A secretive air cargo operation is running in Ohio, and signs point to Amazon

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Motherboard has published a good read, which speculates that Amazon may have wet-leased 767s from ATSG, which is operating a cargo and logistics centre at DHL’s former hub at Wilmington Air Park in Ohio. ATSG, which has made no secret of its desire to be in the express market, has, since September, been running an air cargo operation called Aerosmith, shipping consumer goods for an unnamed customer with four 767s, two from its ABX subsidiary. They are flying to Allentown, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Tampa and Oakland – all airports near Amazon distribution centres. The article suggests the move may be temporary, to keep deliveries going through the peak season, without a repeat of previous years’ congestion and customer disappointment.

ATSG has made no comment, but in its third-quarter results issued this month, it did note its interest in e-commerce, supported by its new JV in China, United Star Express. It added: “Through this new China venture and others, we will demonstrate our innovation, flexibility and speed to deliver competitive advantages to e-commerce operators. We look forward to allocating significantly more aircraft and operating resources toward these new opportunities in 2016.” It added that it had had additional expenses, preparing “express-network services for new customers”.