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Alaska to grow 737 freighters to nine

Alaska Air Cargo will grow its 737 freighter fleet from five to nine aircraft with the signing of long-term lease agreements to add four 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) aircraft next year for North American operations. The four 737-800BCFs are expected to enter service in the first half of 2027 and will be dedicated to the states of Alaska and Hawaii, said Alaska Airlines,. According to data from Planespotters, Alaska Airlines already has three 737-700 passenger to freighter (P2F) aircraft and two 737-800P2Fs that are operated by its cargo arm, Alaska Air Cargo. The airline said that the additional freighters will help strengthen the network across the states of Alaska and Hawaii, as well as connections to the rest of the US. Added capacity in Hawaii is also expected to support the e-commerce and logistics industries. Ian Morgan, vice president of cargo at Alaska Airlines, said: "Alaska Air Cargo has two very important goals: supporting our communities and customers and connecting them to the world. "Expanding our cargo fleet with dedicated aircraft helps us accomplish both goals, opening up new international shipping opportunities for seafood and other commodities, while making sure we can reliably ship time-sensitive goods that our communities need, such as medicine, household supplies and groceries." Seattle-based Alaska Air Group, parent to Alaska Airlines, acquired Hawaiian Airlines in September 2024, a purchase that expanded its operation to include transpacific flights and that bolstered Alaska Air's fleet with its first widebody jets. As part of the Alaska Accelerate strategic plan, cargo is anticipated to deliver $150m of new annual profit as the cargo operations of Alaska and Hawaiian are integrated and the business advances international expansion out of Seattle.

DHL welcomes SBTi's adoption of 'book and claim' for emissions reduction

DHL has welcomed the Science Based Targets initiative's (SBTi) acceptance of 'book and claim' as a mechanism for tracking emissions reduction. In June, SBTi, which was founded as a partnership between the Carbon Disclosure Project, the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature, published Version 2.0 of its Corporate Net Zero Standard. The updated framework introduces book and claim as a credible mechanism for reducing transport emissions and contributing to corporate climate targets. Book and claim allows companies to transfer emissions reductions amongst various parties through the use of a registry. This solves a couple of problems: firstly, when one party reduces emissions on behalf of another and secondly, when the emissions reduction may not actually be connected to a specific shipment. For example, a shipper may request the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for a certain shipment or route, but the airline actually uses the equivalent amount of SAF on another flight entirely. "When a sustainable fuel supplier produces the product, they generate a certificate based on a certain quantity of sustainable fuel (e.g., one metric ton) they make from sustainable feedstock," explained DHL. "You receive that independently verified certificate when you purchase sustainable fuel attributes through a book and claim system or when you purchase a low-emission transport service powered by those fuels (or an electric vehicle). "So, even though your package or freight might not have been shipped in a truck, plane or ship powered by sustainable fuel, somewhere in the network someone else's shipment did. Your purchase has replaced fossil-based fuel and reduced overall transport emissions - and you get the credit for that." DHL said the new mechanism would enable it to transfer the environmental benefits of low-carbon fuels used within its network to customers whose shipments move through that network. Tobias Meyer, chief executive of the DHL Group, said: "For years, DHL has championed practical, high-integrity solutions to decarbonise logistics at scale. "Through the use of alternative, low-carbon fuels and GoGreen Plus, we have enabled thousands of customers across industries and geographies to reduce the emissions associated with their transportation activities. "The continued evolution of industry standards and frameworks is an important step in helping accelerate the transition to lower-emission logistics worldwide." The Science Based Targets initiative was established in 2015 to help companies to set emission reduction targets in line with climate science and the Paris emissions reduction agreement goals.

Air freight contracts a challenge for shippers and forwarders in a tightening market

Annual air freight contracts are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain as market conditions shift decisively in favour of airlines and freight forwarders, according to Xeneta. During a webinar, Adi Šunj, Xeneta's lead customer success manager, said the tightening market and a growing reliance on spot purchasing were forcing both forwarders and shippers to rethink how they approached long-term pricing agreements. "We typically define 80% as the shifting point between a buyer's market and a seller's market," said Mr Šunj, referring to the company's dynamic load factor metric, measuring aircraft capacity utilisation. As capacity tightens, airlines gain greater pricing power, while shippers lose leverage in negotiations, he explained. Companies that negotiated competitive annual contracts when market conditions were softer may now find those agreements increasingly difficult to maintain if they sit below prevailing market rates, he added. "Understanding that your service may change, that you may not get the same service as you had in the past - given the increase in the delta between your position and the market high - I think is key," he said. This challenge for shippers is compounded by the growing proportion of cargo moving on the spot market outside contracts. Mr Šunj said Xeneta's airline spot share data showed when forwarders were relying more heavily on ad hoc purchases rather than longer-term block space agreements. "We've seen over time that when the airline spot share rises above 40% to 50%, or more, then it becomes not just significant pressure for the forwarder to move and buy their cargo, but also to align their contracts with their customers," he explained. He added that, when 70%-80% of cargo is moving under spot pricing, forwarders faced increasing uncertainty over future procurement costs, making fixed-price agreements with customers significantly harder to support. "It creates pressure for both ends - the freight forwarder ensuring their capacity and price in the market, and also the shipper that needs to move cargo." Xeneta advised that the changing market dynamics meant shippers may need to reconsider how aggressively they negotiate annual contracts. Customer success manager Seth DeVary warned: "If they're positioned at the market low, it's significantly less likely that that long-term contract is going to be able to get honoured." Rather than focusing solely on achieving the lowest possible rate, Xeneta argues, shippers should understand where their pricing sits relative to the wider market, to balance cost against service reliability. And for forwarders, greater transparency around market conditions also helps explain rising costs to customers during periods of disruption. "It becomes very difficult a lot of times to manage internally what's happening in the market," said Mr DeVary. "With data, you can both look at the same information at the same time and ensure the stories are in line, the facts are in line, and that it's easier to understand and find the best alternative and solution," he concluded.