Release #08.DHL10
August 20, 2008

ASTAR Pilot Calls Upon Ohio General Assembly to Help End DHL/UPS Deal
Pilot testifies that the agreement will devastate region and destroy careers

Columbus, OH—Captain Landon Harman, a 14-year ASTAR pilot, spoke yesterday on behalf of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), to a joint session of the House State Government and Elections Committee and the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee of the Ohio General Assembly. Capt. Harman asked for members of the committees “to do everything in your power to stop this agreement between DHL and UPS.”

Calling the announcement of the agreement a “nasty surprise,” Capt. Harman told lawmakers that DHL misled ALPA during contract negotiations that were concluded just three months before the DHL/UPS agreement was announced. He also painted a grim picture of the devastation that DHL would leave behind if it pulls out of Wilmington: “The result will be homes lost, careers destroyed, and lives and dreams shattered.”

ALPA has filed a lawsuit against DHL alleging a breach of contract and fraudulent inducement. The lawsuit alleges that by proposing to shift its North American flying work away from ASTAR Air Cargo to UPS, DHL is breaching its job security commitments to the ASTAR pilots, which were obtained in negotiations that provided substantial benefits to DHL under the current labor contract.

The proposed agreement between DHL and UPS would give all of DHL's North American cargo air transport operations to UPS—one of its main competitors. This would effectively end two companies with a substantial presence in Ohio: ASTAR Air Cargo and Airborne Express (ABX). Should this deal go through, 10,000 American workers will lose their jobs and entire communities will be devastated in southern Ohio.

This deal is taking place even though DHL has a 49% stake in ASTAR and paid over $1 billion in 2005 to acquire Airborne and its air cargo facility and airport in Wilmington—where most of DHL’s freight is sorted and shipped to North American destinations. More information about this deal can be found at www.stopDHL-UPS.com.

To read Captain Harman’s full testimony, please visit: www.astarlabortalks.com/congress/HarmonHearingTestimon%208-19-08.pdf

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union and represents 55,000 pilots at 40 airlines in the U.S. and Canada, including more than 500 pilots at ASTAR Air Cargo, formerly DHL Airways. Visit the ALPA website at http://www.alpa.org.

# # #

ALPA CONTACTS:
Captain Pat Walsh—(508) 776-2819
Arthur Luby—(571) 236-3523
Jen Lofquist—(703) 481-4459