Amazon's new investments in air cargo transport companies point to development of its own third-party carrier service

SEATTLE, Wash., - Amazon.com may want to play coy when it comes to its ambitions about becoming a full-fledged logistics company taking on UPS and FedEx, but behind the scenes it is clear the e-commerce giant is inexorably moving in that direction. The latest sign is Amazon's agreement to acquire a 40% stake in Atlas Air Worldwide and a 33% ownership position in Air Transport Services Group, the two aircraft leasing companies through which Amazon operates its Prime Air cargo service. The e-commerce company will also begin leasing five new Boeing 737s from Atlas, with the possibility of adding 15 more, reports Rich Duprey for The Motley Fool.

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The Intelligent Aerospace take:

April 12, 2019-Duprey and The Motley Fool are reading a bit into the tea leaves of Amazon getting involved financially with air cargo companies, as is their wont as an investment website, but their reporting seems to hit the mark on Amazon's ambitions as the company's own financial report lists "transportation and logistics services" in its list of competitors, which wasn't previously identified as business rivals. FedEx and UPS operate around 650 and 250 planes each, respectively, so the e-commerce giant will have some growing to do if it expects to disrupt logistics like it has done to retail shopping, though it appears to be on its way in attempting to do so.

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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace

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