EXPRESS CARRIERS RESUME AIR SERVICE
Major expedited carriers resumed air services Thursday night, after U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta reopened U.S. airports to private and commercial domestic flights.
The airports were allowed to open following extensive security checks and contingent on more stringent security measures, including additional law enforced, and safety restrictions focused on passengers.
UPS, FedEx Express, DHL International, BAX Global and Emery Worldwide were all confident that they could quickly make up their backlog in expedited services. The carriers had shifted some of their air activity to ground services during the airports' closure.
Atlanta-based UPS said its air services operated at almost full capacity Thursday nights and Friday morning with only four of its U.S. airport gateways remaining closed — New York's JFK, Newark, Boston and Columbia, S.C. Service to those areas continued through UPS's ground network.
UPS said it was able to fly from the United States to and from Europe on Thursday, but not to and from Asia or Latin America. However, services had been restored to and from Asia by Friday morning. Service to and from Latin America is being restored as individual airports complete their reviews. The company plans to add additional flights over the weekend to restore service to its international customers.
FedEx said the first of 60 flights from its Memphis airport hub flew Thursday to Seattle, and about 100 more planes landed in Memphis Thursday night loaded with packages for private delivery. The Memphis-based express giant said it usually flies some 200 flights a day in and out of Memphis, which handles about 40 percent of the company's total volume.
BAX Global also resumed service Thursday night, operating flights from Seattle, Denver, San Jose, Calif.; Brownsville, Austin, El Paso and Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles; San Diego; Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Memphis; and Rockford, Ill.
BAX said it will be fully operational by today with all offices open and processing shipments.
Because international traffic is limited only to freighters, BAX said its backlog in international deliveries continues. However the Irvine, Calif.-based company is offering the ability to move freight by ocean.
DHL spokeswoman Tracy Egan said DHL had contingency plans in place long before the airport shutdown was imposed. The company's long experience as a global courier enabled it to prepare for alternative methods of delivery, and had worked around terrorist events in its past, Egan said. “Because of its experience, DHL was in a position to move immediately.”
DHL International Americas, a division of DHL International, resumed air express operations to and from Latin America and the Caribbean over the weekend. The flights received authorization for departure from its Miami International Airport gateway to hubs in Caracas, Venezuela and Panama City, Panama.
Emery Worldwide said it resumed limited air operations Thursday night, and expected to operate its normal schedule Friday night.
Due to current restrictions of cargo on passenger flights, the Redwood City, Calif.-based company plans to operate additional cargo flights between its European hub in Brussels and its North American hub in Dayton, Ohio, to alleviate its backlog.
The company, whose 37 freighters were grounded by the FAA due to violations, said it is using all-cargo airlines and charters to move priority shipments to international markets other than Europe, but is experiencing backlogs.
“We are working with forwarders, airlines and the postal service to handle their shipments while the domestic passenger airlines are prohibited from handling cargo and mail,” said Douglas J. Foster, Emery's vice president, sales and marketing.
Airborne Express continued delivery through ground transport Thursday, but said it is experiencing financial loss due to lower volume.
“The FAA restrictions imposed as a result of the recent terrorist attacks have resulted in significantly reduced volumes of air freight,” the company said in a statement.