Podcast: Amerijet bullish on Latin American market

Amerijet will continue to focus on Latin America as a major source of growth for its scheduled and charter business in 2026. “More volume is going into Central and South America versus the U.S., and with de minimis, trade patterns certainly have changed,” Chief Executive Joe Mozzali says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “So, we’ve seen a lot of demand for e-commerce in various countries and on a scheduled charter basis.” Amerijet’s revenue increased by 12% and EBITDA by 9% in 2025, and the carrier was ranked third in terms of tonnage in Miami (MIA) in 2025, Mozzali says. Two 767-300BCFs have joined the fleet on lease from NAS Aircraft Leasing in the past three months, although Amerijet will have to furlough around thirty-five pilots at the end of February because of the termination of a CMI arrangement for Maersk . While Amerijet faced a 30% escalation rate in engine costs in 2025, the carrier expects that to normalize somewhat this year and is leaning into AI to develop a reliability portal so maintenance can be more predictive than reactive, Mozzali says. “We’re just probably about three months into it, so it’s in its early stages,” he says. “But we have some high expectations that we can improve our reliability by leveraging AI.” Once the most recent 767 addition begins flying, it will bring Amerijet’s own operational fleet to eleven 767-300 freighters. “With the additional aircraft, we can be a little bit more opportunistic on the on-demand charter market, but overall, we think that in existing markets the tide is going to continue to rise,” Mozzali says. Tune in to this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Mozzali discuss Amerijet’s plans with Editor Jeff Lee and Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke. A transcript is available below. This transcript has been generated by software and some transcription errors may remain. Jeff Lee Hello and welcome to another episode of Cargo Facts Connect, the podcast of cargo facts, the newsletter of record for the air cargo and freighter aircraft industries for over 40 years. I’m Jeff Lee, editor of Cargo Facts, and it’s Friday, February 6th. Last week, my colleague Robert Luke and I had a chat with Amerijet CEO Joe Mozzali, who gave us an update on how the airline did last year, how it's dealing with a setback, and what's in store in the months ahead. Jeff Lee Joe, thanks for taking the time to talk to us again. Let's first start with 2025 and how Amerijet performed last year. Joe Mozzali I mean 2025 was another, you know, strong year for Amerijet coming off of a, you know, very strong year in 24. So we had about 8% increase in revenue year over year with EBITDA increasing 9%, you know, while maintaining that EBITDA margin of close to 10%. And we were able to achieve these results despite a over 30% increase in our engine escalation cost and that was about $11 million headwind year over year. And it really it's a, it's another year of executing our strategic imperatives, which I laid out, you know when I took over as CEO In fourth quarter 23 and you know kind of ties into the discussion that we had, you know mid 24 about the, you know, the vision I had with the company about protecting and growing our core scheduled service business and Amerijet's been around for 50 years, you know been a pretty resilient airline. You know, a lot of changes in those 50 years, but one thing that was always a staple was the scheduled service business and our scheduled service business is our core business. And you know, we had a very strong year in our scheduled service segment. Revenue increased 12% in 2025 and that's coming off the heels of another 15% increase in 24. And and also we we flew over 700 flights into Colombia in 2025. Which was another, you know, prioritization for us when I when I came on board, you know, Maryjet had zero flight activity in Columbia and and always said how can you be in Miami without having a Columbia presence? So you know, basically we went from zero flights in 23 to over 725. And so that that was again executing our, you know, two major large strategic imperatives, you know that I laid out, you know also our scheduled charter business was very strong as well, you know growing 43%, you know, year over year. That help offset some of the less USPS flying. The USPS contract expires actually in a couple days and I would assume that those that volume is going to be migrating to the overall U PS contract. And aircraft utilization remains very high. You know, we're close to 300 block hours per month per tail. So asset utilization was another, you know, key component of Amerijet's transformation and you know, we're very proud the MDAD. Report came out last night and we were ranked #3 in terms of tons of cargo carried in about a 200 basis point improvement in the market share in Miami, you know, year over year. So you know, a lot of a lot of information there, but I think the overarching message is that Amerijet had a very strong 2025. Jeff Lee Yeah, I see that you were also up there in terms of the tonnage growth. So that's that's good. You mention the scheduled business and your growth there. What would you say now is the your split between the the scheduled business versus the the charter and ACMI business? Joe Mozzali This, this schedule is about 70% you know of our revenue stream and then schedule charter you know represents you know the the remaining amount. But that that's why our focus has been on really protecting and growing our our core business. Jeff Lee And how do you see that