Amazon pauses 767 CMI arrangement with 21 Air following MIA crash

Amazon has put its 767 CMI operations with 21 Air on hold following the Sept. 6 crash of the 1994-vintage 767-300BDSF (27310) in Miami. The partnership suspension could indicate that Amazon had other concerns with 21 Air prior to the crash, Derek Lossing, transportation and global supply chain adviser at Cirrus Global Advisors and former senior manager at Amazon Logistics, told Cargo Facts . [caption id="attachment_57299030" align="aligncenter" width="1154"] 21 Air operated Amazon’s 767 freighters to and from Latin America. (Courtesy/Avianca Cargo)[/caption] “I was surprised about the suspension,” he said. “Amazon Air did also lose another Atlas aircraft in Houston (IAH) years ago, which did not lead to suspending [the contract with Atlas], but it has slowly reduced the overall relationship with Atlas in the years that followed.” Neither 21 Air nor Amazon responded to Cargo Facts . After the IAH crash in 2019, Amazon reassigned two of nineteen 767-300BDSFs (28495 and 30109) to ATSG’s Air Transport International from Atlas. Amazon will continue working to support the Miami investigation and everyone affected, the e-tailer said in a Sept. 13 statement. The CF6-powered unit 27310, operated by 21 Air, was arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it overran the runway and crossed a road, killing five. One of the two 767 pilots had repeatedly commented on the aircraft’s excessive speed during its approach, according to a summary of a recording of the ﬁnal few minutes captured on the cockpit voice recorder, released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Sept. 9. Amazon transferred unit 27310 and six other 767Fs (26206, 27205, 27615, 27959, 27960 and 28865) to 21 Air from Atlas Air in 2024 and 2025. This year, the e-commerce giant also placed its first owned 767-300BCF (29384) with 21 Air. Excluding unit 27310 and one unit (27561) that has been in Wilmington (ILN) since Sept. 8; the six other 767-300 freighters appear to still be in service as of 7:00pm (ET) today: One (26206) is en route from SJU to Cincinnati (CVG); One (29384) is en route from CVG to SJU; One (27205) is en route from MIA to CVG; One (27959) is en route from MIA to Baltimore (BWI); One (27960) arrived at MIA today; and One (28865) arrived at CVG on Sept. 13. In addition to the eight Amazon CMI units, 21 Air has four 767-300BDSFs and four 757-200PCFs in CMI service for DHL and one 757-200PCF in CMI service for Cargojet . It also operates one 767-200BDSF. DHL declined to comment on its partnership with 21 Air, citing the NTSB investigation of the MIA crash and the “sensitive nature” of the matter. "It is not uncommon for an airline to sever such partnerships after a major incident like this," Volodymyr Bilotkach, associate professor of aviation management at Purdue University, told Cargo Facts . "While 21 Air was the operating carrier, the event has a clear impact on Amazon’s reputation. Additionally, given the amount of scrutiny 21 Air is going to get from the FAA, it would be right for Amazon to distance itself from it. I doubt 21 Air will survive this ordeal." Amazon’s next move will likely include redeploying existing carrier partners along routes formerly covered by 21 Air-operated flights, Lossing said. “Then it is trying to understand how to redeploy its peak schedule with fewer aircraft while minimizing customer impacts,” he said. “That may mean an increase in block hours for the other carriers, but this many aircraft is sizable to their U.S. fleet.” Avianca Cargo earlier this year purchased capacity on five weekly 21 Air-operated Amazon Air 767-300 freighter frequencies on the Quito (UIO)-Miami (MIA) route , following its purchase of Amazon Air capacity on the route connecting Bogota (BOG) with MIA in 2025 . Avianca Cargo did not respond to requests for comment. Excluding unit 27310, Amazon’s widebody fleet includes three owned production 767-300Fs and sixty converted 767-300 freighters, forty-eight of which are leased and twelve that the e-tailer owns . Excluding 21 Air, the carriers that operate them on Amazon’s behalf are: ABX Air; Air Transport International; and Cargojet. Meanwhile, Amazon’s twenty-eight leased 737-800BCFs are operated on the e-tailer’s behalf by Sun Country Airlines and ASL Airlines Ireland. It is too early to tell who could fly the seven remaining aircraft operated by 21 Air if Amazon decides to reassign them, Lossing told Cargo Facts . “ATSG is the obvious potential winner here, but it would take six months to a year to get the aircraft fully ported over to a new carrier,” he said. “If they do not continue flying with 21 Air, the best case scenario is they are fully redeployed prior to peak 2027 with a new carrier.” This article was updated to include a quote from Volodymyr Bilotkach. Cargo Facts Symposium 2026, the premier event for the freighter aircraft and air cargo industries, will take place in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 21-23. Find out more and register today .

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