DHL Express says hub will move to Cincinnati

WILMINGTON, Ohio (AP) — For thousands of workers at the Wilmington Air Park and residents of this southwestern Ohio city, it was news they had been expecting but dreading.

DHL Express said Friday it has decided to move U.S. hub operations for its international business from Wilmington to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport by mid- to late summer to save money.

DHL originally announced it was planning to leave nearly a year ago, when about 8,000 workers were employed at the air park. About 3,500 workers remain, and Wilmington Mayor David Raizk estimates that at least half will lose their jobs when DHL leaves.

Wilmington, a city of 12,000, has drawn national attention as a vivid example of the economic struggles of small U.S. communities during the recession, and both presidential candidates discussed its plight last year.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, urged President Barack Obama on Friday to appoint a senior official to coordinate the federal response to the situation.

In May, DHL said it was pulling out of the site in Wilmington and hiring UPS Inc. to sort and fly DHL packages in the United States. In March, DHL said its agreement to negotiate exclusively with UPS had expired and that DHL was talking with other carriers, raising a glimmer of hope among some in Wilmington that the company might stay.

But on Friday, DHL said it will reactivate its automated sorting facility at the northern Kentucky airport instead. DHL had used the Kentucky facility from 1983 until its move to Ohio in 2005.

The move “will be more cost-effective for handling the company’s international express shipping volumes, and is expected to improve DHL’s long-term financial position,” DHL said in a statement.

Disappointed Wilmington workers were told of DHL’s final decision at midnight Thursday, said truck driver Mitchell Adams.

“But it’s not like we haven’t been under this cloud for a while,” Adams said. “Everybody is upset. We’re all being professional about it.”

He said working at the Cincinnati-area airport isn’t an option for him. He lives in Jeffersonville, Ohio, more than 70 miles away.

ABX Air, a contractor that flies and sorts cargo for DHL, has about 2,750 employees in Wilmington.

ABX spokeswoman Beth Huber said DHL’s move is expected to cost ABX 1,000 to 1,500 jobs depending on what services DHL may still want the company to perform, such as container repair. Some ABX employees are expected to catch on with a startup aircraft maintenance company at the airport that is expected to initially employ up to 300 workers.