Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) has signed an agreement with Jetran to acquire 20 Boeing 767-300 extended-range passenger aircraft over the next three years. The aircraft covered by this agreement are currently operated by American Airlines. They were manufactured between 1993 and 2003.
ATSG expects to begin freighter modification of six of the 20 767-300s during 2019, up to nine during 2020, and no fewer than five in 2021. Based on that anticipated schedule, and apart from any other transactions involving 767-300s, ATSG projects that it would own at least 59 767-300 freighter aircraft by the end of 2021, compared with 39 at the end of 2018.
ATSG also owns six other passenger 767-300s, all currently operated by its recently acquired passenger airline subsidiary, Omni Air International, and owns other Boeing 737, 757, 767 and 777 aircraft. ATSG president and chief executive officer, Joe Hete said: “As the world’s leading source of mid-sized converted 767 freighters, we have the appetite and financial strength to respond when a large fleet of commonly configured, high quality feedstock aircraft becomes available.
“Our discussions with a number of customers about leasing multiple 767-300s from us for deployment in new and expanding networks give us confidence that the market will remain strong. “Contracting to acquire these aircraft at good value, along with our unique abilities to convert, lease, operate and maintain them for our customers, is proof of our commitment to serve that market growth for several more years to come.”
Cargo Aircraft Management, ATSG’s aircraft leasing subsidiary, will purchase, manage freighter conversion, and lease the 20 aircraft. Based on customer demand, CAM may choose to refurbish and lease one or more of them internally as passenger aircraft to Omni Air for charter or ACMI service with Omni Air’s government and commercial customers. ATSG’s subsidiaries include ABX Air.
