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Amazon’s fleet of jets is growing

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2016 file photo, a Boeing 767 with an Amazon.com "Prime Air" livery flies over Lake Washington. The online retailer says it will lease 10 Boeing 767s planes, which will bring its total aircraft fleet up to 50. Amazon has been working to gain more control over how its packages are delivered, helping it rely less on other delivery services, such as UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) ORG XMIT: NY114 (Ted S. Warren / AP)
By Joseph Pisani Associated Press

NEW YORK – Amazon is expanding its airplane fleet, diminishing further its reliance on major delivery services like UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service.

The company said Friday it will lease 10 Boeing 767s planes, bringing its total fleet to 50 with the goal of getting orders to people faster and more reliably.

Amazon’s fleet of planes is far smaller than those at UPS and FedEx, which number in the hundreds, but it’s pushed in recent years to close that gap and gain more control over deliveries.

Amazon launched a program over the summer that allows contractors around the country to deliver Amazon packages in vans stamped with the Amazon smile logo. It also plans to open a package sorting hub at Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Texas next year and another at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 2021.

FedEx CEO Frederick Smith said this week he didn’t see Amazon Air as a competitor and it was “fantastical” to think it could disrupt FedEx.

A number of industry watchers see a more significant threat.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimated this month FedEx and UPS could lose a combined 2 percent of revenue this year to Amazon Air.

The Seattle company said the 10 new jets will join the rest of its fleet over the next two years.