AIRBORNE FREIGHT REPORTS SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS

AIRBORNE FREIGHT REPORTS SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS

   Airborne Freight Corp., which operates as Airborne Express, reported
second-quarter net earnings of $27.02 million, down from $33.83 million for
the same period last year.
   Revenues for the second quarter rose 2 percent to $779.31 million.
Domestic revenues rose 2.1 percent to $686.40 million, while international
revenues rose 1.3 percent to $92.91 million.
   Total shipments were down 0.6 percent to 80.26 million. Domestic
shipments fell 0.7 percent to 78.52 million, while international shipments
rose 7.2 percent to 1.74 million. Total shipments for the first six months
of 1999 rose 0.2 percent to 160.83 million.
   For the first half of 1999, Airborne Express reported net earnings of
$52.27 million, down 21 percent from January-June 1998. Total revenues rose 2.3 percent to
$1.55 billion.
   "The lack of growth in domestic shipments that we experienced in this
year’s first quarter continued through the second quarter," said Roy
Liljebeck, Airborne’s chief financial officer. "The lack of growth is
primarily a function of existing customers shipping less and not the result
of losing a significant number of customers."