Fedex Express : FX : FDX

• un léger tassement dans la croissance espérée pour le transport des passagers (les autochtones de nombreux pays sont restés chez eux, au lieu de se déplacer à l'étranger pour les fêtes, .... austérité oblige !),
  
• des volumes de fret transportés / livrés faiblement accrus, par rapport à un plancher plus bas qu'avaient indiqué les dernières prévisions (effet de saisonnalité, avec un léger plus, cette année, puisque, lorsque les 'voyageurs' mentionnés ci-dessus, et qu'ils restent 'à la maison', ils effectuent des dépenses-cadeaux de compensation ; les exportateurs / importateurs, réagissant rapidement, en regardant les tendances constatées il y a deux mois, ont eu recours au fret aérien pour assurer l'offre dans les magasins).
  

FedEx said it has decided to permanently ground 18 Airbus A310-200 freighters and six MD-10Fs.

“The majority of these aircraft are currently parked and not in revenue service,” it said in a statement. As a result of the retirements, the company incurred a noncash impairment charge of $134 million in its fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31.

“The decision to permanently retire these aircraft will better align the US domestic air network capacity of FedEx Express to match current and anticipated shipment volumes,” FedEx said.

The Memphis-based cargo operator also retired five Boeing 727-200Fs in the quarter ended May 31.

It plans to retire 21 additional 727Fs, which it noted will be “fully depreciated,” in the fiscal year started June 1.

FedEx is advancing its FedEx Express unit's fleet upgrade to more fuel-efficient aircraft by buying 19 additional Boeing 767-300 aircraft.

This order is in addition to FedEx Express' agreement with Boeing announced in December 2011 to buy 27 new 767s for delivery between fiscal 2014 and 2018 and to delay delivery of 11 of the 777 aircraft to save on fuel and cut costs.

The company said on June 19 it was focused on cost cuts to boost profit margins during a prolonged period of slow global economic growth.

The latest purchase announced on Friday is for planes that will be delivered from fiscal 2015 to 2019 and will replace current MD-10 and A310-200 aircraft, FedEx said.

The new planes provide similar capacity as the MD-10s, but are about 30 percent more fuel-efficient and reduce unit operating costs by more than 20 percent, the company said.

FedEx said the 19 new aircraft on order include four that used money previously applied to orders for four 777 aircraft.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

"FedEx Express is positioning itself for more profitable growth by modernising its aircraft fleet and better aligning its US domestic air network to match current and anticipated shipment volumes," FedEx Express chief executive David Bronczek said in a statement.

Earlier this month, FedEx said it was permanently retiring various aircraft and engines, bringing the total to 50 aircraft being retired by the end of fiscal 2013.

FedEx has estimated its capital spending at USD$3.9 billion in fiscal 2013, and said on Friday the impact of the new aircraft order "is immaterial" to capital spending in fiscal 2013 and 2014.

FedEx Express now operates 19 long-range 777 freighters and said it is now committed to buying an additional 24 of them.

(Reuters)

FedEx Corp. said it agreed to buy 14 Boeing Co. 757 passenger jets from United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) and convert them into freighters, part of a plan to save on fuel costs with newer, more efficient planes.

The package-delivery company will take possession of the narrow-body jets this year through 2015, and the March 8 agreement includes an option to purchase another 16 of the planes, FedEx said today in a regulatory filing.

The Memphis, Tennessee-based company also has 70 767s and 777s on order, according to the filing.

FedEx began buying 757s in 2007, as passenger airlines began shedding them, to phase out its older Boeing 727s, echoing a shift already under way at United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) The used 757s, which Boeing stopped building in 2005, are cheaper than new models and still provide a class of planes that can carry 20 percent more freight while burning a third less fuel than the three-engine 727s.