NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Amazon is sparking a boom in air cargo construction

The past year has seen a drop in passenger airplane traffic as people stayed home to avoid spreading — or catching — COVID-19. And while hunkering down at home, people have been online buying myriad things that are delivered to their residences. The items have to get to the cities in which they are being delivered, and there’s no faster way than air cargo. Amazon now has more than 70 aircraft and hundreds of daily flights in and out of 35 U.S. cities, reports Keith Schneider for the New York Times. The retail giant announced last week that it is buying 11 more planes. And Amazon is completing construction of the first phase of a $1.5 billion, 3 million-square-foot air cargo hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky. The new building is a signal measure of Amazon’s influence as the largest online retailer and its dedication to fast delivery, writes Schnieder. Both have helped generate a wave of air cargo construction at airports across the United States.