Airfreight

FedEx said this week it has started a direct cargo flight between Dublin, Ireland, and Indianapolis, Indiana. The four-day-a-week service shortens shipping times by a full day by skipping the crowded coastal gateways.

The global airfreight market, valued at $319.4 billion in 2024, is projected to reach $492.7 billion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.9%. While air cargo volumes have shown upward trends, market stability remains uncertain due to fluctuating tariff policies and geopolitical events.

A combination of factors is having what could be viewed as a negative impact, when it comes to transportation and logistics (T&L) mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity. That was the primary thesis of a new report issued today by business consultancy PwC, entitled “Transportation & Logistics: US Deals 2025 Midyear Outlook.”

In this podcast, Jeff Berman, Group News Editor for Logistics Management and the Peerless Media Supply Chain Group, interviews Brandon Fried, Executive Director at the Washington, D.C.-based Airforwarders Association (AfA).

Ongoing U.S. trade policy shifts—including new de minimis rules for Chinese shipments—are reshaping global logistics. With rising tariffs and reduced exemptions impacting cross-border e-commerce, Armstrong & Associates projects 2025 third-party logistics (3PL) revenue to hit $316.2 billion, up 4.5%, fueled by early-year growth despite increased uncertainty.

Cass said this acquisition enables the company’s shipper customers to choose Cass for a best-in-class freight audit and payment (i.e. spend management) solution for every mode and every geography, adding that doing so gives them single-platform visibility to their global transportation spend.

The global freighter fleet is set to expand to 3,900 planes, up two-thirds from 2023.

With a focus on helping its shipper customers achieve their emissions objectives, Flexport.org, the impact arm of San Francisco-based freight forwarding and customs brokerage services provider Flexport, announced today it is introducing a new offering in collaboration with SaaS platform services provider CHOOSE, focusing on accelerating air freight decarbonization.

The company said the new offering will fly six times per week between Miami International Airport (MIA) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE), with a stopover in Santiago, Chile (SCL), prior to returning to Miami (MIA). And it added that the flight is operated by DHL Aero Expreso, with a Boeing B767-300 aircraft providing a gross payload capacity of 52 tons per flight.

High-flying service prevails in turbulent market

Josh Taylor, Senior Director of Professional Services, for San Diego-based Shipware, an audit and parcel consulting services company, told Newsroom Notes that in looking at the FedEx pilots situation, the main risk posed to FedEx by the potential for a pilots’ strike hasn’t been the threat of the pilots walking out, but the dissatisfaction of the pilots and the uncertainty it could have created with investors.

FedEx officials declined to comment on the agreement, outside of a brief statement issued by the company on May 30, which stated: “We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with our pilots as we continue delivering outstanding service to our customers around the world.”

The company said that it has added two Boeing 747-400Fs to its freighter fleet and is also expecting 15 more freighters to become part of its fleet from previously announced orders and its freighter conversion program, in addition to what it called a boost in belly-hold capacity from new passenger aircraft deliveries, kicking off with Airbus A350s in late summer 2024, which will be followed by 777-Xs in 2025.

Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider UPS said this week that is it purchasing eight new 767-300ER freighters from Boeing, which the company said will help to support its “customer-first strategy.”

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