Air Cargo Peak Season 2019

Nick Benson, JetTip.net

Western Global 747-400 providing peak season capacity at MSP in 2018.

Updated December 16, 2019

Every December, holiday shopping in the US creates a huge demand for air cargo, as gifts get sent between distribution centers, retailers, and consumers. Peak season creates some great spotting opportunities for aviation enthusiasts as well, as cargo airlines increase frequency, swap equipment, and lease capacity from other carriers - virtually every airport that sees regular mainline cargo traffic will see some unusual activity.

If you're interested in seeing some of these flights, check out our smart flight alert service - you'll get an automatic notification when unusual-to-your-airport equipment is on the way in.

Based on analysis of the smart flight alerts we've been sending to subscribers across the US, here's a look at equipment that went into service starting in late November. We'll try to keep things updated as peak continues.

21Air

N881YV, B762, appears to be starting for UPS December 16.
N999YV, B762, flying for CargoJet since December 1

ABX

Two or three 767-300s, presumably operating for UPS, most of them starting on November 26.

N317CM: SDF-MHT
N363CM: MHR-CAE

Starting December 9:

N798AX, 767-200 appears to be flying for UPS as well.

ABX also operates flights for DHL and Amazon, and their 767 freighters have been throwing alerts at other airports, mostly for flights to/from DHL's hub at CVG.

AirBridge Cargo

747-8F VP-BJS made stops at CVG (with a diversion to IAD) between December 11 and 12.

Amazon

Amazon's US air cargo network is dominated by 767s operated by Atlas and ATI. Further analysis is needed to see if there are new routes or increased frequencies, however, based on alerts getting thrown for aircraft in Amazon's livery, they're not serving new cities as part of their peak operations. That's probably only noteworthy in that it confirms Amazon's fully utilizing their fleet, and aircraft in Amazon colors aren't getting bounced over to support Atlas or ATI's peak support for UPS or DHL.

Amerijet

N316CM, B763, operating for UPS since December 7 SMF-PHL-SMF
N396CM, B763, operating for FedEx since December 1

Asia Pacific Airlines

Repeating what was seen last year, an Asia Pacific Airlines 757 has started flying west coast routes for UPS on December 9.

N888LT: flying between BFI, MHR, ONT, and PDX.

Asiana Cargo

747-400F HL7421 made a stop at MIA on December 12.

Atlas

747-400s, operating for FedEx since December 2. Atlas flights operating for FedEx fly with FedEx flight numbers, most appear to be replacements for existing routes. Some examples include:

FDX2: MEM - STN
FDX4: MEM - CGN, MEM - CDG
FDX51: MEM - SJU
FDX415: ONT - MEM
FDX802: MEM - ONT
FDX5038: MEM-CGN

Atlas aircraft operating on behalf of FedEx:

N405KZ (white tail)
N416MC, Ex-Polar/DHL livery
N471MC, white tail
N472MC
N499MC

747-400s for UPS since November 19. Atlas flights for UPS fly with Atlas flight numbers, many are direct replacements for existing UPS routes with the same number, others appear to be new. Atlas 747-400 aircraft operating on behalf of UPS:

N429MC
N473MC

On Monday, December 9, six additional Atlas 744s started flying for UPS.

N404KZ (white tail)
N408MC
N782CK (white tail)
N485MC
N486MC
N492MC (apparently swapped with N496MC on Dec 10)
N496MC (apparently returned to DoD flying on Dec 10)

USPS flights, perhaps? Starting December 11.

N409MC, flying MEM-ANC-MEM

UPS, starting December 16.

N406KZ

ATI

Two 767-300s flying out of SDF for UPS, starting November 26. Have been flying between MCO, MIA, PHL, and SDF.

N376AN
N395CM

Starting December 9 for UPS, two B762:

N255CM
N663GT (white tail)

Also worth noting - N360CM is still wearing a unique patched Air Incheon livery, N409AZ is flying in patched Delta colors.

