Tue, May 13, 2008
Want Investors To Grill Management About Recent Decisions
When all else fails, take your fight
to the court of public opinion. More than a few companies and
groups have used this strategy recently... and now, pilots at cargo
hauler ABX Air have followed suit.
The Business Courier of Cincinnati reports pilots operating out
of ABX's hub in Wilmington, OH took out half-page advertisements in
the Wall Street Journal and other trade journals. The ads point
readers and investors to a website highlighting what pilots say are
"the hard questions" that should be asked of ABX CEO Joe Hote,
ahead of this week's shareholders meeting.
Among the questions posed at AskJoeHete.com: why did management
reject a potential -- and lucrative -- buyout offer from Astar
Cargo Holdings? Is the company's recent grounding of several
aircraft a sign of looming financial trouble? And has ABX lost the
support of its largest customer, cargo giant DHL?
"The pilots are very, very concerned whether management has a
viable plan for this airline," said Lynne Nowel, general counsel of
the Airline Professionals Association/Teamsters Local 1224.
"There's a lot of careers at stake. There are thousands of jobs in
the community at stake."
ABX employs over 7,000 people in the Wilmington area. The
Teamsters have represented ABX pilots since the early 1980s, and
are currently trying to unionize mechanics at the cargo
operation.
Pilots also say they want to know why ABX hasn't consolidated
operations it acquired through the November 2007 buyout of Cargo
Holdings International, and its two airline subsidiaries.
An ABX spokesman said officials plan to address the pilots'
concerns at Tuesday's shareholders meeting.
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