Warwick Jamieson and Walter M. Scott form this airline in January 1965; initial capitalization is ?10,000. With a de Havilland DH 114 Heron 1B leased from Executive Air Engineering, Ltd., the carrier inaugurates nonscheduled service from the Ulster airfield at Eglinton on September 3.
When a second leased Heron arrives, scheduled Belfast to Prestwick flights commence on October 25, followed by Shannon-Prestwick services three days later. Difficulty in servicing Herons and obtaining ordered Shorts Skyvans leads to an absence of charter work.
In May and June 1966, two additional Herons are leased; the four aircraft are fully employed during the national seaman’s strike.
The airline’s two Heron 2s are sold in July and the first Shorts SC.7 Skyvan is delivered in August, followed by a second in October. Meanwhile, thrice-weekly Eglinton-Glasgow (Renfrew) operations commence on September 23, with an extension to Belfast.
Having grown too small, the Skyvans are sold in December. Simultaneously, the Irish carrier Hibernian Airlines, Ltd. obtains a 50% interest and replaces the Shorts with its own two DC-3s. The first Douglas transport service is flown Belfast-Glasgow via Eglinton on December 10.
In May 1967, another DC-3 is leased from Skyways Coach-Air, Ltd., followed by a fourth, leased from Air Gregory, Ltd. in June; the former is returned at the end of May.
In October, patron Hibernian Airlines, Ltd. is forced by financial difficulties to cease flying. Emerald is able to continue only two months longer, being placed into liquidation on December 31.
EMERALD AIRWAYS, LTD. (2): South Terminal, Speke Hall Avenue, Liverpool Airport, Merseyside, England, L24 1YW, United Kingdom; Phone 44 (151) 448-0844; Fax 44 (151) 448-0549; http:// Www. avnet. co. uk/pprune/Public_html/Emerald. html; Code G3; Year Founded 1992. Andrew S. and his wife Hilary J. Janes incorporate their Speke Airport-based Janes Aviation on June 16, 1992. Andrew remains managing director with Hilary as a director and Mike O’Brien as operations director. Capt. David Wilmott is chief pilot.
Employing a fleet of British Aerospace (HS) 748s, six of which were purchased from the assets of Dan Air/Dan Air Services, Ltd. just two weeks earlier, the company undertakes scheduled and charter cargo and passenger services. The backbone of the service is the newspaper deliveries with which Janes entered business back in 1987. A contract on behalf of the Newspaper Publishing Association and another on behalf of News International requires the carrier to transport 30 tons of journalism nightly. The papers are printed in Liverpool, Manchester, and Bolton (Lancashire), from whence they are flown to Liverpool and hence to Dublin, Belfast, and the Isle of Man.
On behalf of its original customer, Lynx Express Delivery Network, a division of the National Freight Corporation, overnight courier flights are made from Coventry to Birmingham and Liverpool. A DHL Express Worldwide courier contract allows the BAes to fly roundtrip from Speke Airport, the Isle of Man, while an arrangement with ICS sees roundtrips nightly to Belfast and the same service with Parceline is operated to Dublin.
The company’s third major source of income is the Royal Mail. On behalf of the British Post Office, letters and small packages are flown nightly from Leeds and Bradford to Liverpool and from Liverpool to London (STN). On behalf of Datapost, flights are carried out from Liverpool to the Isle of Man.
On its own behalf, Emerald Airways Cargo flies weeknight cargo shipments between Liverpool, the Isle of Man, Edinburgh, Coventry, and Aberdeen. It also accepts ad hoc sub-service contracts on behalf of Air U. K., Ltd., Brymon Airways, Ltd., Maersk Air, A. S., as well as the manufacturers Nissan, British Aerospace, Mercedes, and Volkswagen.
Operations continue apace in 1993-1995 and seven more BAe 748s are acquired. Passenger charters are intensified, but cargo remains the key to company success. In 1994-1995, the carrier receives Royal Mail silver awards for on-time deliveries. In addition, the company begins a program of allowing its aircraft to be painted in the color schemes of corporate customers; the practice, first developed by Western Pacific Airlines in the U. S., allows Emerald to receive new liveries paid for by others. The newspaper syndicates and Royal Mail prefer their own identities be so displayed.
Operating revenues in 1995 total ?7.6 million; a ?650,000 net profit is generated.
Airline employment stands at 100 in 1996 and the fleet includes 14 HS 748s, both Series 1 and Series 2 models.
Twice-daily scheduled passenger service is inaugurated on April 29 from Liverpool to the Isle of Man. The new frequencies prove so popular that a third daily flight is introduced just two months later.
Beginning in July, new technology allows U. K. newspapers to be printed in Ireland; as a result, Emerald’s 30-tons-per-night delivery contract is cut to just 12 tons.
