Based on a job posting from Amazon, the e-commerce giant appears to be planning an expansion of its already substantial air cargo operations. The company’s Amazon Air Science and Technology team is looking to hire an applied scientist “to help scale and grow a startup cargo airline.”
Amazon has not yet responded to a request for comment on the posting, but the development plans seem to be in very early stages. The position will focus on mid- and long-term planning around “how to bring disruptive changes [to] how a startup airline is run,” with a focus on statistical and optimization modeling and data analytics.
It is unclear how Amazon’s expansion of its cargo airline capabilities might affect its current arrangements with Air Transport Services Group– and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings-affiliated carriers, which operate 767 freighters — and also 737 freighters, in Atlas’ case — on Amazon’s behalf. Amazon has already reassigned some of its leased aircraft among its contracted operators, as reported by our sister publication, Cargo Facts.
Amazon has separate lease terms, or dry leases, for its 767F and 737F aircraft, allowing the company to move its aircraft among operators. Whether that will lead to Amazon eventually utilizing those freighters for its own startup airline remains to be seen.
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