Airlines are trading passengers for packages. That hasn't made shipping any cheaper

Slightly less than half of the world's passenger aircraft are grounded and sitting in storage, and that's a big problem for businesses that need to ship goods. Even as some areas of the world loosen Covid-19 related travel restrictions, and airlines slowly ramp up passenger services, airlines such as United and Delta are still flying dozens of planes each week with goods stuffed into overhead bins, while all of the seats sit empty. While much of the world's air cargo is hauled around by freighter jets operated by companies like UPS and Amazon, about half of air shipments are typically transported by passenger planes that tuck shipments into aircraft bellies alongside suitcases. So the sharp reduction in passenger plane flights has made the process of moving goods from A to B amid the pandemic expensive and extremely complex. And the problem isn't likely to go away anytime soon. During lockdown, passenger airlines started operating cargo-only routes to help ease supply chain bottlenecks. And, with lingering uncertainty around when passenger travel will resume in any meaningful way, some airlines are still growing that area of their business. Story has more.<br/>