Looks like N360CM is this peak season's too-much-freight-to-paint aircraft to keep an eye on, with a healthy portion of its old Air Incheon livery still intact. https://t.co/Suur3Mzqxy
— JetTip (@JetTipNet) November 4, 2019

Another interesting freighter to keep an eye on this peak season: N409AZ. Just started flying ILN-ONT-ILN for Amazon this week, but hasn't had time to visit the paint shop yet, so it's still wearing remnants of its old Delta livery.

📷 Brian Buckley: https://t.co/nyYiAF39QE
— JetTip (@JetTipNet) December 17, 2019

Cathay Pacific Cargo

747-8F threw high priority alerts after stopping at SDF on December 6, and again on December 13 - looks like they're doing weekly service again this year. They've also thrown alerts at ORD and JFK this season.

CargoJet

Canadian freight hauler CargoJet has also been increasing activity, triggering alerts at ATL, MIA, SEA, YQT, YVR, YYT.

FedEx

FedEx aircraft have thrown alerts at many, many airports across the US as they adjust equipment assignments for peak. As mentioned elsewhere in this post, Atlas and Kalitta 744s are also being substituted on some of their long routes.

IFL

A single 727-200 noted so far, flying SDF-RIV for UPS.

N216WE

Kalitta

Several additional 747-400s operating out of MEM for USPS. Destinations include HNL, LAX, SFO, and SJU. Started December 1.

USPS aircraft:

N708CK
N710CK
N712CK
N740CK (Kalitta / DHL)
N741CK

Eight Kalitta 744s went into service for UPS on December 9 or 10:

N401KZ
N402KZ
N705CK
N706CK
N715CK
N742CK
N745CK
N782CK

Korean Air Cargo

747-400F HL7602 made unusual stops at ORD and YYZ on December 12.

National

National Airlines flew for UPS in 2018's peak season, but both of their active 744Fs are currently flying military routes. Perhaps they'll join UPS in the next round?

Also worth noting, per PlaneSpotters.net, they've got three more 747 freighters and an A330-200F joining their fleet in the near future; none of them have flown recently (per FlightAware), so hopes for them participating in peak would seem slim, though.

On December 16, N919CA, one of their older 747s, did an odd hop through CVG, before going to SDF. Too early to know for sure if they're doing domestic peak work or not, but, something to monitor.

Nippon Cargo

Nippon Cargo 748F JA17KZ made a stop at YWG on December 9; unsure if it'll be a recurrent peak flight.

Silk Way West

Silk Way West 747-8Fs have thrown smart flight alerts at ANC, DFW, CVG, MIA so far this year.

Singapore Cargo

Singapore Cargo B744 threw alerts at CVG and SEA December 15/16.

SkyLease Cargo

It appears that all three of SkyLease Cargo's active aircraft are in service for UPS starting December 9 or 10.

747s

N903AR: SkyLease (Right) / Chinese Fish (Left)
N904AR: SkyLease (Right) / BST + Navitrans (Left)

MD-11

N950AR: flying SDF-ORD-SDF so far; started December 9.

Suparna

A handful of alerts have been triggered for their 747 at MIA and LAX; unsure if peak related.

UPS

In the United States, noteworthy equipment appearances for aviation enthusiasts during peak season are largely due to UPS's reliance on partners for additional capacity. The first big round of wet leased equipment started flying for UPS around November 26, and another round will be starting the week of December 9. We've heard 21 Air, Atlas, and Asia Pacific will be sending additional aircraft to UPS at that time.

As with FedEx, there have been many smart flight alerts sent for unusual UPS equipment being reallocated throughout their network.

Western Global

Annoyingly, WGA flights don't usually trigger alerts until after they've arrived and departed; fortunately for enthusiasts, they seem to quickly establish an operational pattern. As in past years, they have a good number of aircraft operating out of SDF for UPS... in fact, nearly all of their operational aircraft are now flying for UPS.

N344KD, 747-400, to SDF on December 10 for UPS
N356KD, 747-400, to SDF on December 2 for UPS operations.

MD-11s; started on November 26. Have been bouncing through CLE, DFW, ONT, ORD, PDX, PHL, SDF, and SLC.

N411SN
N415JN: white tail
N435KD: white tail
N512JN: white tail
N513SN: white tail
N542KD: first flights since April
N546JN
N581JN: large titles / no tail logo