A Prime Air contractor’s 1,600 layoffs will give way to Amazon job offers at BWI

Trucking and aviation services company Pinnacle Logistics is laying off more than 1,600 people who work at BWI Airport — but they will be offered jobs with Amazon.

As first reported by Business Insider, Pinnacle filed notice with the State of Maryland that it plans to lay off 1,609 people who are working at its BWI operation, effective April 14. Pinnacle is a contractor of Amazon, and provides ground operations for Prime Air.

This move comes as Amazon will become a direct employer for Prime Air. Business Insider reports that Amazon is planning to open a $36 million, 200,000-square-foot hub for Prime Air at the airport. In turn, Amazon is offering employees jobs in their existing roles.

“Amazon has been an active member of the Baltimore area business community for several years, and are excited to grow our direct employee base in the area to now include our Baltimore Regional Air Hub,” the company said in a statement. “The hourly Pinnacle Logistics employees have been offered roles as an Amazon associate at their current location.”

In November, a New York Times report included details on the new Prime Air hub in a report that chronicled all the different ways the company is building presence and influence in Baltimore. The report indicated that construction on the massive warehouse that will house the hub was nearly complete.

It’s an expansion of an operation that already moved more freight through the airport than FedEx or UPS in 2018, the Times reported. It’s also just one of a number of local operations for the company to move packages, from a delivery station five minutes away from BWI to the fulfillment centers it operates on Broening Highway and in Sparrows Point.