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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration proposed June 15 that future planes produce lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions before they can be certified by federal regulators.

Manufacturers, retailers and seafood distributors have increasingly turned to air cargo planes to transport products — a more expensive, but faster and more reliable alternative to longhaul trucks, trains and ocean vessels often bogged down by current supply chain problems.

Boeing Co. formally launched its 777X freighter as Qatar Airways committed to purchasing up to 50 of the wide-body cargo haulers, kicking off sales of the planemaker’s first new jet program in nearly five years.

The air cargo business, booming as never before during the global pandemic, is massively dominated by Boeing jets that make up most of the worldwide air freighter fleet. Yet there is a threat to that dominance.

Global air cargo growth slowed sharply in November as demand was hit by supply chain disruptions, partly because COVID-19 restrictions left workers stuck in quarantine, causing labor shortages.

UPS Inc. agreed to buy 19 Boeing Co. freighter jets as soaring e-commerce and snarled shipping lines lead to a boom in air-cargo demand.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. signed a letter of intent with Airbus SE for seven A350 freighters with an option to take five more as the carrier phases out its aging cargo fleet.

With a year plagued by severe weather and coronavirus recovery, ports and airports across North America are clamoring to stay ahead of the cargo backlogs and shipments.

Amazon .com Inc. is shopping for used long-range Boeing Co. and Airbus SE cargo planes, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest evidence of the e-commerce giant’s ambitions to move products across borders itself.

The man behind the only electric plane cleared to fly quickly discovered the challenges of converting world-leading technology into profits in a hotly contested, futuristic segment of aviation.