Hawaiian Airlines has begun operating a second Airbus A330-300 cargo jet for Amazon on a new route between New York's JFK Airport and the retail giant's West Coast air logistics hub in San Bernardino, California, the company said. reported its quarterly results on Tuesday.
Under a transportation services agreement that began last year, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) leases aircraft from dealers and transfers them to Hawaiian Airlines (NASDAQ: HA) to provide flights and scheduled maintenance. Hawaiian Airlines, which is moving into the all-cargo business for the first time, launched commercial revenue service for Amazon in early October on a route between San Bernardino and Amazon Air's superhub, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).
Amazon plans to acquire 10 converted A330 freighters to replace aging Boeing 767-200s operated by other airline partners. Under the original schedule, Hawaiian Airlines was scheduled to take in eight more cargo planes this year, but deliveries have been postponed due to production delays at the aircraft repair company responsible for converting used passenger planes to carry heavy containers. Two planes were delayed, the airline said. That means Hawaiian will have seven planes by the end of the year, instead of nine, if its current schedule remains the same.
Hawaiian Airlines may delay deploying some cargo planes this year to avoid complicating Amazon's network during its busiest delivery period, CEO Peter Ingram said. said.
“During the busy season, our partners don't necessarily want to introduce new lines, so it's possible that not all flights will be operational by the end of the year,” he said in an earnings call for analysts. I would like to note that there is.”
Amazon operates a Boeing 767 between New York and San Bernardino, according to a route map compiled by a team of DePaul University researchers. The most recent report, published in March, found that Amazon was streamlining its airport network, controlling fleet growth and using larger aircraft like the A330 to improve efficiency.
Industry experts say the A330 can be most effectively utilized on the longest routes within Amazon's network in terms of minimizing operating costs.
Derek Rossing, founder of e-commerce logistics consultancy Cirrus Global Advisors and former senior manager at Amazon Logistics, said Amazon is always willing to fly over CVG hubs if the aircraft's load factor is high. He said that.
“This hub is great when you need to set up multiple destinations to fill a flight. But if you have enough traffic from New York to Los Angeles, sorting at the hub will save you time. So if you can fill an aircraft on a point-to-point route, and that aircraft is full or close to full, you're actually better off avoiding the hub.” he explained via email.
In the first quarter, Hawaiian Airlines posted an adjusted loss of $143.5 million, despite a 5.4% increase in revenue to $646 million due to increased system capacity. Operating loss increased 26% year-on-year as expenses grew faster than revenue. Unit prices increased approximately 7% year over year, including points attributable to Amazon flights. Losses also widened due to the company's lower effective tax rate reporting method.
High hotel prices in Hawaii and the strength of the US dollar versus the Japanese yen have led to weak travel demand from Japan, the country's main market. The wildfires that devastated Maui last year have also hampered business.
On the bright side, Hawaiian Airlines expects its entire fleet of Airbus A321neos to return to service within the next few weeks, although several flights were grounded due to a Pratt & Whitney engine issue that required extensive inspections. ing. Across the industry he has had over 1,000 of his P&W engines recalled.
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