New York: Amazon said Tuesday that it bought 11 jets from Delta and WestJet airlines to boost its growing delivery network. Amazon said that its aim is to get orders to shoppers faster. The company said it’s the first time it has purchased planes for its delivery network. Over the past couple of years, Amazon has been leasing planes to build its fleet.
“Having a mix of both leased and owned aircraft in our growing fleet allows us to better manage our operations,” said Sarah Rhoads, vice- president of ‘Amazon Global Air’, in a blog post.
Seattle-based Amazon has been working to deliver most of its packages itself. It doesn’t rely on UPS, the US Postal Service and other carriers.
Besides its fleet of planes, Amazon has also built several package-sorting hubs at airports. Amazon has also opened warehouses closer to where shoppers live. It has also launched a programme which lets contractors start businesses delivering packages in vans stamped with the Amazon logo.
Amazon said the 11 planes, all of which are Boeing 767-300s, will be converted to hold cargo instead of passengers. The four jets that it is buying from WestJet will join Amazon’s fleet this year, and the seven from Delta will be ready by next year. The purchases will bring its total fleet to 85 planes by 2022.
Amazon.Com Inc. Declined to say how much it is paying for the planes.
