Primed & Positioned: Strategic Moves by Amazon Air

Strategic Moves by Amazon Air | Winter 2021

Our analysis of Amazon Air’s recent activities indicates that the carrier has:

• Successfully launched an intra-Europe network using planes registered to Amazon
• Expanded flights by 15% since August and positioned itself for another growth spurt this spring
• Set into motion plans to fly numerous airplanes it owns rather than leases, primarily 767s
• Invested heavily in Cincinnati & Wilmington, OH, giving it new options to handle third-party shipping
• Boosted its presence at major passenger-oriented airports in the country’s largest cities

Amazon Air has taken decisive steps to implement an international strategy and is positioned for sustained growth in the next six months.

Retail giant Amazon’s fully owned Air subsidiary now has a significant presence on two continents.

This independently produced brief offers an overview of Amazon Air’s evolving orientation between September 2020 and February 2021.

The analysis draws upon publicly available data from a variety of informational sources including:

• Data from flightaware.com and flightradar24 on 1,700 Amazon Air plane takeoffs and landings in early 2021 and an equal number from 2020
• Information on fleet registration from various published sources, including planespotters.net
• Assessment of the company’s strategic direction from investment analysts

The results of our latest analysis build upon our September 2020 Amazon Air Brief. That brief described Amazon’s “summer surge” that occurred May - September 2020, including new hub development and the company’s broadening geographic reach. Our May 2020 Brief explains why we expect its fleet to grow, possibly reaching 200 planes by 2028.