 |
||
|
|
||
| |||||||||||
Air born The third-leading company in the cutthroat air freight industry, Airborne Freight (formerly known as Airborne Express) is surviving the fierce competition by offering high-volume, low cost contracts to businesses, a niche market neither number-one Federal Express or number-two United Parcel Service can crack. Fleet first Originally founded as a freight forwarder by Holt Webster, a former U.S. Army Air Corps officer, Airborne Freight ventured into the nascent overnight express delivery business in 1980, becoming the industry's third largest express carrier in just two years. Since that time, Airborne Express has focused on creating long-term, high-volume contracts with businesses. By the early 1990s Airborne Express' aggressive discounts forced an end to Federal Express' attempt to maintain its own exclusive shipping contracts. Airborne Freight is able to offer lower corporate prices than that of its competitors because it is the only overnight company to operate its own airport, Airborne Air Park in Wilmington, Ohio. In 1996, Airborne Freight made plans to buy 12 used Boeing 767s by the year 2000, hoping to supplement its already extensive fleet of more than 100 aircraft and 14,000 trucks and vans. Travel overseas With FedEx beginning to challenge Airborne for corporate customers, the company has made a concerted effort to expand internationally, striking partnerships in the Netherlands, South Africa, and Asia while forming joint ventures in Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The 1997 UPS strike helped boost Airborne's business but increased competition from non-asset third party carriers such as Eagle USA and Expeditors International of Washington. Increased competition, in addition to an economic meltdown in Asia, have recently cut into company profits, and have hammered its stock price. Seeking to counteract recent disappointing results, Airborne has made moves to establish itself on the Internet. In July 2000, the company announced plans to ally with the electronic transportation marketplace formed by the merger between Logistics.com and QuoteShip.com.
Airborne Express' employment Web page, www2.airborne.com/HRWeb/, lists job openings for its Information and Technology Services, Corporate Office, Customer Service, Operations, and Sales divisions. Applicants can also learn about job openings at Airborne Freight's Seattle headquarters by calling the company's job hotline. Airborne Express' 320 field offices and shipping plants conduct most of their own hiring, however, and applicants can contact them the directly.
Breeding ground Employees say that the overnight shipping service is "a breeding ground for stress," but they also comment that Airborne Express compensates them "with a golden benefits package" and perks such as a company gym, discounted airline tickets, and tuition reimbursement for work-related education." Unfortunately, the benefits are accompanied by "disappointing" salaries and "small" pay raises. Women managers can be found throughout the company. One employee says "your qualifications and desire to succeed will be significantly more important than your sex or ethnicity." Still, another workers says, Airborne "puts heavy emphasis on 'doing the right thing' regarding women and minorities. For those interested in Information Services, the company "focuses on training and has a cool program for people trying to enter the IS field."
Human Resources (206) 281-4815
Shipping;Trucking;Warehousing More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
