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Comment by ryanmarsh | Hacker News Reader

All of the major airlines already have cargo departments (American calls it "cargo" anyway, not freight). Just for those who don't have experience in the industry. It's not like American Airlines is suddenly leasing planes to FedEx like one might guess. The unfortunate aspect is sending something through the cargo department of a passenger airline is a much bigger pain in the ass than going with UPS or FedEx. Their package tracking and delivery estimates are substandard relative to UPS/FedEx. Also they don't deliver to businesses or residences, it's airport to airport.

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Around 60% of air cargo is flown under belly in PAX aricraft during normal times (last number I have on top of my head, I am currently getting back up to speed on air cargo right now). Which means all the grounded aircraft reduced air freight capacity a lot. Add to this the fact that basically no sea freight was shipped since January, and the backlog is huge.

And usually, shippers don't work directly with the cargo departments of airlines. There are forwarding companies in between, e.g. Flexport or Kühne & Nagel, or DHL freight or Schenker, or XPO,...

> Add to this the fact that basically no sea freight was shipped since January, and the backlog is huge.

Wait...this can't be true. Do you have a citation for that, that would blow my mind!

They lost 6 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent units) due to Chinese new year and Corona.

https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/coronavirus-cost-china-por...

Isn't this why they charge for extra bags? Because passenger bags takes up space and weight that other people want to pay for? People argue about whether that's fair or not to charge passengers for more baggage when they're already paying, but thinking about a plane being for transfer of things, we can see why they charge more.

Not really. They charge for bags because they can. They didn't used to. Unbundling was a tactic to offset the effects of fares getting lower and lower. Paying for seat selection, drinks, food, etc, all fall in that same category.

True, take Spirit for instance. Price out a flight and they look super low compared to United. However we know there isn't that much margin in air travel. So we re-bundle everything you'd get on United, plus the things I get with my status, and the ticket is the same price or more.

I'm not sure if they can put freight on the same flight as passengers anymore. Before 911 it was done.

They do, certainly.

You have probably seen these being loaded onto passenger planes at airports: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_load_device

This is the last serious terrorist incident I recall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_transatlantic_aircraft_bo...

Last number I have is 60% of air freight is flow under belly in passenger planes. A bit dated and might have changed, so. But it is common practice.

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