FedEx flexes network to deliver humanitarian aid in Bahamas
FedEx airlifted 28 tons of relief supplies worth more than $500,000 from Memphis to the Bahamas Monday, Sept. 9, to aid recovery from Hurricane Dorian.
A Boeing 757 loaded with medicine, medical supplies, hygiene kits, water treatment systems and mobile health facilities departed Memphis International Airport at 1 p.m.
FedEx workers load a Boeing 757 with relief supplies and equipment bound for the Bahamas on Monday morning, Sept. 9, 2019. (Wayne Risher/Daily Memphian)
It arrived about 4:30 p.m. EDT in Nassau, Bahamas, where the cargo was distributed to charitable partner organizations Direct Relief, Water Missions, Team Rubicon and International Medical Corps.
As FedEx crews loaded shipping containers and pallets of supplies into the belly of a 757 named Ryanne, FedEx spokeswoman Bonny Harrison told reporters the mission is part of the company’s FedEx Cares initiative. It has goal of reaching 50 million people by FedEx’s 50th anniversary in 2023.
Dorian killed at least 44 people and left about 70,000 in need of food and shelter when it smashed the northern Bahamas Sept. 1. Greater Abaco Island and Grand Bahama Island were particularly hard hit.
“We’re just hoping to somehow help them rebuild their lives as best they can,” Harrison said.
Richard W. Smith, FedEx Express regional president of the U.S., observed as workers loaded the plane.
Smith said the airlift was a perfect fit for FedEx’s logistics expertise and international cargo network.
FedEx airlifted 28 tons of relief supplies and equipment to Nassau, Bahamas, on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, to aid recovery from Hurricane Dorian. (Wayne Risher/Daily Memphian)
“We’ve got the largest all-cargo fleet in the world. Who better than us to do this?” Smith said.
A wide-body freighter like the 757 typically wouldn’t fly directly to Nassau from the FedEx Express world hub in Memphis.
FedEx serves the Bahamas with smaller, feeder aircraft flying out of its hub for the Caribbean and Latin America in Miami, Smith said.
The payload included relief supplies for FedEx team members working in the Bahamas, along with part of a mobile field hospital for the International Medical Corps. The equipment is warehoused in Memphis so it can be quickly deployed via FedEx when disasters happen.
Direct Relief, Water Missions and Team Rubicon are among FedEx’s go-to organizations for emergency relief.
Topics
Bahamas FedEx Hurricane DorianWayne Risher
Business news reporter, 43-year veteran of print journalism, 35-year resident of Memphis, University of Georgia alumnus and proud father and spouse of University of Memphis graduates.
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