split changing this year? Joe Mozzali I I think it's gonna remain the same. You know, we're still projecting growth in our scheduled service business. You know, we are getting, you know, two more aircraft into our fleet. One came on board mid-december and then one came yesterday actually delivered. Jeff Lee Just arrived, Yeah, I see that. Joe Mozzali Just arrived yesterday, you know, albeit, you know, a couple months late, but you know, we're we're excited about getting those aircraft on board and putting them into revenue service. Jeff Lee Mm-hmm. So where do you see the potential for growth in the ACMI market? Joe Mozzali Yeah, I mean we we feel a lot of inquiries from various customers about you know e-commerce demand, you know charters into you know various locations, you know Central America and even you know further South America. So you know I I feel and and you probably see it overall that the trade patterns changing. And and as more you know volume is is going into Central and South America versus the US So you know with the de minimis trade pattern certainly have changed. So you know we've we've seen a lot of you know demand you know for e-commerce in various countries and on a scheduled charter basis, I mean certainly Bogota. There's a lot of volume going southbound in the Bogota, which in the past has been primarily A northbound lane. Now it's definitely more balanced. Robert Luke OK. Joe, in regards to that Latin American demand increase, how has the American operations fared with Avianca and Amazon tag teaming with 767 freighter operations to increase lift capacity on that route. Joe Mozzali Yeah, I think the market is growing much faster than than than capacity you know we've been able to. You know despite the the Amazon Avianca relationship, you know we've grown our our Bogota rotations over 50% year over year and we operate in the Bogota on a scheduled charter basis, you know with a with a couple freight forwarders and then and and also we we do. You know, serve Avianca during during Valentine's and Mother's Day as well. So I think the the market is growing, you know, very fast southbound, you know, primarily e-commerce. So there's enough, there's enough e-commerce and flowers northbound to go around to to various parties. Robert Luke OK. That being said, as you talk about more expanding activity into the region, how do you see this shaping now that the United States has entered into those new trade deals with, I believe it was El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador and there's one more country? Joe Mozzali Mhm. Robert Luke I can't think of off the top of my head. Does that level out the uncertainty that many carriers were seeing in 2025 and give more of a stronger foundation going forward as you look to serve that region? Joe Mozzali Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think the the we really haven't seen any impact on any any trade. So any new trade deal certainly is going to help you know going forward that provides more certainty. But especially Central America has been a strong market both southbound and northbound. You know for Amerijet, you know we've been operating in the into Central America for for many years, you know, Salvador, you know, Honduras, Nicaragua are very strong lanes for Amerijet and we, you know, we content, you know, as the trade certain or any trade deals between the US and those countries is certainly going to help. Jeff Lee So, going back to ACMI and CMI, you're operating 3 767s for Maersk. Joe Mozzali Mhm. Jeff Lee But with that deal ending you unfortunately you've had to furlough some pilots. Joe Mozzali Yeah, correct. Jeff Lee I guess it is because the nature of that operation is different from the rest of your the rest of the flying that your fleet does, but you're also taking on two 767s of your own. Does that not to some degree kind of offset the the loss of those 3 aircraft? Joe Mozzali Yeah, it's it's not one for one. So you know, we've been providing CMI service to Maris for the last three years. You know, Maris has been a very good partner. We've been operating, you know, 37 sixty-sevens primarily on the Trans Pacific Lane and that is very crew intensive. To operate on those lanes. So the Maris block hours represent about 30% of our total block hours. And then from a furlough perspective, you know we're going to furlough about 35 crew members and that represents about 20% of our total pilots. So it's not a one-for-one because of the crew intensity of of the Maersk operation flying, flying to Asia. It takes more crew members to fly to Asia than it does, you know, the Caribbean and and Latin America. So you know, it's unfortunate, but you know it's a necessary move we had to make to continue to be financially viable. But we try to mitigate, you know, the impact to our crew members. We're working with with Alpa on a, you know, company leave of absence as well as as an alternative to the furlough. But but you know there there there will be, you know some number of of furloughed, you know crew members right now the number is 35. It's going to be very fluid once once the the ink is dry. Jeff Lee I guess there is hope though, because the with UPS now uh retiring, deciding to retire all the MD elevens, uh, there is potentially an increased need on their behalf for, you know, more ACMI capacity, and that could come in the form of your 767s, right? Joe Mozzali Correct. So we we have a a contract to operate you know for U PS:. We signed an agreement last year, a four year agreement to provide 2 aircraft during during peak season, you know the traditional