Kalitta to modernize 747 fleet as 777-300ERSF launch operator

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• October 27, 2020
• Aircraft, Cargo Facts Symposium, Carriers, Conversions, Events, Express, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Kalitta Air has emerged as the launch operator for the freighter-converted 777-300ERSF and will lease three of the type from GECAS [FATs 005691-5693]. Kalitta told Cargo Facts the 777-300ERSFs will initially be used for growth, but in the long term will serve as replacements for the carrier’s older converted 747-400Fs. Kalitta Air has been evaluating […]

UPS gears up for peak with added widebody capacity

• Jeff Lee
• October 23, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Editorial, Equipment, Express, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, News, Production Freighters, Widebody Conversions

UPS will bring on several widebody freighters between now and the end of the year as it prepares for a surge in demand on top of the current peak-like conditions. The integrator took delivery of its eighteenth 747-8F (65783) from Boeing on Oct. 22 [FAT 005687], ferrying the aircraft to the UPS Worldport in Louisville […]

KLM 747 Combis slip off schedule and (back) into retirement

• Charles Kauffman
• October 21, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Conversions, Editorial, Equipment, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Three KLM-operated 747-400 Combis — the final three in commercial services — will disappear from cargo schedules with the start of the winter season Oct. 25. Retirement will follow for the widebody trio, KLM Cargo confirmed. Though the aircraft will no longer be hauling cargo for KLM, the airframes will continue to support the air […]

ATSG signs three more 767F leases, bests yearly delivery record

• Jeff Lee
• October 14, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Editorial, Equipment, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, Logistics, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Air Transport Services Group’s (ATSG) dry-leasing arm, Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM), has signed three more deals to lease converted 767 freighters and is on course to deliver a record number of aircraft in a single year. The new agreements involve one 767-300BDSF for Alaska-based Northern Air Cargo [FAT 005666] and two 767-200BDSFs — one each […]

Delta accelerates 767-300 retirements

• Charles Kauffman
• October 13, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Editorial, Equipment, Widebody Conversions, Widebody Fleet Analysis

Delta Air Lines, the largest operator of 767-300ERs in passenger configuration prior to the onset of the pandemic, will retire the remaining forty-nine 767-300ERs in its fleet by December 2025. With the market heating up for 767 conversions, this large pool of airframes will be evaluated for its suitability as conversion candidates. Airframe pricing, cycles […]

MasAir starts ACMI growth with DHL deal

• Jeff Lee
• October 9, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Conversions, Editorial, Equipment, Express, Logistics, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

DHL Express has appointed a new ACMI operator in Mexico-based MasAir, which recently began flying a 767-300F on a Mexico City (MEX)-Los Angeles (LAX)-Guadalajara (GDL)-MEX routing six times a week. MasAir told Cargo Facts it is hopeful the deal will develop into a long-term agreement, while DHL could not immediately be reached for comment. The carrier, which […]

Wichita State adds 777P2F to curriculum

• Charles Kauffman
• October 8, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Editorial, Equipment, Widebody Conversions

A second passenger-to-freighter conversion program for the 777-300ER is on the way. Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) will lead a public-private partnership that aims to develop and certify a 777-300ER conversion program, the university has announced. The program’s commercial partners include Sequoia Aircraft Conversions, which will market the conversion, and Kansas […]

Another parked 747-400F prepares for service reentry

• Jeff Lee
• October 7, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Conversions, Editorial, Equipment, Logistics, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Moldova-based Aerotranscargo has reactivated another 747-400BDSF that had been in storage for a year. The aircraft (24998) previously operated on the AOC of the now-defunct Air Cargo Global, but was parked in Liege (LGG) in October 2019. Aerotranscargo had recently told Cargo Facts it would ferry unit 24998, which it owns, out of LGG for a […]