AA Cargo doubles capacity for temp-sensitive shipments, expands cold chain solutions

American Airlines Cargo has extended its commitment to reliable temperature-controlled shipping by expanding its solution for transporting temperature-controlled shipments to its entire mainline fleet.

This expansion follows a number of tests and trials conducted in partnership with CSafe Global and CargoSense. Through the use of CSafe Global’s industry-leading packaging and temperature loggers provided by CargoSense, American proved all of its aircraft offer ideal environments for passive temperature-sensitive shipments.

The successful trials allow American to nearly double its capacity for handling ExpediteTC solutions and extend the airline’s cold-chain solution network to 30 new stations, including in-demand cities like Cincinnati, Memphis and Pittsburgh.

“When it comes to cold chain shipments, reliability is crucial for our customers,” said Roger Samways, vice president of commercial for American Airlines Cargo. “By expanding our offering of temperature-critical shipping on all mainline flights, we are able to provide our customers with access to more than 180 markets, marking the largest cold-chain network in our history.”

American, CSafe Global and CargoSense placed sensors into passive cold chain packaging for the trials. The sensors monitored internal package temperatures while aircraft operated in a variety of climates. Results proved that temperatures of each package stayed constant, despite changing conditions during transit.

“It was a privilege to work with American to conduct these trials and leverage our innovative thermal shipping solution technologies to ensure even more temperature-critical shipments can travel effectively,” said Tom Weir, CSafe Global COO. “Many sensitive, often life-saving goods travel the world thanks to effective cold-chain networks, and we are proud to play a part in that alongside American Airlines.”

“When American Airlines presented us with the opportunity to help demonstrate the efficacy of their fleet for the transportation of pharma products, we worked to quickly provide them with validated sensors, our state-of-the-art logistics visibility software platform, and custom analytics needed to show their reliability in real-world scenarios,” said Rich Kilmer, CEO of CargoSense. “We are excited the pharmaceutical industry can now leverage American's full fleet at a time that is critical for all of us.”

As the world continues to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, this expansion will further support the airline’s already important role in distributing temperature-critical cargo like vaccines, pharmaceuticals and other life science products.

American’s ExpediteTC solution, founded in 2009, offers both active and passive shipping solutions as well as a global network of temperature-controlled facilities, including a 25,000-square-foot temperature-controlled center in Philadelphia that specializes in pharmaceuticals. In 2019, American established a designated group of sales and operational team members trained to lead the coordination of temperature-critical shipments.

Expanded options for cold chain shipments are now available inside American Airlines Cargo’s booking window.