From the dept. of comparative statistics, (based on traffic reports)
1. AA's cargo division is about 75% of the size of DL's and DL's is about 80% of the size of UA's....
2. If you look at cargo ton miles produced in relation to total ASM's, DL carries about 3% less cargo than AA and AA carries about 15% less cargo than UA....
AA and UA both have higher percentages of 777 and/or 744s in their fleets which are better cargo carriers than the 767 which makes up more than half of DL's int'l fleet.... on the other hand, it would appear that DL and UA's presence in Asia gives them an advantage if for no other reason than that Asian cargo flies further than Latin and London cargo, where undoubtedly the majority of AA's cargo network is concentrated...
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It would also appear that AA's cargo division is more concentrated in its core global markets including JFK than is either DL or UA... so it makes sense that AA does better than its peers in NYC relative to its capacity.
BTW, CO and AA carry almost identical amounts of cargo to/from NYC... and Fedex carries more than 3X more cargo than AA or CO... so they do indeed focus their cargo operation at EWR.
http://www.panynj.gov/airports/pdf-traffic/MAR2011_REG.PDF
Cargo operations at passenger airlines are generally not charged for the cost of producing the ASMs - thus it is often considered "free revenue" but cargo obviously has its own specific costs, including the new building mentioned here....
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AA just reported its May traffic results and shows a 6.6% decrease in cargo ton miles....and down 2.2% year to date. UA has not reported its May traffic stats but its traffic reports so far this year show decreases in CTMs of approx. 5% both in recent months and year to date.
AA's int'l capacity is up about 6% for May with most of the increase coming on the Pacific and about 5% in the transatlantic region with Latin flat. DL's capacity for May was up the most in the Pacific at about 7% followed by Latin America and then TATL at 4%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/American-Airlines-Reports-May-prnews-1228938716.html?x=0&.v=1
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Delta-Air-Lines-Reports-May-prnews-1694429387.html?x=0&.v=1
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Despite AA's increase in Pacific capacity and being flat or up in all other regions, AA's cargo traffic is falling.
Any insights into what is driving this?