Amazon’s plans to take over the world are taking to the skies. On Wednesday, Air Transport Services Group Inc. confirmed that the Internet giant signed a lease involving no fewer than 20 Boeing 767 freighter planes, coming one step closer to establishing its very own air delivery system. The deal would keep this impressive fleet under Amazon’s wing for between five and seven years, and should help customers receive their orders even more quickly than they already do (seriously, is it possible to get faster than Prime?).
“We offer Earth’s largest selection, great prices, and ultra-fast delivery promises to a growing group of Prime members,” Dave Clark, Amazon senior vice president of worldwide operations and customer service, said in a statement, “and we’re excited to supplement our existing delivery network with a great new provider, ATSG, by adding 20 planes to ensure air cargo capacity to support one and two-day delivery for customers,”
The plane approach is perhaps a bit more traditional than Amazon’s other venture — drone delivery. But whereas the quadcopter notion is still in a testing phase, the effectiveness of plane deliveries has long been proven, and certainly stands as a reliable way to move product efficiently.
While Amazon presently depends on UPS, the U.S. Postal Service, and FedEx to fulfill orders, this latest move will allow the online retailer to really take matters into its own hands. In addition to planes and unmanned flying devices, Amazon also has a new fleet of trucks and shipping cargo boats ready to move their customers’ wants and needs from warehouses to homes. And as Amazon exercises more control over every aspect of the shipping process, the firm is clearly hoping to avoid delays, cut costs, and ultimately, increase profits.
That said, having an in-house shipment option doesn’t mean that Amazon will totally do away with external partners. In a media call earlier this year, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said, “We are adding more logistics to supplement existing shipping options, and it’s not meant to replace them. We’ve had to add some resources of our own to handle our capacity at peak.” So if you’re a loyal Amazon customer, you may be getting packages to your doorstep faster than ever before.
