FedEx strikes deal with Textron for up to 100 aircraft

FedEx Express will purchase 50 clean-sheet Cessna SkyCourier 408 aircraft from Textron Aviation, with options to buy up to 50 additional aircraft, the parcel carrier said in a statement.    FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., has entered into a purchase agreement with Textron Aviation, Inc., a Textron Inc. company, to buy 50 clean-sheet design Cessna SkyCourier 408 aircraft, with options to purchase up to 50 additional aircraft.
   The first aircraft is expected to be delivered in mid-2020, with subsequent deliveries on a schedule of one aircraft per month over a four-year period, FedEx said.
   “This continues our very successful fleet modernization strategy, which improves our fuel efficiency, reliability and operating costs,” FedEx Express President and CEO David Cunningham said. “We worked closely with Textron Aviation to develop the Cessna SkyCourier 408, which includes several key features that will help us grow our business in small and medium-sized markets, especially in the airfreight segment.”
   The twin-engine, high-wing, large-utility turboprop aircraft features a digital cockpit, a large cargo door, and a flat floor cabin equipped to handle up to three LD3 containers and a 6,000-pound maximum payload.
   FedEx had signed on as Textron’s launch customer for the Cessna SkyCourier 408. Textron said the Cessna SkyCourier 408 will also be offered in a 19-passenger variant.
   As a first step to modernizing its feeder fleet, earlier this month, FedEx revealed that it had finalized an aircraft purchase agreement with ATR for 30 ATR 72-600F aircraft, with options to buy up to 20 additional ATR 72-600Fs.
   The FedEx Express feeder network is a component of the overall global linehaul network, which serves markets that are too small for direct FedEx Express air linehaul service and markets where FedEx Express does not have operating rights.
   FedEx currently deploys more than 300 feeder aircraft in 45 countries, most of which are owned by the company, and leased and operated by different third-party air carriers under their own operating certificates.
   The company’s current feeder fleet complements its jet fleet of more than 360 aircraft, including Boeing 777s, B767s and B757s, MD11s, MD10s, Airbus 300s and Airbus 310s.