Almost all electronic components are shipped by sea. It is only finished goods that have a minuscule but real chance of being shipped by air.

The big corp I work for has dedicated logistic dudes who fly with crates full of wafers around the world. While 30 years lifecycle FPGAs from Xilinx feel well in the container in open sea, project specific parts manufactured for specific client’s specific product with lifecycle of 2 years go by plane. Saving 1000$ and risking loosing business is not worth it.

Are you confusing an instance of JIT/lean with possibly broader trends?

One anecdote does not make a pattern. Just because your specific big corp does it does not mean all big corps do, let alone companies in general.

And even then, it is normally planned that finished goods are shipped by sea, and it is only when things fall behind schedule that air shipping is used as a way to get goods into the right place in time for release day.

iPhones are shipped by air to Louisville, KY to distribute throughout the central USA. It shuts down UPS for a whole week when iPhones launch. All employees can be required to unload and move iPhones, including engineering.

Those are finished goods, not components.

You'd be surprised at what flies in the big cargo airlines (Lufthansa Cargo, CargoLux, Atlas Air, etc) and who their customers are

They are normally shipped by sea to distributors.