Amazon Seeks Cargo Planes for Air Freight Operation

A report by the Seattle Times, citing anonymous sources, claims that Amazon is in talks with manufacturer Boeing to lease at least 20 767 cargo jets.

Managing its own planes would allow Amazon to improve its delivery services and cut operational costs.

Currently, majority of the company’s orders are shipped by FedEx and UPS. Trade publication DV Velocity reported in October that Amazon has hired a top recruiting firm to find a “management-level executive” in the logistics space, as well.

The world’s largest ecommerce outlet is reportedly looking to create its own air-delivery operation to curb shipping bottlenecks from third-party carriers, a cargo industry analyst told the Times.

Besides air cargo, the company announced earlier this month it purchased thousands of trailer-trucks featuring Amazon Prime branding to transport products between fulfillment and sorting centers.

Yes, there are a lot of “ifs” here – Amazon hasn’t commented on the Seattle Times report or reports from Vice or Re/Code that it’s hurtling towards big logistics ambitions – but the potential effect would be enormous.