Enplanements total 42,000 and 3.08 million FTKs are operated. The workforce is cut by 40% in 1997 to 60. Customer bookings increase to 81,000 and 2.69 million FTKs are operated.
Only 150 feet into its takeoff from London (STN) on March 31, 1998, a BAe 748 suffers a fire in its right engine. The pilot, 61-year-old Capt. John Hackett, immediately sets the plane back down on the runway, which it proceeds to overshoot, coming to rest 300 ft. from a perimeter fence. The 4 crew and 40 passengers, including 18 members of the
Leeds United soccer team, are quickly evacuated and only 2 minor injuries are reported.
During the 12 months, passenger boardings slide 2.5% to 79,000. Freight traffic accelerates by 32.8% to 3.57 million FTKs.
Airline employment stands at 178 in 1999 and the fleet includes 16 BAe 748s. Freight traffic accelerates 34.1% on the year to 4,794,000 FTKs.
The workforce at the beginning of 2000 totals 178. The nosegear of a BAe (HS) 748 collapses as it is lining up on the runway for takeoff from Dublin on April 28. Although neither crew nor cargo is hurt, the badly damaged aircraft must be written off.
EMERY AIR FREIGHT: United States (1946-1989). Former naval officer John C. Emery incorporates Emery Air Freight under Delaware laws on April 23, 1946. Under his direction, and that of his son and successor, John C. Emery Jr., the carrier survives the postwar freight rate wars and industry downturns to become one of America’s best-known air cargo transportation concerns.
During the late 1940s through the 1970s, the company expands across the country—and to Europe on June 1, 1956—primarily by chartering unused cargo space aboard the commercial airliners of such majors as Eastern Air Lines and Trans World Airlines (TWA).
By 1978, the Wilton, Connecticut-based company, the leading domestic air freight forwarder, is maintaining 16 divisions: 8 in the U. S., 1 in Canada, and 7 abroad.
By 1980, the company’s long-term debt and capital lease obligation totals $6.4 million.
Emery, always strong in ground transport, adds a full-fledged airline in 1981 when it acquires a fleet of 24 Boeing 727-100Cs. A $50-million cargo distribution center is now opened at Dayton that allows the company to begin overnight small package express service in direct competition with Airborne Express and Federal Express.
Shipments rise to seven million (up 4.2%) and system poundage to 382.8 million is transported. Emery Air Freight reports overall operating revenues of $399 million, which leave profits of $29 million (operating) and $18.7 million (net). Still, long-term debt is now $130.1 million.
New overnight services are introduced from Dayton in 1982 as the move to become a full air cargo system is completed.
During those 12 months, Emery is able to fly about 90% of its 6.8 million shipments on its own freighters, which come to include not only the original 727s but 5 Douglas DC-8Fs and 21 smaller aircraft (Convair CV-600s, Beech 18s, and Douglas DC-3s). Most of the rest is contracted out to operations such as Rosenbalm Aviation, the Detroit-based allcargo charter operator, and Orion Air.
Tonnage, however, is down 5.7% to 361 million, matching the 3% drop in total shipments. On revenues of $581.7 million, a downturn in net profits to $10.2 million is also experienced. Bank debt is $99 million.
Emery’s workforce grows 2.1% in 1983 to 4,900.
In January, the company receives the “Cargo Development Award” from Air Transport World magazine.
Like many other cargo airlines, Emery now comes roaring back from recession. To handle the increasing aerial and ground tonnage, the Dayton center is expanded, and three each of DC-8Fs and B-727-100Cs are added to the fleet. A variety of new marketing approaches are introduced, including urgent letter, same day, and international door-to-door services.
The first of two trips to the equity market over the next year are made; a total of 2.5 million shares of common stock will be sold in these offerings, bringing in $46.2 million.
In the fall, company engineers find a way to insert a ninth cargo container aboard the B-727-100s—the equivalent, fleet-wide, of adding three more Boeing “three-holers.”
Orders are placed for five DC-8-73s to replace an equal number of earlier DC-8-33F models grounded at year’s end by noise restrictions.
The company now transports 440 million pounds of freight (up 22%) and 8.4 million shipments (up 23%). Long-term debt is cut to $87.8 million and bank debt falls to $15 million. Revenues total $691 million. The recovery is highlighted on the bottom line of the ledger, where a record net profit of $25 million is pencilled in on top of an operating profit of $54.95 million.
Employment rises further in 1984, climbing 9.7% to 6,800 as all of the 1983 marks are now surpassed. Five new DC-8-73s replace the older Douglas freighters grounded at the end of the previous year. The idle aircraft undergo “quiet nacelle” modification that will allow them to be reintegrated late in the year.
Work begins on a $20-million expansion of the Dayton sorting center.
