With the US Food and Drug Administration pausing a major baby formula manufacturer in Abbott due to bacterial infection, which then created American shortages of the baby formula, US President Joe Biden has authorized Operation Fly Formula. This special mission sees Defense Department-contracted commercial aircraft fly overseas infant formula back into the US to restock the shelves.

Operation Fly Formula objectives

DullesFlotus2 - US First Lady Jill Biden, Ph.D. and FedEx Employees in Front of a MD-11
U.S. First Lady Jill Biden, Ph.D., "At the highest levels of [U.S. President] Joe’s Administration, he and his team understand what you are going through. They won’t stop until every parent can get the formula their child needs."
Photo: FedEx

According to a White House statement;

President Biden launched Operation Fly Formula to speed up the importation of safe infant formula and start getting more formula to stores as soon as possible. Under Operation Fly Formula, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Department of Defense (DOD) are partnering to pick up overseas infant formula that meets US health and safety standards, so it can get to store shelves faster.

Participating airlines hauling in the baby formula

Delta Air Lines is one of the participants. According to the airline, it will Fly the Kendamil formula from London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Boston Logan Airport (BOS) and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) on flights from June 20-24. It is estimated these flights will bring a total of 212,000 pounds of Kendamil baby formula to the States.

Rob Walpole, Vice President of Delta Cargo, commented on the mission, saying,

Delivering baby formula to those who need it most as part of Operation Fly Formula is one way we can live out a deeply ingrained core value at Delta: a commitment to serving the health and well-being of our communities.

Also participating in airlifting baby formula is cargo giant FedEx. Its Corporate Vice President for Government and Regulatory Affairs, Gina Adams, noted that,

Our network was designed for missions like this – to move time-sensitive shipments safely and quickly. The FedEx Express integrated air and ground network expedited the movement of baby formula from manufacturers overseas to the United States for distribution to retail locations and hospitals throughout the country. We’re proud to be working with the US government and our healthcare customers to help alleviate this crisis.

Even Azerbaijan-based Silk Way West, with its Boeing 747-8F freighters, has joined the effort to feed American babies after the supply chain issues. Los Angeles International shared a video of a 747 pulling in just yesterday, carrying 95,000 tins of baby formula.

Those tins contained some 380,000 pounds of Bubs brand infant formula, arriving from Melbourne, Australia, with a stop in Honolulu. That's enough powdered formula to produce 27.5 million 8-ounce bottles, keeping a lot of hungry babies well-fed.

United Airlines is also a leading participant. As the first airline to volunteer for the scheme, United is transporting over 300,000 lbs of UK-produced Kendamil infant formula to the U.S.

United airlines operation fly formula
United Airlines was the first to get involved in the formula supply mission. Photo: United Airlines

Overall, major international aviation companies are coming together to ensure American babies have their formula until the US supply chain can once again meet the need. The ability to fill the supply chain gap is why air freight is vital.

Does Operation Baby Formula place aviation in higher esteem for you? Please let us know either way in the comments.