With so many of us unable to shop like we normally do (thanks to COVID-19), Amazon's e-commerce business has been booming. That's been very good for RFD's cargo business.

A huge influx of cargo flights have boosted RFD as the third busiest airport for Amazon’s e-commerce shipments and resulted in an increase of UPS next-day-air business by nearly 20% from a year ago.

Rockford's cargo business is up 30 to 35 percent this year, says Mike Dunn, the airport's executive director. Employment at the airport, which has cargo-sorting hubs for both UPS and Amazon, is up more than 500, to 5,500 to 6,000 jobs. Nearly half the airport's revenue comes from cargo landing fees.

Rockford is also ranked 20th in the list of Top 20 North American Airports by cargo volume, as RFD had 327,602 metric tons of cargo move through the airport.

Amazon's e-commerce shipments rose 25 percent in the first quarter. Rockford was a hub for Amazon when it launched its own cargo service in 2016.

UPS, which employs 1,700 at Rockford, says its next-day-air business was up 20.5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, compared with an 8.5 percent rise in total deliveries for the company.

Things have been very tough for so many Illinoisans, but it's great to see RFD and their thousands of local employees having this level of success. Congrats!

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