Amazon’s head of air cargo will now oversee workplace safety unit

Sarah Rhoads, who is responsible for AmazonThe company’s burgeoning air freight business is shifting roles to oversee the e-retailer’s workplace health and safety department.

John Felton, Amazon’s head of worldwide operations, announced the move in a note to employees on Thursday, according to a copy of the memo seen by CNBC. Rhoads will also be in charge of Amazon’s global operations development and training, which tackles things like career advancement and upskilling the company’s frontline workforce.

“Safety is paramount in every aspect of the aerospace industry, and other industries look to aviation for safety best practices,” Felton wrote in the memo. “Sarah’s background as an honored military pilot and her success leading Amazon Global Air makes her the ideal leader to take on this important role.”

Raoul Sreenivasan, who joined Amazon in 2016 and now oversees planning, performance and freight for Amazon Global Air, will take on most of Rhoads’ Amazon Air responsibilities, Felton said. Before joining Amazon, Sreenivasan worked at DHL and TNT Express, the European express delivery company acquired by FedEx.

Rhoads, a former US Navy F-18 pilot, is one of the top executives in Amazon’s vast logistics business. Over the past few years, Amazon has gradually moved more of its logistics and fulfillment operations in-house, building a transportation network the company sees as a rival. ups in size.

As part of an effort to process and ship more packages, Amazon has launched an air freight business. Rhoads joined Amazon Air in its early days and has overseen much of the unit’s development, including opening a $1.5 billion aviation hub in Kentucky.

Amazon has contracted with more passenger airlines to fly packages in addition to other operators like air map And ATSG. the land of the sunan entertainment-focused service provider, flying start convert Boeing airplanes 737 freighters for Amazon in 2020, after the travel industry collapsed during the Covid pandemic. In October, Amazon announced that it had reached an agreement with Hawaiian Airlines to chartered Airbus A330 . convertible cargo aircraft, which will be the largest aircraft in Amazon’s fleet and its first Airbus jet. Amazon says the planes will help replace older jets in the company’s fleet.

Air freight prices have fallen from record highs reached at the end of 2021, when poor port performance and a scarcity of international flights reduced capacity and pushed prices up. The recovery in air travel has added more capacity to the market, while inflation has change fuel in consumer spending. FedEx last year said it would park some planes and reduce some flights as part of the plan. cost-cutting plan.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is getting an overview of the company’s costs as the company takes into account the recession and slowing growth in its core retail business. Amazon has rapidly scaled its shipping and fulfillment network in recent years to meet increased demand due to the pandemic. It has closed, canceled or delayed several warehouses across the US

The company also faces increasing pressure to address workplace safety records. Employees have criticized Amazon’s coronavirus response, saying it’s not enough to protect them on the job, and that the company has faced widespread scrutiny for injury rates in its warehouses.

In September, Amazon appointed Becky Gansert to oversee the workplace health and safety department after Heather MacDougall resigned from the company. CNBC previously reported.

Amazon has denied reports of unsafe working conditions. During MacDougall’s tenure, the company set ambitious goals for injury reduction, including a plan to halve the recorded incident rate, an OSHA measurement that includes injury and illness, by 2025.

Last year Amazon committed to become “Earth’s Best Employer,” adding it to the company’s list of values, even as labor unrest grows. The CEO tasked with overseeing that effort, Pam Greer, left Amazon last April, according to Bloomberg.

CLOCK: Inside the rapid evolution of Amazon Logistics and how it handles third-party shipping