services to the venture.

The new company will be called Titan Aircraft Investment, Dan Loh, Atlas’ vice president of investor relations, told FreightWaves. “The parties are working expeditiously to complete and implement all elements of the joint venture,” he said.

Since its inception in 2009, Titan has grown to become the third-largest freighter lessor globally by fleet value with over 30 aircraft and a book value of over $1.5 billion.

Titan provides aircraft to airlines, which put them under their own operating certificate and then fly, maintain and insure them. Contracts are usually long term.

Click the link for the full story! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bain-capital-invest-atlas-airs-191045251.html

Amazon Hires Sun Country to Fly Shipments

December 18, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Sun Country will start cargo service with a big first customer: Amazon
Minnesota airline will add 10 planes, 70 pilots under 6-year cargo service deal.

Amazon is hiring Sun Country Airlines to fly packages around the country, a windfall deal that thrusts the Minnesota carrier into the cargo business.

The six-year deal, announced Tuesday, will immediately create a massive expansion for Sun Country. From the first flights next spring, the new cargo service for Amazon Air will quickly grow to represent 20% of all of Sun Country’s flying.

It is the first time Amazon has hired a commercial passenger airline for air service.

Sun Country will add 10 airplanes to its fleet and hire an additional 70 pilots to its existing force of 350. The Twin Cities-based airline will also hire more maintenance workers and 20 to 30 headquarters staffers to support Amazon Air operations.

“These are pretty highly compensated positions. … We are very excited about this,” Jude Bricker, Sun Country’s chief executive, said Tuesday. “This is going to be a great growth opportunity for our company, and the important thing for the Twin Cities is it will make us a better airline for Minnesota leisure travelers.”

Click the link for the full story! http://www.startribune.com/sun-country-will-start-cargo-service-with-a-big-first-customer-amazon/566286912/

Amazon is hiring Sun Country to fly shipments under its Amazon Air business. The six-year deal puts Sun Country into the scheduled cargo business for the first time. It will hire 70 pilots to fly the routes.

American Airlines Announces New Investments at DFW Airport

December 7, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Investments as airline expands global network from DFW, improves customer experience

FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines has announced plans to build a new, larger catering kitchen at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The new facility is part of American’s long-term growth strategy at its largest hub, and will allow the airline to better serve customers as it grows.

The investment reaffirms American’s commitment to grow and improve customer experience at DFW. In addition to the new kitchen, construction is also slated to begin ona a state-of-the-art aircraft parts distribution facility, which will help reduce maintenance delays by providing parts from DFW to American’s global network.

This year alone, American has expanded at DFW by adding 15 more gates and increasing the amount of flying to 900 daily departures. Additionally, the airline introduced a Flagship Lounge to serve premium customers travelling to international destinations. The growth is part of a larger strategy that will continue as American continues to invest in the operational efficiency and customer experience initiatives at DFW.

“DFW remains a great source of opportunity and growth for American,” said Cedric Rockamore, American’s Vice President of DFW of Hub Operations. “These investments will ensure we can continue to welcome the world to and through DFW for a very long time.”

Catering kitchen

American will build a new catering kitchen to support DFW’s current and future catering demands. The new facility will replace the existing catering kitchen, which was built in 1982 and is too small to support the airport’s growing operation. Construction on the new kitchen will begin in January 2020.

“In addition to more space, the new kitchen will provide updated equipment and efficiencies to improve our catering operation, which improves our reliability and provides a better experience for our customers,” Rockamore said.

The $100 million construction project will take about 18 months to complete and supports the first phase of development for DFW’s new Terminal F. This phase includes four new gates and customer areas located on the southeast corner of Terminal D and is scheduled to open in 2022.

The kitchen will continue to be staffed and operated by LSG Sky Chefs, the airport’s largest catering vendor.

Central Fulfillment Center and cargo mail facility

American plans to break ground in January 2020 on a new Central Fulfillment Center that will house aircraft parts for line maintenance support across our network. The 390,000-square-foot facility will enable the airline to fulfill request for parts up to 75% faster, minimizing potential maintenance delays. Locating this facility at DFW enhances our ability to distribute parts for overnight maintenance throughout the network.

This project will also include a facility for cargo mail, a key revenue stream and narrowbody product for American Airlines Cargo. The expanded space will allow the Cargo team to optimize fleet, network and market demands for transporting mail.

Terminal expansion

To support the demand for additional growth, DFW continues to develop new and optimize existing terminal spaces. These efforts include two new gates and customer areas at Terminal E, which American will utilize to support summer 2020 flying, and the continued development of Terminal F.

With the first phase of development for Terminal F underway, details of the additional phases will be developed as American and DFW continue to study infrastructure demands and customer needs.

Fourth-Quarter Revenue and Expenses

2020 Priorities

Catering kitchen

Central Fulfillment Center and cargo mail facility

Terminal expansion

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