FedEx Express: The Hub-and-Spoke That Runs Global Trade

FedEx Express is the world’s largest cargo airline, moving 16.5 billion ton-miles annually with a fleet of 710 aircraft and revenues of $42 billion. At the heart of its moat is Memphis, a hub that sorts nearly 2 million parcels nightly. The hub-and-spoke model gives FedEx predictable cadence, in contrast to fragile point-to-point systems like Southwest’s 2022 collapse. Combined with fleet modernization, IoT visibility tools, and a pledge to be carbon neutral by 2040, FedEx Express shows how scale and rhythm turn air cargo into a logistics operating system.