Amazon plans new air cargo hub in Kentucky

Feb 01, 2017: Amazon has announced plans to build a centralised air cargo hub in Kentucky to support its growing fleet of Prime Air cargo planes. With this, the company expects to create more than 2,000 new jobs.

A new centralised air hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (CVG) in Hebron will help the company meet demand from Amazon Prime members for fast, reliable delivery.

Amazon has been an active member of the business community in Kentucky for nearly 20 years, employing more than 10,000 people in full-time jobs across 11 fulfillment centre locations.

“As we considered places for the long-term home for our air hub operations, Hebron quickly rose to the top of the list with a large, skilled workforce, centralised location with great connectivity to our nearby fulfillment locations, and an excellent quality of living for employees. We feel strongly that with these qualities as a place to do business, our investments will support Amazon and customers well into the future,” said Dave Clark, Amazon senior vice president of Worldwide Operations.

“We couldn’t be more excited to add 2,000-plus Amazon employees to join the more than 10,000 who work with us today across our robust operations in Kentucky.”

Last year, Amazon entered into agreements with two carriers to lease 40 dedicated cargo airplanes to support Prime members with fast, free shipping. Today, 16 of those planes are in service for Amazon customers with more planes rolling out over time.

“Amazon’s Prime Air hub promises to revolutionise the fulfillment industry worldwide, and Kentucky is excited to partner with them as they embark on this disruptive, transformative and exciting venture,” said Gov. Bevin.

“Kentucky’s ideal location, proven workforce and an already extensive shipping and logistics industry have been the backbone of our relationship with Amazon for nearly 20 years. This new project will pay dividends to both the company and our state, and we are truly grateful for the jobs and economic impact it will bring to the commonwealth.”

“We’ve worked hard to ensure CVG is a great place to do business and we couldn’t be more pleased that Amazon recognized those efforts with plans to build a top-in-class air cargo hub at our airport,” said Candace S McGraw, CEO of CVG Airport.

“A vibrant airport improves the economic vitality of the region and adding thousands of new jobs through establishing this hub at CVG will certainly be transformational for the local economy and local businesses.”

Amazon has launched several initiatives to ensure great delivery speeds and supply chain capacity for its customers, including Amazon Flex, the company’s mobile application that allows individuals to sign-up, be vetted and begin delivering for Amazon, a dedicated network of 4,000 trailers to increase trucking capacity and a network of air cargo planes.

These efforts join Amazon’s robust worldwide network of 149 fulfillment centres and over 20 sortation centres where the company uses algorithms, robotics, machine learning and other technological innovations to increase delivery speeds for customers. Amazon is now bringing the same technological expertise to efforts in the transportation space to increase shipping capacity for its customers.

The company plans to offer job opportunities at any Amazon site across the US to those involved in the package sortation that occurs today in Wilmington.

Amazon recently announced plans to create more than 100,000 jobs across the US over the next 18 months.