Delta gears up to carry vaccine

ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines says it’s equipped to distribute temperaturesensitive COVID-19 vaccines as it pushes to secure part of the business that will come from the massive shipping effort.

Atlanta-based Delta has a 40,000-square-foot cold chain facility at HartsfieldJackson International Airport, which is certified to handle temperature- and time-sensitive pharmaceuticals.

Capacity at that facility was, fortuitously, increased last year, said Rob Walpole, Delta’s new vice president of cargo operations. The airline also has electrical infrastructure to power cold containers at HartsfieldJackson, its largest hub.

The federal government has dedicated billions of dollars in funding to the manufacturing and distribution of vaccines. Walpole said he believes “there’s more than enough (business) to go around for the carriers.”

“We are planning to commence distribution of vaccines as they become available, in the back half of December and certainly into the first quarter next year,” he said during a briefing Thursday.

Delta also has cooler facilities at other hubs and locations around the world that can handle pharmaceutical shipments.

While the airline doesn’t operate a fleet of cargo freighters, it can use belly cargo space on its passenger flights and operates cargo-only charter flights.

The airline handled vaccine trial shipments on international and domestic flights “with zero issues,” Walpole said, and has set up a “vaccine control tower” operation.

Other carriers have gotten an early start in the market. United Airlines handled the first mass air shipment of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines last week, the Wall Street Journal reported.

UPS also expects to play a major role in shipping vaccines and has expanded freezer farms at its facilities.

Delta still is in discussions with vaccine manufacturers about the terms of the shipments, Walpole said.