cargo

Tag Archives for cargo.

Passengers Showed Up For A Regional Flight — Then Boarded A Cargo Plane With Folding Seats And Luggage Strapped Down The Middle

by Gary Leff on January 27, 2026

Jan 27 2026

Passengers boarding IrAero flight RD382 from Irkutsk (IKT) to Mama (UIKM) thought they were getting a normal regional turboprop—until the airline swapped in an Antonov An-26 configured like a freighter, with travelers (including kids) on folding sidewall seats and luggage strapped down the center aisle. IrAero says it’s a legitimate combi configuration, but prosecutors are looking at complaints that passengers weren’t warned in advance—an ugly snapshot of what “making do” can say about aviation under sanctions.

The TikTok E-Commerce Revolution Will Bring More Flights Across The Pacific – But To Where?

by Gary Leff on March 3, 2024

Mar 03 2024

TikTok isn’t just for showing off your Nyquil chicken, teaching people how to get points from Delta when your luggage is delayed or making videos about eating frozen honey. It’s turned into an e-commerce phenomenon.

And that’s creating a challenge for global air cargo as Shein, Temu and ByteDance’s TikTok Shop try to ship products out of China, especially to consumers in the U.S.

DOJ: Polar Air Cargo Required Customers To Pay Bribes For Shipping. They Even Had A Bribery Price List!

by Gary Leff on April 14, 2023

Apr 14 2023

Atlas Air subsidiary Polar Air Cargo, 49% owned by DHL, has apparently been requiring kickbacks for shipments for over a decade. Several of their executives – including the Chief Operating Officer, VP of Operations and VP of Marketing, are now under indictment.

According to the government, if you wanted to ship with Polar you’d have to pay shipping rates plus a bribe.

Man Shipped Himself From Australia To LA In A Box. Now He’s Hoping To Make A Documentary

by Gary Leff on April 17, 2021

Apr 17 2021

Fifty six years ago, when he was 20 years old, Brian Robson decided to ship himself from Australia to London as cargo. So he got two friends to help nail him into a shipping crate. He made it as far as Los Angeles and lived, and was given a free trip onward to London as a passenger.

Cargo Catches Fire Moments Before It’s Loaded Onto Plane In Hong Kong

by Gary Leff on April 14, 2021

Apr 14 2021

Over the weekend, Vivo Y20 cell phones and accessories which were made in Guangdong, China and headed to Bangkok caught fire as they were about to be loaded onto an aircraft in Hong Kong.

The Federal Government Has Awarded Only 16% Of Payroll Grants to Cargo Airlines

by Gary Leff on June 20, 2020

Jun 20 2020

So far the Treasury Department has awarded just 16% of the $4 billion in payroll support grants that the CARES Act provided for cargo airlines.

The U.S. Treasury hasn’t reported agreements for payroll support for Federal Express, UPS, or DHL. Instead most of the grants have been to smaller companies.

Lufthansa Takes An Airbus A380 And Turns It Into A Cargo Jet (The Overhead Bins Store Cargo, Too)

by Gary Leff on May 6, 2020

May 06 2020

Since people aren’t flying, aircraft are parked all over the world. Many of those passenger planes also carried cargo. While the worldwide economic slowdown has limited the amount of cargo being shipped as well, there’s tremendous demand for things like food and personal protective equipment. The reduction in cargo capacity has been greater than the reduction in cargo demand.

That’s created an opportunity to convert passenger aircraft to cargo.

American Airlines Running Its First Scheduled Cargo-Only Flights Since 1984

by Gary Leff on March 19, 2020

Mar 19 2020

With Americans being told not to travel abroad, and non-residents who have been in Europe over the past 14 days not permitted to travel to the U.S., American Airlines has reduced its transatlantic and transpacific flying to three routes total.

However supply chains matter as much – probably more – than ever before, as anyone who has tried to get toilet paper in the last week can probably attest.

Uzbekistan Airways is Looking to Sell 18 Aircraft — on Facebook

by Gary Leff on August 4, 2019

Aug 04 2019

Uzbekistan Airways now has Boeing 787-8s and those have 4.7 tons greater cargo capacity than 767s. They may not be able to carry a full cargo payload when full and servicing long flights, that shouldn’t be an issue for Tashkent – London for instance. It makes sense for the carrier to consolidate operations.

However given Amazon’s penchant for growing its cargo fleet I wonder if listing the planes on Amazon Marketplace might turn out to be a more effective platform.