eight-week period and then we've been able to, you know, take those two aircraft and fly them for UPS and to the end of Q1 and then we're having discussions, you know about you know what further opportunities beyond Q1, especially with the announcement that they have officially retired the MD 11. Jeff Lee Right. And so you're you still obviously have a very uniform 767 fleet that you can play around with. You were saying earlier that there's been a 30% escalation in costs for your engines, which is pretty significant. I mean, do you think you'll see any alleviation of that this year? Joe Mozzali Yeah, I think the the, the escalation rate is going to normalize. That was a a large step change in our our engine rate. So our expectation is that it should normalize in the the normal inflationary you know percentage. But you know I'm proud of the team. That we were able to overcome that $11 million headwind and still achieve a EBITDA, you know, profits growth of 9%, you know, year over year. But the, you know, aircraft, our aircraft aren't like a fine one. They don't get better with age, they get more challenging. So, you know, we've been able to, you know, we're leaning into leveraging A I to try to get more predictive with our maintenance versus reactive. You know, it breaks, we fix. So we're trying to, you know, we put a reliability portal together. And leveraging A I to see how we can be a little bit more not just proactive but predictive you know with our maintenance to improve reliability. So that's we just probably about 3 months into it. So you know it's very. In its early stages, but you know we have some some high expectations that it that that we can improve our reliability by leveraging A I. Jeff Lee Interesting. And when you were looking for opportunities to grow your fleet, including with the these two saltchuck aviation aircraft, how important to you were the age, the engine type and engine condition? Because obviously it's not easy to find and add a 767 in the first place these days, so. Joe Mozzali No, it's not. Jeff Lee I guess, how how picky could you be at the time? Joe Mozzali Yeah, I I guess you have to be very opportunistic when when there is a a viable airplane that becomes available, you have to pretty much strike while the iron's hot. So the two Saltchuk airplanes that that are currently on lease. They're relatively young feedstock, you know, mid twenty-five, you know, age Pratt Whitney engines. So we have a split fleet. We've got 9 aircraft, 7 with GE 2 with Pratt and then we on board the the other two Pratt. So it's basically you know seven and four and I I just think it's you know yeah all aircraft aren't created and all aged aircraft aren't equal. So to your point we have to be you know particular. In some aspects we don't want to bring a a lemon on board or a a large air or a an aged aircraft that may only get one lease you know cycle out of it. So but again supply is very low and demand is high and and you know we have to be very opportunistic with it. Robert Luke I know you hear this age old question in regards to the fleet in the actual next model that could apparently replace the 767. Everyone says it's aging, but you know they say the same thing about the 737 Classic, Have you started seriously considering a replacement option at this point, or is AmeriJet still more or less committed to keeping this aircraft in fold for the foreseeable future as it really continues to be a reliable asset to your company? Joe Mozzali Yeah, we have you know the the nine that we have leased with Cam, there's still still some legs on it. So we've got long-term leases with those with those aircraft. We know we are having discussions because there's no such thing as just in time procurement of aircraft. So you know we're having discussions with with with with Airbus about the capabilities of 330 just to understand what that brings to the table, but right now you know. Short term and probably medium term are committed to the 76 and and rightfully so. It's the most versatile aircraft can do a lot, a lot of our missions do some island hopping. The economics are are fantastic with it, but at the same point. The 76 is going to be at the end of the line. The conversion feedstock is minimal, so we just have to be prepared that when. You know, mid twenty 30s, you know, etcetera. That unless unless the 76 feedstock becomes more readily accessible one way or the other, you know, carriers including the marriage are going to be forced into another fleet type. I mean, it's just basically a numbers game. I don't think the seven sixes could could last until 45 years old or or what have you. So I think carriers are going to be forced to make a decision in in the upcoming years. Nothing in the near term, but but I just think in by 20-30. It will have a better indication on what's the next next fleet type. Robert Luke As you look at your fleet type, if there was an opportunity to get a production freighter variant, albeit used, because of course the new ones and the price points are probably a little bit higher than what the operating margins make sense for with the with the Amerijet, would you consider that and what's the potential of that when being able to last a little bit longer than the conversion types that are on market now. Joe Mozzali Yes, I think if that's that's where the opportunistic comes into play. If a if a production freighter becomes available, I think you know certainly we would be interested in it. I just don't see that most of the production freighters are operated by the integrators. And especially with the MD11, I don't see