many foreign airlines fly cargo-only planes, why not UA/AA/DL/etc?
Jul 28, 2016, 3:51 am
#1
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many foreign airlines fly cargo-only planes, why not UA/AA/DL/etc?
Does anyone have some interesting insight / explanation into why (some) foreign airlines operate cargo-dedicated divisions -- or to be more specific cargo-only aircraft -- while none (as far as I know) of the US carriers do this? Is it a profitability question, or restriction from operating?
Clearly US passenger carriers have cargo contracts to various countries, in the holds of passenger flights, but tend not to have any cargo-only versions of planes that they fly just for that purpose.
What's the factors going on here? Thanks!
edit: or if I recall, perhaps Northwest used to operate a cargo-only division with a hub in Anchorage (+ Tokyo?)
Clearly US passenger carriers have cargo contracts to various countries, in the holds of passenger flights, but tend not to have any cargo-only versions of planes that they fly just for that purpose.
What's the factors going on here? Thanks!
edit: or if I recall, perhaps Northwest used to operate a cargo-only division with a hub in Anchorage (+ Tokyo?)
Last edited by TA; Jul 28, 2016 at 4:01 am
Jul 28, 2016, 4:21 am
#2
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One reason is UA has two global cargo operators in UPS and Fedex. AA/DL/UA also provide cargo services but it is hard to compete with the huge fleet of cargo planes and capacity at UP and Fedex. I don't think there are similar competitions in Singapore, Hong Kong, taiwan, Japan and jurisdictions where passenger alirlines also operate a separate fleet of cargo planes.
In other parts of world, you will see TNT, DHL and others.
Regarding UA, UA also operated a small fleet of three DC-10s cargo planes (converted from passenger planes) in the late 90s. It was an initiative to expand cargo business, but it got discontinued due to competition.
In other parts of world, you will see TNT, DHL and others.
Regarding UA, UA also operated a small fleet of three DC-10s cargo planes (converted from passenger planes) in the late 90s. It was an initiative to expand cargo business, but it got discontinued due to competition.
Jul 28, 2016, 4:39 am
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Well, United does have a bunch of flight numbers that represent journeys which they only perform to carry cargo … it just so happens that they're all trucks http://www.unitedcargo.com/ShowFiles...ules/Truck.pdf .
Jul 28, 2016, 4:56 am
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Northwest operated a separate Northwest Cargo with 747 Freighters. It's main customer was DHL, and when DHL terminated their contract there was no longer a profit to be made operating solely cargo flights. Once DL bought NW, the division was converted to Delta Cargo - providing cargo on their regularly scheduled passenger flights.
Jul 28, 2016, 7:37 am
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One reason is UA has two global cargo operators in UPS and Fedex. AA/DL/UA also provide cargo services but it is hard to compete with the huge fleet of cargo planes and capacity at UP and Fedex. I don't think there are similar competitions in Singapore, Hong Kong, taiwan, Japan and jurisdictions where passenger alirlines also operate a separate fleet of cargo planes.
In other parts of world, you will see TNT, DHL and others.
Regarding UA, UA also operated a small fleet of three DC-10s cargo planes (converted from passenger planes) in the late 90s. It was an initiative to expand cargo business, but it got discontinued due to competition.
In other parts of world, you will see TNT, DHL and others.
Regarding UA, UA also operated a small fleet of three DC-10s cargo planes (converted from passenger planes) in the late 90s. It was an initiative to expand cargo business, but it got discontinued due to competition.
Jul 28, 2016, 8:09 am
#7
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Air cargo continues to change in terms of demand. Two key factors are some customers have actually changes to ocean freight and a large driver is the intro of the 773, which is flooding the market worldwide with amazing belly space. I'd venture to say LH may be the next to fold, alongside KL/AF.
Jul 28, 2016, 11:18 am
#9
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Thanks for that reminder! Spurred me to find this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ide-cargo.html
Jul 28, 2016, 11:25 am
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Moderator Note
As this is a discussion that covers multiple airlines in addition to United, I'll move this thread over to the TravelBuzz forum
goalie
UA Forum Co-Moderator
As this is a discussion that covers multiple airlines in addition to United, I'll move this thread over to the TravelBuzz forum
goalie
UA Forum Co-Moderator
Jul 29, 2016, 7:23 am
#12
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One reason is UA has two global cargo operators in UPS and Fedex. AA/DL/UA also provide cargo services but it is hard to compete with the huge fleet of cargo planes and capacity at UP and Fedex. I don't think there are similar competitions in Singapore, Hong Kong, taiwan, Japan and jurisdictions where passenger alirlines also operate a separate fleet of cargo planes.
In other parts of world, you will see TNT, DHL and others.
In other parts of world, you will see TNT, DHL and others.
The CEP-companys are no real threat to airlines.
Air cargo continues to change in terms of demand. Two key factors are some customers have actually changes to ocean freight and a large driver is the intro of the 773, which is flooding the market worldwide with amazing belly space. I'd venture to say LH may be the next to fold, alongside KL/AF.
As for LH Cargo, they need to make some major changes - abandoning their freighter services completely might not be a smart move.
Jul 29, 2016, 8:17 pm
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Air cargo continues to change in terms of demand. Two key factors are some customers have actually changes to ocean freight and a large driver is the intro of the 773, which is flooding the market worldwide with amazing belly space. I'd venture to say LH may be the next to fold, alongside KL/AF.
Jul 29, 2016, 9:02 pm
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