Total shipments number 10.1 million (up 21%), poundage hauled rises 20% to 530 million, and seven more DC-8Fs are acquired for changeover. Revenues shoot up 18.4% to $817.78 million and costs climb by an equal percentage to $753.49 million. The operating profit ascends to $64.29 million and a net profit of $31.88 million is banked.
In May 1985, Emery inaugurates daily European roundtrip air cargo and air courier service, flying a DC-8-71, from Dayton to Amsterdam via New York, with continuation to Manchester, England, as a hub is established at Maastricht.
Beginning in July, the carrier launches rotary-wing document pickups at the World Trade Center and 34th Street Heliports in Manhattan, with the helicopters flying on to John F. Kennedy International Airport for distribution to couriers.
The city of Dayton issues $30 million in bonds to cover the cost of expanding Emery’s hub at the local airport. Meanwhile, the carrier invests $25 million for hush kits to quiet the engines of 10 DC-8-63s. In addition, it sells and then leases back 12 freighters. The move grants $31.4 million in pretax deferred gains that can be amortized to income annually for the life of the lease.
The number of individual packages transported grows by 13% to 13.4 million; however, as more envelopes and lightweight shipments increase, aggregate poundage falls.
A strike, beginning in December, affects operations at New York (JFK).
A total of 567 million pounds of cargo is hauled and revenues advance 5.4% to $844.07 million. Costs rise 11.1% to $819.69 million and a $24.37-million operating profit is made. Net gain falls to $16.23 million.
Airline employment declines 4.1% in 1986 to 7,100. The year is one of strike, slow business growth, and strong competition. The former, at New York, is settled in early March. Still, by September, automation work is completed on the first sort operation and 1.1 million square feet of ramp space is added to the Dayton hub in an $18-million expansion.
Aggregate poundage ascends by 8% to 613.3 million as the number of individual shipments rises 4% to 13.9 million. Revenues advance only 1.3% to $887.5 million, while expenses grow 6.6% to $906.4 million. The operating loss is $10.47 million and the net loss is $5.44 million.
In February 1987, Emery and the Teamsters agree to extend the latter’s contract through the following year.
When unprofitable Purolator Courier is put up for sale during the first quarter, Emery is able to fend off rival bidders and acquire the competitor for $310 million in cash and assumed debt. Plans are made to return PC’s leased fleet of eight DC-9-15Fs and four B-727-100QCs to operate the services of both through the Dayton hub, and to employ Purolator’s large ground distribution system.
Having lost the first U. S. Postal Service hub contract to Evergreen International Airlines, the company sells the new 400,000-sq.-ft. Indianapolis hub and sort center in September to Federal Express.
On September 21, Emery begins using Purolator and its own aircraft in a combined flight schedule operating from the Dayton hub directly to 164 cities.
In late October, the company announces a refinancing of the debt incurred in the Purolator takeover. The new arrangement includes the creation of an employee stock ownership plan that recoups a $45-million surplus in pension plan assets. Emery now sells 2.9 million shares to its employee stock ownership plan for $15 million. Additionally, $95 million worth of surplus assets, including many directly received as a result of the merger, are sold.
Once the refinancing package is in place, stockholders give final approval to the merger, under which Purolator becomes a separate, wholly owned subsidiary during its integration period.
Chairman/CEO Emery retires and is succeeded by Xerox Corporation Executive Vice President William F. Souders.
In November, the corporation enters into an agreement with an affiliate of Bessemer Securities Corp. to sell to it the ex-Purolator subsidiary Stant, Inc. for $53 million and assumption of the debt associated with the auto parts manufacturer.
Late in the month and into December, the carrier sells and leases back 10 B-727-22Cs and 10 B-727-51Cs for a net gain of $85.6 million.
The Purolator acquisition helps the shipment total to skyrocket 300% to 13.8 million while tonnage increases to 684 million pounds, an 11.5% boost. Revenues balloon 37.6% to $1.22 billion, second only to those of Federal Express among U. S. cargo carriers. Expenses caused by stiff competition and merger costs rise 40.6% to $1.26 billion and leave an operating loss of $41.04 million and a net loss of $47.66 million.
Operating out of Dayton, the Emery fleet in 1988 includes 10 DC-8-63AFs, 7 DC-8-73Fs, 2 DC-8-54Fs, 8 DC-9-15Fs, 35 B-727-100QCs, 1 Convair CV-580, 1 Falcon 20, and 1 DC-3.
A restructuring is completed in January that includes the sale of $108 million in bonds for the company by Drexel Burnham Lambert and the establishment of a three-year revolving line of credit. The latter is provided by Security Pacific Business Credit (SPBC), with the participation of Westinghouse Credit Corporation (WCC).
In February, Towers Financial Corporation purchases 5% shareholding. The combined company is renamed Emery & Purolator, Worldwide Courier and Cargo and Denis M. McCarthy becomes president/chief operating officer.
