American Airlines Cargo has moved to boost its temperature-controlled shipping by expanding its solution for transporting temperature-controlled shipments to its entire mainline fleet.  

The expansion follows a number of tests and trials conducted in partnership with CSafe Global and CargoSense.

Through the use of CSafe Global’s industry-leading packaging and Temperature Loggers provided by CargoSense, American proved all of its aircraft offer ideal environments for passive temperature-sensitive shipments.

It said the successful trials allow American to nearly double its capacity for handling ExpediteTC solutions and extend the airline’s cold-chain solution network to 30 new stations, including in-demand cities like Cincinnati, Memphis, and Pittsburgh.

 “When it comes to cold chain shipments, reliability is crucial for our customers,” said Roger Samways, vice president of Commercial for American Airlines Cargo.

“By expanding our offering of temperature-critical shipping on all mainline flights, we are able to provide our customers with access to more than 180 markets, marking the largest cold-chain network in our history.”

American, CSafe Global and CargoSense placed sensors into passive cold chain packaging for the trials. The sensors monitored internal package temperatures while aircraft operated in a variety of climates. Results proved that temperatures of each package stayed constant, despite changing conditions during transit.

Tom Weir, CSafe Global COO, noted that the move will ensure even more temperature-critical shipments can travel effectively.

“Many sensitive, often life-saving goods travel the world thanks to effective cold-chain networks, and we are proud to play a part in that alongside American Airlines,” Weir said.

As the world continues to fight the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this expansion will further support the airline’s already important role in distributing temperature-critical cargo like vaccines, pharmaceuticals and other life science products, the airline said in a statement.

American’s ExpediteTC solution offers both active and passive shipping solutions as well as a global network of temperature-controlled facilities, including a 25,000-square-foot temperature-controlled center in Philadelphia that specializes in pharmaceuticals.