ABX Air continues layoffs
ABX Air announced another round of layoffs, ahead of DHL Express’ decision to close its Wilmington hub operations.
ABX Air announced another round of layoffs, ahead of DHL Express’ decision to close its Wilmington hub operations.
The cargo airline said in a filing with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that it is laying off 283 hourly and salaried employees from Nov. 20 through Dec. 5.
ABX on Nov. 17 announced the elimination of 153 jobs in Wilmington, with layoffs beginning Nov. 14 and running though Jan. 14. It also said it plans to shut down its Waco, Texas, facility by mid-January, resulting in the elimination of 185 jobs.
DHL, the company’s primary customer, said this month it will end point-to-point U.S. shipping operations by the end of January and close its U.S. hubs. ABX operates a package sorting and shipping hub at the Wilmington Air Park, where several thousand jobs are at stake as DHL is poised to pull out.
Earlier, ABX told state officials of plans to cut 235 workers by Oct. 24 and an additional 41 employees by Nov. 29. Those cuts were in the wake of DHL’s move to pull 23 aircraft from Wilmington by the end of the year and an announcement in May of a pending deal with UPS to shift air cargo operations to a Louisville hub.
The company has said it hopes to sell the aircraft to DHL that the package shipping firm no longer needs as it closes its Wilmington hub. With the proceeds, ATSG will covert its remaining 767 aircraft and lease them, or use them in its ACMI cargo business.
