Minneapolis-based low-cost carrier Sun Country Airlines is now operating a full 20-strong fleet of Boeing 737-800s on behalf of US logistics firm Amazon, capping a period focused on cargo growth.
Sun Country completed its cargo expansion during the third quarter, executives said during the company’s 30 October earnings call, acknowledging the challenges of quickly integrating eight narrowbody jets over several months.
”Adding eight additional aircraft to our fleet was truly a team effort, and represents a 14% increase in our total fleet,” says Torque Zubeck, Sun Country’s chief financial officer.
Sun Country says that, as of 30 September, it operates 45 737s in its passenger fleet and 20 737 Freighters. It also owns five aircraft on lease to other airlines.
Assembling the full fleet of freighters marks a turning point in Sun Country’s strategic focus. Now, it will shift to adding more scheduled passenger flights.
That has been on hold since June 2024, when the carrier secured an amended contract with Amazon and disclosed a plan to rapidly grow its cargo operations. Sun Country’s amended contract with Amazon runs through 2030, with options to extend the terms through 2037.
Zubeck says Sun Country plans to “grow back” its passenger operation to pre-2024 levels of aircraft utilisation and “expand our passenger fleet to 50 aircraft by 2027”.
“During this transition, we’ve remained profitable and… produced our 13th consecutive profitable quarter,” he adds.
The carrier posted a modest $1.5 million profit during the third quarter, while Sun Country’s third-quarter revenue increased year-on-year by 2.4% to $256 million.
Revenue growth was driven by Sun Country’s cargo and charter operations, as the carrier’s scheduled passenger block-hour flying declined 11% in the third quarter compared with the July-October period of 2024.
Sun Country’s third-quarter cargo revenue increased year-on-year by more than 50%.
”This improvement was primarily driven by the increase in the number of cargo aircraft in service and the new Amazon contract rates which began to go into effect in June 2024,” the airline says.
