Wilmington air cargo carrier shares in $45M defense contract

Jan. 12—Wilmington's Air Transport International Inc. will share in a maximum $45 million logistics contract to support medical freight transport, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

UPS in Louisville, Ky.; Delta Air Lines Inc. in Atlanta; Northern Air Cargo LLC in Alaska; Amerijet International Inc., in Miami and Western Global Airlines Inc., of Estero, Fla. are sharing the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, the department said.

Indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts — or "ID/IQ" contracts — provide for an indefinite number of services for a fixed time.

This was a competitive acquisition with six responses received for Commercial Airlift Review Board-approved, Federal Aviation Administration-certified air carriers, the Pentagon said.

These are one-year base contracts with two one-year option periods. Locations of performance are inside continental pickup locations for transportation to outside continental destinations, with a Jan. 31, 2026 end date.

The using customer is the Defense Logistics Agency, the DOD said. The contract came from the Defense Logistics Agency Contracting Services Office in Philadelphia.

Air Transport International is a U.S. passenger and cargo airline headquartered in Wilmington,