A pilot steps down from a new Kuala Lumpur DHL Boeing 737-200 cargo plane.
Jimin Lai | AFP | fake pictures
Airlines are increasingly turning to air cargo as many passengers choose to forgo flights due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mesa Air Group, a regional airline that runs short routes for American and United on Monday, said it will begin flying packages for Deutsche Post’s DHL Express.
Mesa, based in Phoenix, said it has a five-year agreement to fly for the package delivery company and that the service will begin in October. The regional airline plans to add while Boeing 737 freighters, leased to DHL, and fly them from Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Other carriers have taken similar steps as the pandemic continues to control demand for air travel, pushing passenger airlines to their first losses in years. Just over 8 million people passed through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at US airports In the first 12 days of July, almost 73% less than in the same period last year , as shown by federal data.
Sun Country, a Minneapolis-based leisure airline backed by private equity, has agreed to fly packages for Amazon. Meanwhile, larger airlines such as American, United and Delta, which used to fly cargo in the bellies of their passenger planes, began operating cargo-only flights after the virus, and subsequent travel restrictions slowed much of their networks. international.
Airlines will detail the amount of revenue these initiatives generate when they start reporting earnings this month. Delta plans to report first quarter results before the market opens on Tuesday.
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