(Corrects paragraph 2 to say Subramaniam took over as CEO in 2022, not 2023)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. parcel delivery giant FedEx Corp said that it hasn’t seen much of a shift to air freight due to disruptions in the Red Sea that have tacked on nearly two weeks to shipping transit times. “Shipping over the ocean makes up 90% of global commerce so even a small change would have an impact, but we haven’t seen much yet,” CEO Raj Subramaniam said at the National Retail Conference on Sunday. Subramaniam, who took over the reins as CEO in June 2022, said air freight rates have remained stable. Iran-backed Houthi militia attacks on container ships in the Red Sea have forced some retailers to stock up on goods before China’s Lunar New Year holiday by seeking air or rail alternatives to transportation via the Red Sea in a scramble to avoid empty shelves this spring, executives and experts told Reuters.
(Reporting by Kate Masters and Siddharth Cavale in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
