Winging It

Amazon got into the air cargo business to guarantee fast delivery» But when a risk-taking tech giant tries to commandeer a risk-averse industry, not everything goes smoothly

- By Caitlin Harrington

Christmas was rapidly approaching, and Amazon was facing a crisis. In the waning shopping days of 2014, the retailer was preparing to promote its deal of the day: the Amazon Kindle, delivered just in time for Christmas.

Then it discovered a problem. Stock was running low within driving distance of Seattle, where the company is headquartered. Amazon turned to UPS to airlift more e-readers to the city, but with the holiday season in full swing, the parcel service was unwilling to divert more planes to appease its increasingly demanding client. Amazon, it appeared, would not be able to deliver its signature device to shoppers in its own backyard.

The prospect of failure was unbearable to executives steeped in founder Jeff Bezos' doctrine of customer obsession, according to a former employee. They were also still haunted by the nightmare of the previous Christmas, when many packages landed late on the doorsteps of aggrieved buyers. But the 2013 fiasco had largely been due to ground transportation issues. This latest crisis was an air problem. While Amazon had spent the previous year building up its network of sortation centers to streamline truck delivery, the company depended entirely on FedEx and UPS to fly most of its packages around the United States. If those carriers couldn't keep up with demand, Amazon wouldn't be able to honor its Prime "promise" to ship any imaginable commodity to tens of millions of households within two days.