CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping line, will open an air cargo hub in Chicago for its cargo airline division and deploy five factory-built Boeing 777 freighter aircraft, operated by American pilots, as part of a $20 billion U.S. shipping, port and logistics investment plan announced shortly after the company’s top executive met with President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House.
CMA CGM Air Cargo is a small freighter operation established in 2021 to round out the Marseille, France-based company’s freight transportation and logistics offerings. It currently operates four aircraft – three Boeing 777 freighters and one Airbus A330 freighter – according to aviation databases.
The integrated freight company will invest $1 billion for air cargo operations in the U.S., Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. The five freighters based in Chicago will operate between the United States and Asia, he added. The announcement touted how the investment supports America’s economy, boosts U.S. exports and will create 10,000 jobs.
A CMA CGM media representative responding to questions said she was unable to provide details at this time. Atlas Air said it had no comment about the CMA CGM news. Still, it is possible to infer likely scenarios for the new U.S. fleet.
CMA CGM Air Cargo deploys two 777s and the A330 in the Europe-Asia trade corridor. It launched trans-Pacific service with one Boeing 777, operated by New York-based Atlas Air, early last fall.
The easiest – and most likely – path would be to place four additional freighters with Atlas Air to operate on CMA CGM’s behalf. Establishing an airline with a U.S. operating certificate would be expensive and complicated since federal law limits foreign ownership of U.S. airlines to 25% of the voting stock and requires U.S. citizens to control operations. Atlas Air has a pilot base at Chicago O’Hare International Airport for pilots that fly the Boeing 747.
CMA CGM was scheduled to receive another 777 in the fourth quarter last year for the Asia-U.S. service, but there is no record that the plane has been delivered. Boeing is behind on aircraft deliveries for a variety of reasons, including supply chain delays and a 58-day strike by machinists last fall. CMA CGM has another 777 order that it previously said would be completed by the end of March. CMA CGM Air Cargo’s website now says two 777s will join the fleet this year. Atlas Air is slated to fly all three aircraft.
Under their agreement, CMA CGM Air Cargo provides the metal, and Atlas Air provides crews, maintenance and insurance. The Paris-based freighter airline needs Atlas Air to operate routes across the Pacific because it doesn’t have traffic rights from the United States to transport goods from another country without first stopping in its home country.
It’s also likely that CMA CGM will purchase the remaining two aircraft directly from Boeing rather than lease them because all the company’s 777s so far have been production freighters and the $1 billion investment mentioned by Saadé fits the price tag of multiple new aircraft, with some money left over for hub expenses and to pay Atlas Air. Furthermore, the company has ordered eight all-new A350 freighters from Airbus for delivery later this decade.
It should be noted that CMA CGM’s in-house airline discontinued trans-Atlantic service out of Chicago, Atlanta and Miami in the spring of 2023 to focus on Asia routes.
Thursday’s announcement is less than it appears if CMA CGM simply includes the three Boeing 777s it has already paid for in the Chicago-based fleet. That’s the approach many companies and countries take to placate Trump and ease his demands. Canada, for example, recently committed to more border security measures to stop the small amount of fentanyl entering the United States, but it was essentially the same deal officials made with the outgoing Biden administration. And, as The Wall Street Journal has reported, CMA CGM was already planning to spend hundreds of millions of dollars upgrading several U.S. port terminals it leases to improve container capacity.
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Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
