FedEx Air Cargo Profile

FedEx Express is an American all-cargo airline and the aviation arm of FedEx Corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded by Frederick W. Smith and launching operations on April 17, 1973 after its 1971 incorporation, it pioneered the overnight express delivery model. It operates purely as an integrator, carrying no passengers and no belly cargo, so its entire capacity is dedicated freight. In the IATA World Air Transport Statistics 2024 rankings it was the largest cargo airline in the world by scheduled freight tonne-kilometers, at roughly 18 billion CTK, and it also ranks first among cargo carriers by fleet size.

The airline runs one of the largest civil aircraft fleets in the world, numbering close to 690 aircraft. Widebody freighters include the Boeing 777F for long-haul intercontinental lanes, alongside the Airbus A300-600RF and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F, whose retirement FedEx pushed back to the early 2030s. The Boeing 767-300F is the workhorse of the mainline fleet at roughly 150 units, complemented by Boeing 757-200SF conversions. Regional lift is handled by the FedEx Feeder network, a mix of Cessna 208 Caravan, Cessna 408 SkyCourier, ATR 72 and ATR 42 turboprops flown by contract operators into smaller markets.

FedEx Express is built around its Memphis (MEM) global superhub, the busiest cargo airport in the world, supported by a national hub at Indianapolis (IND) and regional gateways including Oakland, Newark, Anchorage and Miami. International hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Cologne, Guangzhou, Dubai and Osaka anchor its intercontinental network. The hub-and-spoke system, with aircraft converging at night for sorting and redeployment, underpins time-definite overnight and deferred services. Specialisations include express parcels and documents, e-commerce, temperature-controlled healthcare and pharmaceutical shipments, and dangerous-goods handling across a network reaching more than 220 countries and territories.