ABX Air is an American cargo airline based in Wilmington, Ohio. It operates Boeing 767 freighters for express delivery customers and provides aircraft, crews, maintenance and insurance under contract. The airline developed from the flying operation of Airborne Express.[1][2]
Airborne origins
Airborne Freight Corporation established its Wilmington hub in 1980, linking overnight aircraft movements to a central sorting operation. The first sorting facility opened in 1981; a much larger replacement followed in 1990, with runway and hangar expansion in 1991.[1]
The airline adopted its present identity through the 2003 reorganisation associated with the sale of Airborne's ground business to DHL. ABX remained an aircraft operator after that transaction. Air Transport Services Group became its parent in 2007. This corporate separation explains why ABX aircraft can carry DHL shipments without the airline itself being DHL.[1][2]
Boeing 767 fleet
ABX selected the Boeing 767 as its next-generation aircraft in 1997. The type became the centre of its wide-body freighter business. Its fleet page, consulted in September 2026, lists both the shorter 767-200 and the longer 767-300. Both use dedicated cargo compartments, allowing the airline to carry shipments on the main deck as well as below it.[1][3]
Contract operations
ABX describes its principal services as ACMI and CMI flying. In ACMI, the supplied service includes the aircraft along with crew, maintenance and insurance; CMI provides the operating organisation for aircraft supplied separately. Its customers include express and e-commerce businesses as well as the United States government.[2]
The company began an Amazon relationship in 2015 and announced a DHL aircraft operating agreement extension in 2022 running through April 2028. Those dated agreements show how the former Airborne airline developed into a supplier of flight operations to outside logistics networks.[1]