The shipment was transported by truck to Chicago O’Hare in collaboration with pharmaceutical and cargo partners and loaded onto a Boeing 777-200 to Miami. The vaccine shipment will be forwarded to a U.S. territory in the Caribbean later today.
On Monday (December 14, 2020), American Airlines announced their first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from Chicago to Miami. The shipment arrived by truck at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) Sunday evening and was loaded on to a Boeing 777-200 for transport to Miami International Airport (MIA). The vaccines will be forwarded to a U.S. territory in the Caribbean later today. American Airlines began trials in November to simulate the required transport conditions for the vaccine, stress testing package and operational handling to ensure stability. In Monday’s announcement, American Airlines Cargo’s President, Jessica Tyler, said,
“The American team is proud to be a part of the critical effort to get lifesaving vaccine safely and quickly to people around the world. We were able to mobilize within hours of getting the call to move thousands of doses. We know this is the first of many shipments to come, and we are ready to scale our operation as additional vaccine is produced and ready for distribution.”
American Airlines Cargo will move COVID-19 vaccines across the U.S. and worldwide. The carrier is an internationally recognized expert in cold chain logistics with a network of facilities and team members who specialize in temperature critical shipments to over 150 destinations in 46 countries. American Airlines operates the largest dedicated temperature-controlled pharmaceutical shipping facility of any U.S. airline. Shipments are tracked throughout the journey on the ground and from the carrier’s Cargo Control Center, located within American’s Fort Worth, Texas, Integrated Operations Control facility. American Airlines has earned IATA’s prestigious Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV) Pharma certification. The unedited 'B-Roll' video below, courtesy of American Airlines, details the handling process of the vaccine shipment at O'Hare on Sunday (December 13, 2020) by American Airlines' Cargo team.
American Airlines’ purpose is to “care for people on life’s journey.” Shares in the American Airlines Group, Inc., trade on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol AAL and the company’s stock is included in the S&P 500.
Source: American Airlines