Amazon is adding more airplanes to its growing Amazon Air fleet, announcing Wednesday that it is leasing 12 Boeing 767-300 converted cargo aircraft from Air Transport Services Group (ATSG).
The expansion brings Amazon’s fleet to more than 80 aircraft, with one that was added last month and the other 11 to be delivered in 2021. Amazon Air launched in 2016.
Amazon stressed the importance of Amazon Air in meeting both the growing demands of its customer base during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the use of the aircraft to transport personal protective equipment for its own workers and essential frontline personnel across the U.S.
“Amazon Air is critical to ensuring fast delivery for our customers — both in the current environment we are facing, and beyond,” Sarah Rhoads, VP of Amazon Global Air, said in a news release. “During a time when so many of our customers rely on us to get what they need without leaving their homes, expanding our dedicated air network ensures we have the capacity to deliver what our customers want: great selection, low prices and fast shipping speeds.”
Amazon’s expanding delivery infrastructure goes beyond the aircraft and includes on-the-ground operations such as new regional air hubs at Lakeland Linder International Airport in Florida later this summer, San Bernardino International Airport next year, and a central hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 2021.
