Amazon presenta avión de mercancías para la red de reparto

Amazon develó el primer avión de carga que llevará su marca, una de las 40 aeronaves que se sumarán a la flota propia de reparto del gigante minorista, que está aumentando su control sobre la red de entregas de sus productos.

La nueva iniciativa para agilizar los repartos llegó mientras la empresa, con sede en Seattle, eleva el número de paquetes que la compañía entrega en todo el mundo. Se estima que Amazon movió unos 1.000 millones de paquetes en 2015, el mismo número que entregó FedEx tres años antes para cientos de miles de clientes.

Amazon ha tenido problemas con la fiabilidad de los servicios aéreos de mercancías. En 2013 ofreció devoluciones a los clientes que recibieron tarde sus pedidos de navidad debido al mal tiempo y a un aumento en la venta a través de internet, que causó retrasos de UPS y FedEx.

Los analistas informaron que tiene sentido para Amazon emplear la flota que controla como otra forma de llevar sus productos a compradores en internet atraídos por su reparto rápido y sin coste adicional.

“Son un minorista de internet muy grande”, comentó Satish Jindel, presidente de la consultora de logística ShipMatrix. “Hay tanto volumen, que si uno tiene que añadir el transporte para sí mismo, ¿por qué iba a pagar el precio de venta cuando puede hacerlo al por mayor? Tiene sentido”.

La compañía presentará el viernes el primer avión con su marca, Amazon One, en la feria anual Seafair. El avión pasará sobre el lago Washington de Seattle, según un portavoz de la empresa.

Amazon ha arrendado 40 aviones Boeing de Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings y Air Transport Services Group Inc., que entregarán paquetes para el programa de fidelidad Prime.

Pese a la flota que está construyendo, Amazon dijo que tiene previsto seguir trabajando con FedEx, UPS y otros socios.

Amazon informó hace poco de unos beneficios de 857 millones de dólares en el segundo trimestre del año, con unos ingresos 30.000 millones de dólares.

Seattle-based Amazon is unveiling its first branded cargo plane, one of 40 jetliners that will make up the e-commerce giant’s own air transportation network as it takes more control of its delivery process.

The latest push to speed delivery of its products comes as the company ships an increasing number of packages worldwide. Amazon’s parcel volume was an estimated 1 billion packages in 2015 — the same number that FedEx delivered three years earlier for hundreds of thousands of customers.

Amazon has had issues with the reliability of air freight services. In 2013, it offered refunds to customers who got their Christmas orders late after bad weather and a jump in online shopping caused delays for UPS and FedEx.

Analysts say it makes sense for Amazon to use an air fleet it controls as another way to get its products to online shoppers drawn to fast, no-extra-cost delivery.

“They’re such a big online retailer,” said Satish Jindel, president of shipping consultant ShipMatrix. “There’s so much volume that if you have to add transportation for yourself, why would you pay a retail price when you can get wholesale? It makes sense.”

Amazon will reveal its first branded “Prime Air” cargo plane, designated Amazon One, on Friday at the annual Seafair Air Show. The plane will buzz over Seattle’s Lake Washington just before the Navy’s Blue Angels take to the skies, a company official said.

Amazon leased 40 Boeing jets from Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and Air Transport Services Group Inc., which will operate the air cargo network. Eleven of the planes already are delivering packages for Amazon’s annual Prime loyalty program, which offers free two-day shipping and other perks. The remaining freighters will be rolled out in the next couple of years.

Aircraft like Amazon One allow the company to “continue to maintain our fast delivery speeds and lower our costs as our Prime base and our Prime member growth continue to soar,” said Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations.

Despite its growing fleet of aircraft, Amazon said it plans to continue to use FedEx, UPS and other transportation partners.

“Because of our growth and the sheer amount of packages, we are supplementing our transportation needs,” Clark said.

The company has been furiously building out distribution centers, where workers and robots pull products off shelves and package them for delivery, as well as smaller sorting plants, which arrange packages by ZIP code for faster delivery. It has a network of more than 125 fulfillment centers worldwide.

Amazon recently reported a second-quarter profit of $857 million on $30 billion in revenue.

The company doesn’t yet have plans to carry packages for others but says it’s constantly evaluating its situation. Amazon has not been shy about competing in businesses areas far-flung from its e-commerce roots.

“Once you have those planes, it certainly creates the opportunity for new products for customers,” Clark said, adding: “Stay tuned and we’ll see what happens in the future.”