Wilmington Air Park
Wilmington, Ohio's residents have been hit particularly hard in this economic crisis because the town's largest employer, DHL, is shutting its domestic operation.
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Locals Buy Abandoned Base
The Department of Defense closed the Clinton County Air Force Base in Wilmington, Ohio, eliminating over 300 civilian jobs and an annual payroll of $9 million. Wilmington citizens and the business community banded together and purchased the airbase from the federal government for $1.2 million. The airport becomes known as the "air park."
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Airborne Express Moves In
Airborne Freight Corp. (later Airborne Express) takes over the runways that were formerly part of the Clinton County Air Force Base near Wilmington, becoming the only carrier to own and operate an airport. The air park is the largest privately owned airport with a Category 3 radar in the United States at approximately 2,200-acres.
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DHL Buys Airborne Express
DHL Holdings, the American air-cargo operation of German shipping giant Deutsche Post, hoping to challenge U.S. express delivery market leaders Federal Express and United Parcel Service, buys the Airborne Express company and, as part of that deal, acquires the Wilmington airport.
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Restructuring
DHL announces a restructuring plan that will include hiring out its U.S. air cargo sorting and flying to United Parcel Service, to be done at the UPS hub in Louisville, Ky. Ohio officials said that will wipe out at least 8,200 jobs by the end of 2009 at DHL's Wilmington hub, from where ABX Air and competitor ASTAR Air Cargo fly DHL's U.S. freight.
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DHL Announces Service Cut
DHL, citing its mounting U.S. operating losses and the global economic slump, said it will cut its U.S. service to cross-border deliveries after Jan. 30, close its ground freight operations, further slash its U.S. network and cut thousands more jobs.
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Domestic-Only Service Ends
DHL's U.S. Express business will focus entirely on its international offerings and will discontinue its domestic-only air and ground services. According to the Economic Task Force for the DHL hub convened by Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Mayor David Raizk of the city of Wilmington, the projected economic impact of the job losses will exceed $400 million annually.
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Credits:
CBS
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