USPS Signs Up New Air Freight Carrier
Global air freight carrier Kitty Hawk Aircargo Network Inc., Dallas, announced this week that it has won a six year U.S. Postal Service contract for mail delivery in the Western United States.The contract, which is expected to generate more than $264 million in revenues for Kitty Hawk, expands the carrier the postal service had been using for its existing WNET hub in Oakland, CA. The contract includes two three-year renewal options for nine aircraft operating out of a new hub, the location of which is still being decided. The aircraft will fly round the clock, six days a week, with service beginning Aug. 28.
Kitty Hawk will supply planes for the WNET hub and will manage the hub-sorting canisters of mail and moving the mail between plans. The WNET hub services Albuquerque, NM; Billings, MT; Boise, ID; Denver; Los Angeles; Phoenix; Portland, OR; Reno, NV; Salt Lake City; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; and Spokane, WA.
"The mail volume for Priority and Express Mail and in some cases First-Class mail has grown so much in these areas, and we expect it to grow more," said Marilyn Davis, USPS contracting officer. "We have many Internet customers in that area, such as Amazon.com, and they are bringing in more business for the Postal Service."
The new plans will assist direct marketers that use the Postal Service because these planes "are bigger, with more volume capacity," said Davis. As a result, the company can fill the planes to capacity thereby moving packages faster and more efficiently.
