Under a transportation services agreement that kicked in last year, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) leases the aircraft from a dealer and transfers them to Hawaiian Airlines to fly and provide routine maintenance. Hawaiian, which is branching out to all-cargo operations for the first time, began commercial revenue service for Amazon in early October on a route connecting San Bernardino with Amazon Air's superhub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).
Amazon plans to acquire 10 A330 converted freighters as replacements for aging Boeing 767-200s operated by other partner airlines. The original schedule called for Hawaiian Airlines to receive eight more freighters this year, but the airline said delivery flow is behind by two aircraft because the airframe repair company responsible for reconfiguring the used passenger jets to carry heavy containers is experiencing production delays. That means Hawaiian will have seven aircraft, instead of ...