You’ve Got (More) Mail: UPS Adds Flights, Bigger Planes

One of the largest aircraft in the UPS fleet is becoming a more routine visitor at Pittsburgh International Airport.

In July, UPS upgraded its daytime flight operations between Pittsburgh and Louisville to the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 widebody freighter. In addition, the cargo carrier increased its daytime flight to five times weekly, up from four times, adding a Sunday flight to its original Tuesday through Friday schedule.

The additional service comes after UPS secured a multi-year contract with the United States Postal Service (USPS) in April, greatly expanding the existing partnership with the two organizations. Following a transition period, UPS will become the primary air cargo provider for USPS and will transport the majority of USPS air cargo throughout the United States.

USPS previously partnered with FedEx as the primary carrier for air cargo mail, an arrangement that had lasted for more than two decades.

To accommodate the incoming mail volume, UPS is dramatically increasing flight operations and adding more daytime flights to its network. In addition, the carrier is hiring more than 300 pilots to staff the increase in flying, as reported by cargo industry site FreightWaves.

“Together UPS and USPS have developed an innovative solution that is mutually beneficial and complements our unique, reliable and efficient integrated network,” UPS CEO Carol B. Tomé said on April 5.

A bigger plane for the job

In March, UPS resumed its daytime mail flight between Pittsburgh and Louisville, which primarily operated on smaller Boeing 757-200 or Airbus A300-600 freighters.

UPS upgraded mail flights to the much larger MD-11 in July, which offers a significant increase in capacity over the 757 and A300, in addition to adding the fifth weekly mail flight. In the UPS fleet, the MD-11 trails only the carrier’s Boeing 747 jumbo jets in size.

The MD-11 can carry up to 26 88-inch containers or pallets inside its main deck, four more than the Airbus A300 and 11 more than the Boeing 757. Unlike the A300 or 757, the MD-11 can also take larger 96-inch containers or pallets, of which it can carry up to 22 in its main deck.

With the recent upgrade, UPS now operates up to a peak of twice daily flights on the MD-11 between its massive Louisville hub and Pittsburgh, providing dozens of connections to points in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Additionally, UPS operates a Boeing 757 overnight between PIT and its East Coast Air Hub in Philadelphia, which primarily serves the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S.

E-commerce at PIT on the rise

UPS’ increase in mail flights comes as e-commerce volumes at PIT are growing exponentially.

Mail volume at PIT totaled over 2.2 million pounds in May and 2.7 million pounds in June. Year-over-year, mail volumes during the month of May were up nearly 47 percent and June volumes were up over 52 percent.

Mail growth continued in July with over 2.2 million pounds transported at PIT, an increase of over 62 percent year-over-year.

E-commerce has been a big driver of the increasing cargo business overall at PIT with demand for online shopping significantly rising in recent years.

RELATED: Cargo at PIT Benefits from Online Shopping Surge

Morgan Stanley reports that the global e-commerce market is expected to grow from $3.3 trillion today to $5.4 trillion by 2026, when it will represent 27 percent of total retail sales. Another estimate by the International Trade Administration projects the global buyer-to-consumer e-commerce market to reach $5.5 trillion by 2027 at a steady 14.4 percent compound annual growth rate.

Nearly 20 percent of the air cargo industry consists of e-commerce shipment, and a remarkable 80 percent of cross-border e-comm shipments are now traveling by air, according to data from the International Air Transport Association.

Amazon, which last year delivered an estimated 6 billion packages in the U.S., has created its own in-house package delivery network, Amazon Logistics. In addition, Amazon operates its own in-house air transportation component, Amazon Air, which began operating two daily flights at PIT in 2021.

Additional space for PIT’s air cargo is on the horizon at the airport’s new 77,000-square foot Cargo 4 facility that is scheduled to open in the coming months. Cargo 4, which will be able to handle international shipments on the largest freighter aircraft, will introduce the latest technology and features vital for efficient transportation and handling of air cargo.