Hawaiian Airlines, Amazon signs agreement for cargo plane operations

Hawaiian Airlines reached a deal with Amazon for air cargo deliveries. The e-commerce giant chose the largest operator of commercial flights, to and from the U.S. state of Hawaii, for its freight operations.

Amazon will rent cargo jets that will replace its older freighters, and for this agreement, Hawaiian Airlines is planning to recruit more pilots and mechanics to fly the planes for the shipments. It will also hire more dispatchers since they are needed to fulfill its end of the deal.

According to Fox Business, Hawaiian Airlines' parent company, Hawaiian Holdings, secured a deal with Amazon for the operation of 10 cargo planes. Based on the contract that was confirmed late last week, the deliveries will start in the fall of 2023.

The airline will use 10 Airbus A330-300 jets exclusively for moving shipments between airports in neighboring operation facilities of the tech and e-commerce firm. The companies may also expand the deal by adding more cargo planes in the future, and this decision will depend on Amazon's business needs.

Amazon will be renting the 10 planes from Altavair, and its air unit will convert these passenger jets to cargo aircraft. In any case, several conditions were stipulated in the contract, and one of these stated that Hawaiian Airlines must issue Amazon with warrants to buy up to 15% of shares in the company.

The leased jets are huge two-aisle planes that can seat 330 passengers. Amazon said that this would be the largest fleet that will be used by the company’s air cargo unit. CNBC reported that the company is still in the process of making a decision with regard to which older planes to phase out.

"We are excited to help serve Amazon customers by providing additional air cargo capacity and logistics support. This recognizes our experience in providing safe and reliable operations, our incredible front-line team, and our shared focus on the customer," Hawaiian Airlines’ president and chief executive officer, Peter Ingram, said in a press release. "This relationship provides a catalyst to grow our business and the unique opportunity to diversify our revenue sources while capitalizing on our established strengths."

Amazon’s vice president of Global Air, Sarah Rhoads, also said that they are thrilled to work with Hawaiian Airlines. She also confirmed that the airline would maintain and operate the company’s new fleet of aircraft.