Tag: Air Transport

After more than two years of lobbying and filing several legal pleadings, United Parcel Service and FedEx Corp. have finally gotten their wish. The Department of Transportation, in an apparent win for the companies, said last week it would take a fresh look, or de novo review, of DHL’s citizenship. The parties are set to meet April 29 at a prehearing conference before the Department of Transportation’s chief administrative law judge, Ronnie A. Yoder, where they will set a schedule for the hearing, a DOT spokesman said. The ALJ has until Sept. 2 to decide what entity actually controls DHL Airways, the air carrier to determine whether DHL Airways meets U.S. citizenship requirements for air carriers.

An administrative law judge will resolve the dispute over the ownership of DHL Airways as part of an amendment to the USD79 billion Wartime Supplemental Appropriations bill approved by the House and Senate on Saturday. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, also prohibits DHL Airways from carrying Defense Department cargo for the next six months. DHL had no comment on the amendment. UPS said it “reaffirms UPS’s longstanding concern regarding Deutsche Post’s ownership and control of DHL Airways.” UPS added that it looks forward to “the expeditious appointment of an administrative law judge.”