January 7, 2021:Amazon is buying 11 used Boeing 767-300 jets as it is working for faster delivery amid a pandemic-fuelled surge in online orders.

Amazon continues to push for faster delivery between the pandemic-fuelled surge in online orders. The holiday shopping season demanded speedy delivery.

The company has been steadily building up the fleet of planes dedicated to its Amazon Air cargo operations. The four West Jet planes are made cargo jets and will join the Amazon Air fleet this year. 2022 will see the seven Delta planes, said

 Amazon.

“Having a mix of both leased and owned aircraft in our growing fleet allows us to manage our operations better, which helps us to keep pace with meeting our customer promises,” said Sarah Rhoads, vice president of Amazon Global Air.

Amazon Air fleet would have more than 85 planes, both leased and owned, by the end of 2022, said Amazon.

 Amazon launched its air fleet in 2016, saying that it would reduce its reliance on UPS and FedEx.

 The company still depends on outside carriers for some of its deliveries, but it has rapidly accelerated its in-house logistics operations, particularly during the pandemic.

The company’s $1.5 billion air hub in Kentucky is slated to open this year. It has the capacity for 100 Amazon-branded planes and is expected to handle an estimated 200 flights per day.

Amazon, Delta, and West Jet declined to disclose the planes’ price, but the value of aircraft has plunged this year as the coronavirus decimated travel demand. Boeing 767-300ERs values in mid-December were about 15% lower compared with the start of 2020, according to Ascend by Cirium, an aviation consulting firm.

Delta and other airlines have sped up retirements of aircraft to help cut costs as the virus and travel restrictions and quarantine requirements aimed at slowing the disease’s spread kept many potential customers at home.

Delta said it planned to retire seven of its Boeing 767-300ER jets by the end of 2020, and in October, it announced it plans to retire the remaining 49 of its 767-300ER aircraft by the end of 2025.