UPS Airlines

UPS Airlines is a major American cargo airline based in Louisville, Kentucky. One of the largest cargo airlines worldwide in terms of freight volume flown, UPS Airlines flies to 815 destinations worldwide. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of United Parcel Service since its launch in 1988.

Like passenger airlines, UPS Airlines operates under the hub-and-spoke model. It's primary hub in the United States is at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, where it built a 5,200,000 square foot facility called UPS Worldport. UPS also has secondary hubs across the United States and international hubs in Canada, China, England, Germany, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico.

The pilots of UPS Airlines are represented by the Independent Pilots Association.

UPS's (then United Parcel Service) air cargo business began in 1929. At first, UPS shipped packages as baggage on commercial airline flights in the United States West Coast. After Black Tuesday and the beginning of the Great Depression, UPS discontinued the air freight service by late 1931.

After World War II, UPS (in the process of acquiring common carrier rights for every address in the United States) revisited the idea of shipping packages by air. Starting in 1953, 2-day delivery was offered on coast-to-coast packages; the service was called Blue Label Air. As before, UPS package volume was transported on commercial airline flights. Initially unprofitable, Blue Label Air became popular as its speed created enough demand to maintain a profit.

In 1975, UPS started its first international operations as it expanded into Canada, with an additional expansion into West Germany a year later.

As UPS had become an international company, access to its own cargo aircraft had become a more apparent issue. In 1976, competitor Federal Express (which owned its own fleet of jet aircraft) had turned a profit, showcasing that package delivery companies did not have to exclusively rely on commercial aircraft to transport their volume.

In 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act gave UPS a significant opportunity: the company could now establish its own airline and flying from city to city would require far fewer legislative hurdles as the federal government now encouraged competition between airlines.