the integrators parting ways with with the 767 at this point. But but you know, Robert, you make a good point of that if something becomes available, I think there's going to be a lot of folks interested in that production 76 freighter. Robert Luke OK. And just last question on potential replacement freighters, would you consider extending outside of the medium wide body freighter category and could the new 777 conversions be something worth considering as you look at perhaps extending into different trade lanes? That may require longer range service capabilities or even increasing lift capacity for the market you currently serve. Joe Mozzali Yeah, I think that that that certainly will be part of the evaluation is and plus I don't know exactly what the the payloads are on the the converted 777 but but that's you know as that gets you know more mature in its operation. And and that that will be part of the evaluation. You know I I don't see a 777 do an island hopping but but you know again you know we'll we'll take that as part of the evaluation. Jeff Lee So when you look ahead, uh, at this year, Joe, If you were to say you know what the the top two or three geographical areas for you in terms of growth prospects, what would those be? Joe Mozzali Yeah, I mean our our current existing footprint in in the Caribbean and Central America and even you know Bogota still going to be a we expect you know very robust growth rates and we'll continue to leverage our strengths in those areas. And then and then we're you know continue to having discussions with UPS on on you know potential you know opportunities you know beyond Q1. So those are the you know really just leveraging our current strengths and our current markets and then. You know with the with the additional aircraft, you know can we be a little bit more opportunistic on the on demand charter charter market, but but overall we we think that existing markets the the tide is going to continue to rise. Jeff Lee OK. And what else is in the works for for this year? Joe Mozzali Yeah. So we're we're gonna have a, you know, a busy year with some of our projects. So we're we're implementing tracks, you know the the, the, the maintenance software, the aircraft management or aircraft maintenance management software, we're implementing that. Replacing a legacy system at the same point where we transitioning our C check to Aeromon in Salvador. So we signed a five-year MOU with Aeromon in Salvador. You know previously we we had multiple providers. For C checks and doing C checks in in the same hemisphere in a market that we already serve with a partner that provides you know revenue to to Amerijet seemed to make sense and you know very impressed with the Aeromon. Location down in Salvador, I think that they're going to have our seven bays and over 40 lines of c check. So you know very impressive organization and and we're you know we're very excited you know about that about that opportunity. And then also we do have our CBA negotiations starting with ALPA. Three years goes by very fast. So that contract is amendable in in June of 26, so negotiations will start this month. Robert Luke Joe, just one last question on the ACMI segment, just from your perspective, you're in the you're in the day-to-day operations of this. Do you see it increasing as far as demand for ACMI services, not even just looking at the UPS retirement, but with the expected retirement of the fleet from FedEx, could you see an increased demand hitting that medium wide body segment for ACMI services going forward as there's real, really no obvious replacement outside of the A330 freighter types? Joe Mozzali Right. So I mean you know UPS and both FedEx that do have you know deliveries of production freighters forthcoming. I think UPS has 18 and and FedEx I believe has 276 is and maybe another handful of triple sevens. But you know the demand for ACMI is also coming from. You know the freight forwarding you know community that that that's handling some of the e-commerce volume. So I think that's where the the increased demand in a CMI maybe not you know two year, two year or three-year agreements, but you know what we're seeing is. You know customers going to accept one-year agreements and and so forth. So it's not, it's not just the ACMI's opportunity is not just coming from the integrators but also from you know freight forwarders and and directly with e-commerce players. Robert Luke Thanks, Joe. Jeff Lee OK. Well, thank you, Joe. Thanks for your time. And it looks like you've got a lot on your plate as we as we go forward this year. So good luck to you and we'll catch up with you again soon. Joe Mozzali Yeah, see, I'll see you on February 10th down in Mexico. Robert Luke Absolutely, and I look forward to hearing on the latest developments when we get there, but if none are taking place, a casual high and hang out for a few minutes is always welcomed. Joe Mozzali Absolutely. Thanks, guys. Jeff Lee That was Joe Mozzali, CEO of Amerijet, talking with my colleague Robert Luke and I last week. And that’s all the time we have today. For more coverage of the freighter aircraft market, visit cargofacts.com. Thank you very much for tuning in, and join us again next time. Subscribe to Cargo Facts Connect on iTunes or Spotify , or download the episode on Transistor . Cargo Facts will present four invaluable events for airfreight professionals in the first half of 2026, starting with Cargo Facts LATAM, on Feb. 10-12. To see the agendas and register for the events, visit CargoFactsEvents.com .

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