Passenger airlines limit some specialty cargo

(Source: Shutterstock)

(Updated 6:55 p.m. March 20 with Delta add)

Cargo departments of scheduled passenger airlines are beginning to restrict what type of cargo they accept, as well as drop-off and pick-up windows because of limited flight availability in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

United Airlines notified customers Friday that it is temporarily suspending shipments of pets that travel in the cargo hold and human remains on international flights. Cargo stations will continue to accept those shipments for domestic travel to the extent permitted by United’s current schedule.

United Cargo also said it is suspending performance guarantees for deliveries for all shipments tendered on, or after, March 20.

On Friday, Delta Cargo said it is embargoing all pet shipments due to changing flight schedules.

Air Canada issued a notice that it will no longer accept live animal bookings. 

Meanwhile, Alaska Air Cargo reminded customers to be aware that operating hours are changing at many locations for drop off and pick up because airlines have reduced flight schedules.

Airlines are adjusting daily to a dynamic situation of global travel restrictions and loss of passenger business. Several airlines, including American Airlines, have launched programs to flip passenger planes into all-cargo service to meet commercial needs for airlift.

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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Parcel and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was runner up for News Journalist and Supply Chain Journalist of the Year in the Seahorse Freight Association's 2024 journalism award competition. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist. He won the group's Environmental Journalist of the Year award in 2014 and was the 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com