DHL express air carriers may face crippling strike soon

The dark side of the “Amazon effect” and larger impact made by the explosive growth in e-commerce may soon be seen when organized labor prepares for a massive air cargo strike.

Nearly 2,000 pilots working at four of DHL’s five North American network carriers - Atlas Air, Southern Air, Polar Air, ABX - are voting this week to authorize the union to call a strike, if necessary, and pilots at a fifth DHL carrier – Kalitta Air - have already voted overwhelmingly authorizing the union to a strike.

The pilots are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and its airline affiliate, Teamsters Local 1224, and have been stalled in contract negotiations with airlines, in some cases for years. The four new strike votes opened in mid-April and will be completed within the next 10 days. The strike authorization at Kalitta was approved by 97 percent in December 2015.

The five airlines play a major role in linking DHL’s highly profitable North American express service to the rest of the world, and make up an estimated 70 percent of DHL’s total annual freight ton miles.

“DHL is relying on U.S. pilots to fly across the globe for their business, yet the airlines they work with are robbing pilots of fair, industry-standard contracts,” said Captain Mike Griffith, a 17-year Atlas pilot.

“No one wants to go on strike, but we can’t continue operating under our current workplace rules which keep pilots on duty for almost 28 hours without rest,” said Captain Bryan Holmberg, a Southern Air pilot.  “It’s time the company finally stop putting the safety of our pilots and the public at risk just to increase profits.”

DHL, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings – which owns Atlas Air, Inc., Polar Air Cargo, Inc. and Southern Air – and Air Transport Services Group – which owns ABX – have all seen profits rise in recent years. DHL reported €59.2 billion (or 66.7 billion US dollars) in increased consolidated revenue this past year, with the express division – which includes the operations of AAWW and its newly acquired Southern Air Holdings, Inc. (SAI) – being its strongest and most profitable division. Adjusted net income attributable in 2015 to AAWW’s common stockholders totaled $125.3 million, or $5.01 per diluted share, on revenues of $1.8 billion.

As reported in LM, business for ATSG is equally strong, especially as the company recently announced an agreement with Amazon.com, Inc. to operate an air cargo network for customers in the U.S.