FedEx to Buy Six Boeing 767 Freighters Valued at $1.2 Billion
FedEx Corp. is buying six Boeing 767 freighters valued at $1.2 billion as the world’s biggest cargo airline continues to modernize its fleet.
The six aircraft are scheduled for delivery in fiscal 2019 and 2020, according to a FedEx spokesman. They were among the options included in a 50-jet order that FedEx placed almost a year ago to help reduce operating costs and improve fuel efficiency. Discounts from list value are typical in the aerospace industry.
The wide-body 767, developed in the 1980s, has enjoyed a resurgence as a freighter after passenger airlines switched to aircraft such as Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner and Airbus Group SE’s A330. The U.S. Air Force has committed to a tanker based on the 767 that could lead to an order of as many as 400. Amazon.com also is relying on the jet for its nascent air-cargo service.
FedEx ranks No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
Boeing makes two of the planes a month as it attempts to resolve development snarls with the tanker. It plans to speed output to 2.5 jets a month next year to accommodate FedEx’s 2015 order, with deliveries running over a five-year period beginning in the fiscal year that runs through May 2018.
Amazon this year announced two agreements to lease a total of 40 767-300s from Air Transport Services Group Inc. for a fledging network that would lessen the Internet retailer’s dependence for deliveries on FedEx and UPS Inc. As part of an agreement announced in May, Amazon could take as much as a 30% stake in Air Transport Services.
