Amazon is shutting down its air cargo operations at March Air Reserve Base. The company says it's consolidating operations, but what does this mean for the region’s economy and workforce?
Alicia Ramirez, reporter and founder of the Riverside Record, broke the story and spoke with KVCR about what she learned from Amazon and airport officials.
What led Amazon to end their air operations at March Air Field?
ALICIA RAMIREZ: When I was talking to Amazon, they were saying, and they were very, very clear, that this was simply a business operation decision. The airport at March Air Reserve Base was never meant to be a hub for Amazon. They have the hub at San Bernardino. They have hubs elsewhere in the southland. And so that field was only meant to serve as a sort of to alleviate some of the pressure on the hubs, and now they're saying we no longer need this space to operate, So we are going to absorb those flights elsewhere.
How did the March Joint Powers Authority and officials at the base respond to this?
RAMIREZ: I spoke with Riverside city council member Chuck Condor, who said this had nothing to do with relationships between Amazon and the JPA or Amazon in the base. It was solely a business operating decision. The JPA folks said the same thing, as did March Air Reserve Base, who were just like, “hey, we were happy to host them, but their departure also does not impact what we're doing.”
With hundreds of jobs potentially lost, how are workers being supported during this transition?
RAMIREZ: That was one of the biggest questions I had as well because we all know how difficult the job market is down here in the Southland, especially in the Inland Empire. And Amazon said that it was working with all of the impacted workers to try and put them to other locations where they are able to access similar jobs, similar pay, similar benefits, similar schedules. Amazon says that it has more than three dozen facilities within a 50 mile radius of MarchAir Reserve Base to place these workers, if they so choose to stay with Amazon.
How will Amazon’s move affect the region’s logistics network and future development?
RAMIREZ: That's tough to say. The logistics industry is in such a flux right now. We're seeing a lot of warehouses being built, but not fully filled. We're seeing a lot of slower development happening than we have in the past decade or so. So this could just be a contracting of the industry. It could just be Amazon deciding that it has other spaces where it can save money, or other such business operation reasoning behind this. I don't see it really impacting what currently exists in the county and in the region. Amazon also was very clear this would not impact customers at all, so they don't see this playing a big part into how that's going to work either.
Alicia Ramirez is a reporter and founder of The Riverside Record. You can follow her reporting at riversiderecord.org.
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