Atlas Air provides critical support in the fight against Coronavirus

Atlas Air’s ongoing commitment to the fight against Coronavirus, including co-ordination with the US President’s Coronavirus Task Force, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Flexport.org’s Frontline Responders Fund, country governments and global companies around the world, continues.

“Air cargo is essential to the global fight against Coronavirus, and we are proud to support the efforts of companies and agencies across the public and private sectors to deliver life-saving supplies to where they are needed the most. On behalf of our 3,800 employees around the world, we are grateful to those working on the frontlines, and we appreciate the opportunity to show our support,” said John Dietrich, president and CEO, Atlas Air. “We thank our crews and ground staff for their extraordinary commitment in the operations of these relief missions.”

Recent efforts saw Atlas Air support the White House’s FEMA-funded Project Airbridge, for several charters to multiple destinations in the US. On Sunday, March 29, Atlas Air operated the first flight for Project Airbridge from Shanghai, China into JFK International Airport. The flight carried 130,000 N-95 masks; nearly 1.8 million surgical masks and gowns; more than 10.3 million gloves; and more than 70,000 thermometers.

Two additional flights as part of Project Airbridge, carrying personal protective equipment (PPE), operated into Chicago: one from China on Monday, March 30 and one from Malaysia on Wednesday, April 1.

Atlas Air is helping with 747 freighter charter flights for the Frontline Responders Fund, an effort by the Flexport.org to galvanise resources for the front line responders combating COVID19. On April 2, Atlas Air operated a dedicated charter for this mission, containing PPE headed for medical systems in the San Francisco Bay area. The shipment, originating in Shanghai, contained approximately 65 tons of PPE, including 4.5 million face masks, 121,300 surgical gowns and 16,000 hazmat suits.

Flexport.org, the impact group of the modern freight forwarded Flexport, used funds from a joint GoFundMe called Frontline Responders Fund, which has already raised over $5 million.

Atlas Air operated a 747-400F filled with PPE equipment to people in Spain, donated by one of its longtime customers, on March 23, 2020. Airlink Support: Polar Air Cargo, a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide, worked with Airlink to organise seven tonnes of humanitarian relief—respirator masks, surgical masks, isolation gowns and more— on a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai on March 18, 2020.