What Happened To UPS’ Passenger Services?

[cheryl]

What Happened To UPS’ Passenger Services? - Simple Flying

Did you know that, at one time, UPS (United Parcel Service) ran a passenger airline? What was it like, and what happened? Let’s explore.

Why did UPS run passenger services?

UPS is a freight airline, running older aircraft like the Boeing 727 and others, overnight delivering freight around the world. However, back in the mid-90s, the team at UPS ran a program called the “Asset Utilization Experiment.”

Essentially, while the cargo aircraft were profitable and ran a tight operation, many planes sat idle over the weekends during the day as the package operation didn’t run. The team realized that they could use the aircraft to fly something else during the weekends, such as passengers.

 

[ddomino]

What I remember is that we would convert the jets to passenger on the weekends only to transport Apple vacation guests. Apple was an all inclusive vacation package seller. Apple decided they wanted to also be a airline, so they started USA3000, ending the contract with UPS for their charter flights. UPS of course twisted it to their advantage. Are center manager at the time said UPS ended the service because we were only making 5 million (or 5 billion, don't remember) and it was not worth keeping the service.