The two ATRs of Amazon: Prime Air - Part II...

Let me clarify right away that by "two ATRs of Amazon", I do not mean two ATR aircraft in Amazon's fleet. Of course, one ATR reference does refer to the turboprop regional aircraft manufactured by ATR, the Franco-Italian company. 

However, the reference to the other ATR in my Title is as follows:
ATR = Automated Tote Retriever

Today, I was in a large Supermarket in the Chicago suburbs, and was accosted in one of the store isles by one such robotic machine, much taller than I am, I might add, and it wouldn't care to make way for me...🙂... Apparently, it was an autonomous inventory robot, a self-propelled device equipped with cameras and sensors, moving around majestically among human customers, to perform tasks that help manage this store's massive inventory.

Amazon defines its "ATR" as, "One of the key technologies, developed, that is a mechatronic system that automates the retrieval and transport of bins and runs on the cloud – meaning Amazon can monitor it remotely from anywhere, allowing for intervention, if necessary. These technologies enable us to optimize the entire fulfilment process, helping us to truly deliver for our customers."...such as for yours truly...🙂... today. ATR is essentially a Robotic system, usually a shuttle with a gripper, used in warehouses to automatically replace full totes of products with empty ones, with minimal human intervention. So, I now know, what's going on inside those massive new Amazon (and other) warehouse buildings I see around parts of my neighborhood, that were once lush green woods...🙂...

So, it's quite likely that the Amazon Prime package that I received today (from California) not only flew in a Prime Air Freighter, passed through Amazon's regional (Chicagoland) sorting center (and air hub) at Rockford, IL, but also was handled by an ATR Robot...🙂...I invite you to watch this 3 min (interesting) video of a typical ATR operation in a typical warehouse; search for this YT video, "How a 3PL uses Brightpick robots to pick and ship 20,000 orders per day with 75% less staff". AI and Robots are beginning to rule such workplaces once manned by humans...🙂...

In my previous post, I'd mentioned that Amazon Air (branded as Prime Air) currently has in its fleet, the following freighters: A330-300P2F, the B767-300F, and the B737-800BCF ("BCF" refers to "Boeing Converted Freighter" equivalent of the Airbus term for "P2F" which is "Passenger-to-Freighter" conversion). Interestingly, Prime Air for a couple of years (between 2021 and 2023) operated several ATR 72s (also converted to freighters from their previous passenger variants; see shot #3 below for its cargo-deck) e.g., a 12-year-old ATR 72-500 of Aurigny (airline), the flag carrier of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, became an ATR 72-500F for Prime Air, operated by Silver Airways. 

However, Prime Air no longer operates any ATRs, suggesting that the company may be shifting to a regional freight fulfillment model better served by trucks. So, as much as I wish, my package today to have been shipped by air in an ATR from Chicago Rockford Airport (KRFD) to an airport (such as "1C5" Bolingbrook Clow International Airport) nearest to my front doors...🙂..., most likely the package was transported on the road by a truck.

Nonetheless, undaunted by the reality, I wished to fly, here, the short (75 miles) segment between my local airport "1C5" and Amazon's regional Hub at Rockford International Airport (KRFD), via an ATR 72-600F freighter. I looked in the Marketplace for a Prime Air ATR 72 but didn't find any. So, instead, I chose to fly the ATR 72-600F in the colors of Canadian North, an airline that's well-known to me, since my earliest days in the hobby, primarily because of their (fascinating) original livery with the unmistakable logo consisting of the combination of 3 elements of Northern Canada: the Polar Bear, the Midnight Sun, and the Northern Lights.

Canadian North and First Air merged in 2019 under the Canadian North name to create a new airline. The merged airline would operate under the Canadian North name but using First Air's livery (so, in the merger process, I lost one of my favorite RW airline liveries in the SIM, but who cares...🙂...for this avid aviation enthusiast's sentiments...). Anyway, what you see below, is the new Canadian North livery where the polar bear emblem was replaced by a (laconic) geometric (grey) image of a human (I will miss the Polar Bear). The bold-red color of this livery attracted my attention today. You may still spot the "First Air" name, in small letters, on the rear of the fuselage (see shot #2 below).

Hope, you enjoy this collection of images of the Canadian North ATR 72-600F, transporting my Amazon Prime package today...🙂...from Rockford to somewhere near my front doors, of course only in the figment of my imagination...🙂...Oh well...

The MSFS/Asobo ATR a/c was a good one to fly today, and it was a fun flight...smooth and trouble-free from takeoff to touchdown... (with the SimBrief FlightPlan used for automated FMS routing between 1C5 and KRFD...) ...

Thanks for viewing...!

Edited September 14, 2025Sep 14 by P_7878