Seven Airlines awarded USPS contracts

The U.S. Postal Service has awarded air transportation contracts to seven passenger airlines effective Sept. 30, 2006. Those awarded contracts are: American Airlines, Dallas, TX; American Trans Air, Indianapolis, IN; Continental Airlines, Houston, TX; JetBlue Airways, Queens, NY; Midwest Airlines, Milwaukee, WI; Sun Country Airlines, Minneapolis, MN; and US Airways, Washington, DC.

The agreements contain on-time delivery requirements and performance standards established in 2003 as part of the Postal Service’s previous three- year commercial air contract.

U.S. Postal Service
“By achieving consistent, on-time delivery for our customers, the performance standards implemented three years ago have helped us improve customer service overall,” said USPS Network Operations Vice President Tony Pajunas. “The new agreements ensure that — together with the airlines — we will continue to provide the highest levels of service.”

Pajunas said the contracts also contain tracking provisions so USPS can account for a customer’s mail the entire time it is in the air transportation system. The airlines are required to scan mail at three key points: when they take possession from the Postal Service or when mail is loaded onto a flight, during transfers to connecting flights, and when mail is delivered to the Postal Service after the flight’s arrival.

While the value of the five-year contracts is dependent on each carrier’s capacity, service performance and mail volume transported, total value for fiscal year 2007 is estimated at approximately USD225 million. The volume of mail to be transported under the contracts is estimated at approximately 450 million pounds for fiscal year 2007.

The contracts cover domestic transport of Express Mail and First-Class Mail, and Priority Mail originating from designated Transportation Security Administration sites.

Since 1775, the United States Postal Service and its predecessor, the Post Office Department, have connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. An independent federal agency that visits more than 144 million homes and businesses every day, the Postal Service is the only service provider delivering to every address in the nation. It receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of USD70 billion, it is the world’s leading provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world’s mail volume — some 212 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year — and serves 10 million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide.