DHL cuts include wide-ranging shutdowns Sunday
Friday, January 02, 2009
The day cargo sorting operation at DHL's U.S. freight hub at Wilmington closes Sunday, Jan. 4, along with 15 regional hubs that contractor ABX Air operates around the country for DHL.
Those shutdowns are wiping out 1,900 jobs, including 1,000 at Wilmington, according to ABX Air, one of two cargo airlines which flies freight nationwide daily from DHL's Wilmington hub. The hub has been the largest employer in Wilmington, surrounding Clinton County and neighboring counties.
The shutdowns on Sunday, first announced on Dec. 12, mark one of the most dramatic stages of the shutdown of the hub that DHL plans early this year as part of a massive restructuring to cut U.S. losses the company puts at $1 billion annually. The closings include regional hubs that ABX operates in cities from Phoenix, Ariz., to Roanoke, Va.
The workers have been notified that their jobs are being eliminated, ABX Air spokeswoman Beth Huber said Friday. Night cargo sorting operations continue at Wilmington, for now.
In recent months, ABX has informed state officials of a stream of layoffs occurring in late 2008, January and February as DHL work winds down. The most recent advance notifications of layoffs include one this week for 30 jobs being eliminated, a Dec. 18 notification of 828 layoffs, and a Dec. 11 alert of 182. Jobs being eliminated including cargo sorters, ramp loaders, supervisors, pilots, drivers and maintenance technicians.
DHL has also notified ABX Air that it will no longer need cargo transport flights aboard DC-9s, ABX's older aircraft, after Jan. 11, Huber said. ABX's newer Boeing 767 freighter planes will be able to handle the reduced cargo volume DHL will require transport for, she said.
DHL is funding severance pay for workers who lose their jobs, plus an on-campus center to help them find new employment. It is also paying for retention bonuses to keep a core of workers at their Wilmington jobs until the hub is phased out.
DHL has said that, after January, it will reduce its U.S. service to cross-border deliveries between U.S. and foreign cities, to cut costs. The German-owned company also has said it is negotiating to hire United Parcel Service to handle all its U.S. cargo sorting and delivery at UPS' Louisville, Ky., hub, which would eliminate the need for DHL's Wilmington operation.
DHL and UPS have said they hoped to reach a 10-year agreement in time to start shifting some of DHL's work to UPS by the end of 2008. DHL spokesmen didn't return calls Friday to comment on the status of those contract talks, which have been complicated by the global economic slowdown and a drop-off in cargo shipment volume.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
