US airlines chart solid cargo revenues, but clouds of uncertainty form

The cargo operations of US passenger airlines generally do not garner a lot of attention. But there appears to be growing momentum in the space, with Southwest formally launching international cargo operations and Delta Air Lines and Korean working to maximise the benefits of their JV to include each airline's cargo business.

Each of the large three global US network airlines posted double digit growth in their cargo revenues during 2Q2018 after growing cargo capacity during the past couple of years. American believes its cargo revenues could reach USD1 billion in 2018.

It remains to be seen how long the momentum in cargo revenue will last for the US' largest airlines. Cargo traffic in both North America and Latin America was strong in 1H2018; however, IATA is warning growing global trade tensions could change its cargo outlook.