Amazon Beefs Up Air Cargo Fleet, Buys 11 Aircraft

E-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN is revving up the logistics unit that's central to its core business.

What Happened: Amazon announced Tuesday the purchase of 11 Boeing 767-300 aircrafts, including seven from Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL and four from Canadian airliner WestJet.

These new aircraft will join Amazon Air, the company's cargo airline, by 2022.

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Why It's Important: The fleet expansion comes at a time when customers are increasingly favoring fast, free shipping, Amazon said.

"Our goal is to continue delivering for customers across the U.S. in the way that they expect from Amazon, and purchasing our own aircraft is a natural next step toward that goal," Sarah Rhoads, vice president of Amazon Global Air, said in a statement. 

"Having a mix of both leased and owned aircraft in our growing fleet allows us to better manage our operations, which in turn helps us to keep pace in meeting our customer promises."

Amazon Air was launched by the company in 2016.

The four aircraft purchased from WestJet in March 2020 are currently undergoing passenger to cargo conversion and will join Amazon Air's network in 2021, while the seven aircraft from Delta will enter Amazon's air cargo network in 2022.

The company said it will rely on third-party carriers to operate these new aircraft.

At last check, Amazon shares were rising 0.19% to $3,192.66.

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Photo courtesy of Amazon.