air cargo revenue

Record cargo revenue motivates investment in dedicated aircraft, cold storage and IT systems

Air cargo was a bright spot for Air New Zealand last year, thanks in large measure to government aid for flights geared toward cargo.

It’s a sign of the supply chain times when customers are renting entire planes from United Airlines to haul low-value commodities like mayonnaise.

The global airline industry still has a steep climb out of its financial hole. U.S. airlines are doing better, but watch out for the delta variant.

Delta Air Lines is seeing strong domestic travel demand, but cargo also helped the company move beyond breakeven in the second quarter.

Excerpt: Most airlines survived the pandemic financial crisis, but will they survive the recovery?

Cargo never got a window view during air transport until the coronavirus pandemic led airlines to find innovative ways to mitigate the loss of passenger revenue. Alaska Airlines is joining other carriers in stowing boxes and mailbags in seats.

Making more money doing less less work. That’s air cargo in a nutshell. Volume is down from 2019, but yields are up.

Airfreight exports from China slowed a bit in mid-August, allowing shippers to take back a tiny bit of pricing before rates shoot up for the next few months in as retailers build inventory for the holidays.

Several passenger airlines have proven that cargo can be lucrative business during a pandemic with little travel. American Airlines quickly built a dedicated cargo operation but is now throwing more resources at the business as market conditions improve.

Shipping by air got much more expensive when the coronavirus pandemic exploded in March. After moderating earlier this summer, another price spike is brewing.

Korean Air is a unicorn among passenger airlines. It made a profit in the second quarter, a remarkable feat given the depressed state of the airline industry.

It’s not an accident that United Airlines’ cargo business in the second quarter dwarfed that of Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.

American Airlines’ cargo revenue for the first half of the year was $277 million, or 37% lower than the first half of 2019.

American Airlines lands $2.7 billion pretax loss in second quarter.

United Airlines got pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic in the second quarter, losing $1.6 billion before special charges. But cargo revenue jumped because of the huge number of cargo flights it operated without passengers to worry about.

Delta Air Lines will retire more than 100 planes by year’s end, reducing the carrier’s available cargo capacity to some destinations after coronavirus passes.

Atlanta-based airline posted $3.9 billion pretax loss for the second quarter.