Air Cargo Insider

Demand for freighters spurs investment in new airframe conversions

Close up of white cargo jet, front end, in flight

When the pandemic halted most international and domestic air travel, shippers that depended on passenger aircraft to move freight around the world had to quickly come up with alternative strategies. To complicate matters, consumers shifted buying habits from brick-and-mortar stores to e-commerce, putting more pressure on the air cargo segment for its ability to meet the ever-growing consumer expectation of speedy delivery. Without being able to rely on the cargo capacity provided by passenger...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/demand-for-freighters-spurs-investment-in-new-airframe-conversions

Cargo handling for largest aircraft lessor requires ‘Swiss Army knife’ operation

This year Amazon became ATSG’s largest customer. ATSG ⁠— the world’s largest lessor of freighter aircraft ⁠— expects to operate up to 46 and lease 42 Boeing 767 aircraft with the e-commerce giant by the end of December. 

As consumer dependence on e-commerce increases, the seamless movement of cargo and communication across the supply chain is becoming a centralized source of public concern ⁠— not only how goods move from point A to point B, but how cargo-handling infrastructure is installed and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cargo-handling-for-largest-aircraft-lessor-requires-swiss-army-knife-operation

ATSG’s airline maintenance subsidiary remains competitive amid bow wave of demand

Airline maintenance facilities across the globe are still weathering the fallout from reduced passenger travel at the pandemic’s outset. For well over a year, until domestic passenger travel numbers returned to normal, a majority of airlines parked aircraft in the arid climates of states like Arizona and New Mexico. 

Maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities like Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services (Airborne) then pivoted from their usual equal mix of passenger and freighter...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/atsgs-airline-maintenance-subsidiary-remains-competitive-amid-bow-wave-of-demand

Airbus ‘future and evolution of ATSG’: A look into A330 conversion

In August, Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) announced plans to purchase and convert 20 passenger Airbus 330s to lease to its express delivery operators. Germany-based aerospace manufacturer EFW won the contract and will begin those conversions in July 2023. 

At first glance, ATSG’s deeper investment in the Airbus family is a simple story of modernization as the A330’s medium widebody presents a fine alternative to the Boeing 767-300, which only has a limited amount of feedstock availability.

“W...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/airbus-future-and-evolution-of-atsg-a-look-into-a330-conversion

A321 conversion expected to penetrate European market, compete with 757s and 737s

In April, the Federal Aviation Administration awarded a Supplemental Type Certificate for 321 Precision Conversions ⁠— a joint venture between Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) and Oregon-based, Precision Aircraft Solutions. 

Two of ATSG’s subsidiaries ⁠— Airborne Maintenance & Engineering Services and PEMCO Conversions — will provide manufacturing and conversion labor for the ATSG A321 conversions with the first slots available to their customers in Q4.

The urgency placed on this conversion is...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/a321-conversion-expected-to-penetrate-european-market-compete-with-757s-and-737s

For air cargo security, the past is prologue

Air cargo security has come far since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks turned the tools of transportation and trade into weapons of mass destruction. Until 9/11, the lone form of security in the U.S. was an unregulated program in which airlines vetted shippers to ensure they and their products were legitimate. The so-called known shipper program was enhanced following 9/11 and remains in effect. Today, a shipper must be known to the carrier in order to load cargo aboard a passenger flight...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/for-air-cargo-security-the-past-is-prologue

World’s largest aircraft lessor expands globally to meet capacity demand

Even as retail stores across the nation reopen and compete with e-commerce sales, e-commerce continues its fight upward. According to data from the National Retail Federation, the positive year-over-year growth of U.S. online sales in 2021 will sit between 18% and 23%, contributing to overall retail sales growth of up to 13.5%. 

In an interview with FreightWaves, Mike Berger, chief commercial officer for Ohio-based Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), spoke candidly about the growth of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/worlds-largest-aircraft-lessor-expands-globally-to-meet-capacity-demand