Alaska Air Cargo announced this week a plan to expand its cargo lift capacity by 40 percent throughout the continental United States.
The mass uptick is part of a merger with Virgin America, giving Alaska Airlines access to a 71-plane Airbus fleet. Previously, Virgin America did not provide cargo service, but Alaska Air Cargo now intends to use the belly space of their planes to transport everything from food to business purchases.
“Our goal is to create a hassle-free experience for our cargo customer, and with additional capacity, we are delivering on that commitment,” Jason Berry, managing director for Alaska Air Cargo, said. “With our increased transcontinental connections originating across the west coast, we will be offering more frequency and reliability.”
Currently, the company services 93 destinations. Before the addition of the Airbus fleet, they were already transporting more than 170 million pounds of cargo annually. In addition to these planes, they have added three 737-700 retrofitted freighter aircraft to bolster their fleet as well.