“Look, Mom, no seats!” That’s Korean Air saying it’s flying a passenger plane with the seats removed because it can make more money putting cargo on the floor.
It’s not an accident that United Airlines’ cargo business in the second quarter dwarfed that of Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.
One of the big innovations for passenger airlines during the coronavirus era is using their planes as dedicated cargo haulers. Cargo 2.0 was putting boxes in storage bins and other seats. Cargo 3.0 is cargo on seats.
If you’re a forwarder and need more airlift to get goods around the world, you’re in luck. Airlines are listening and putting more assets to work.
Delta Air Lines and LATAM are getting ready to operate jointly once they clear antitrust hurdles in both countries.
If it flies, it can be a cargo plane for coronavirus relief missions. Planes are being put to unconventional uses to support the coronavirus response, including cargo-only passenger aircraft with boxes in the seats or on the floor and heavylift cargo planes used by aircraft manufacturers to move wings and other aircraft sections.
Delta Air Lines is increasing the number of scheduled cargo flights between Asia and three U.S. cities, using its passenger aircraft as substitutes for freighters.
Etihad will operate a limited international route structure for the time being, but is busy running passenger and cargo charters and getting ahead on maintenance.
American will penalize shippers who don’t show up or cancel a booking at the last minute, while Delta is adding more capacity for its scheduled cargo routes to Asia.
Cargo has had a window view on some international airlines. Now U.S. airlines are looking to load boxes in the passenger cabin when operating in cargo-only mode. The next step — remove the seats altogether.
Tough times call for drastic measures and Lufthansa sees the writing on the economic wall. It’s wasting no time shrinking for a smaller future.
Dealing with a crisis requires innovation and Delta Air Lines doing that on several fronts. Now it is switching gears and making face shields for hospital workers.
Most airlines using passenger planes for cargo-only operations are doing so on a charter basis. Qatar Airways will operate scheduled rotations to and from China.
Demand to move goods during the pandemic crisis is high, but available air cargo space is low. Passenger airlines are finding a robust market.
American Airlines transforms some planes for all-cargo service, filling up the lower deck for charter customers desperate to move goods because they can’t find available space.