All aircraft are repainted in new livery. The board of directors in March rejects a call from Towers to dismiss Chairman Souders and replace him with former Federal Express President Arthur Bass.
During the same month, the Los Angeles cargo facility and real estate is sold for a pretax gain of $4.8 million.
In June, three DC-8-62AFs are sold and leased back for a gain of $31.5 million while in July, the accounting division office at Scranton, Pennsylvania, is mortgaged, bringing in another $6.8 million.
Service is disrupted during the difficult Purolator integration and traffic figures are not reported.
Despite its various financial maneuverings, the carrier is unable to meet its August obligation to pay a $22.7-million loan back to Salomon Bros. Holding Company or $15.2 million on secured bank obligations.
The freighter is given an extension. Among the most difficult problems faced is an unexpected inability to handle Purolator’s envelope delivery system. Meanwhile, former Federal Express President Arthur Bass and a group of supporters mount a takeover effort, which is both costly to Emery and, eventually, unsuccessful.
Rather than see the air cargo airline go bankrupt, the overdue bank loans of August are extended by their creditors in October and November. During the latter month, a new financial restructuring is accomplished. The package, announced on November 18, is provided by SPBC, with participation by WCC, and includes a new $108-million bond issue to refinance City of Dayton bonds and a $100-$125 million revolving line of credit, some of which must be employed to repay the August bank loans.
Although revenues of $1.27 billion are earned, the net loss deepens to $50.2 million.
In April 1989, the company agrees to a $247-million takeover by Consolidated Freightways, Inc., parent of the smaller competitor CF AirFreight. Donald Berger, president of the latter, takes over from Chairman/CEO Souders and the new acquisition is renamed Emery Worldwide: A CF Company.
EMERY WORLDWIDE (A CF COMPANY): One Lagoon Drive, Redwood City, California 94065, United States; Phone (415) 5969600; Fax (415) 596-9611; Http://www. emeryworld. com; Code EB;
Year Founded 1989. Struggling financially after its acquisition of Purolator Courier, Emery Air Freight becomes the target of a $247-million takeover in April 1989 by Consolidated Freightways, Inc., parent of a smaller competitor, CF AirFreight. President Donald Berger of the latter succeeds Emery’s Chairman/CEO William F. Souders and the process of integration begins in May under the present title. At the same time, the enlarged carrier is able to win away from Evergreen International Airlines a two-year contract for express mail with had been held with the U. S. Postal Service.
One of CF AirFreight’s contract carriers, Air Train, is acquired at this time to become the subsidiary Emery Worldwide Airlines and employed for the remainder of the year to service the U. S. Postal Service contract. This subsidiary will be integrated during the next year and, at the conclusion of the arrangement, the CF headquarters is transferred to Dayton from Indianapolis.
The amalgamated fleet now includes 98 aircraft: 38 B-727-100Cs, 24 DC-8Fs, 8 DC-9-15Fs, and 15 miscellaneous.
The CF Airfreight facility at Indianapolis is, however, chosen to act as hub for the company’s contract with the U. S. Postal Service. On August 21, six-times-per-week night Express Mail services are operated from the Indiana city, where incoming packages are sorted and sent out again. Daily service begins in October from the Dayton hub to Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Although traffic figures for the year are not provided, it is reported that the new cargo carrier earns revenues of $1.2 billion, but costs lead to an operating loss of $97.4 million and net loss of $50.2 million.
The fleet in 1990 includes 6 B-727-27Fs, 10 each B-727-22Cs and B-727-51Cs, 2 B-727-151Cs, and 1 each B-727-76F, B-727-30C, B-727-77C, B-727-82C, B-727-134C, and B-727-172C, plus 8 DC-9-15RC/Fs, 7 each DC-8-63CFs and DC-8-73CFs, 5 DC-8-63Fs, 4 DC-8-62Fs and 2 each DC-8-54Fs. A significant number of these are operated under contract by either Ryan International Airlines or Rosenbaum Aviation.
Costs far exceed income and the freight operator suffers a $128-million loss.
In January 1991, daily CV-580 flights start from Seattle to Calgary and Edmonton. Services are extended to the U. S.S. R. in February as an agreement is signed with the Moscow-based air freight forwarder Inservice VVO SVT to serve as the cargo carrier’s exclusive Russian agent.
The same month, former CF AirFreight President Roger W. Curry is appointed president/CEO.
A DC-9-15RC with two crew fails its takeoff from Cleveland on February 17 and crashes; there are no survivors.
In October, daily DC-8-54F service is launched from Dayton to Harrisburg. Also in the month, the city of Indianapolis is notified that, since the company has had its U. S. Postal Service contract renewed, it has been chosen as site for a new Eagle Network Hub.
Late in the year, a joint service contract is signed with DHL Worldwide Express to provide, on its behalf, daily DC-8-73CF flights from New York to Brussels.
The loss figure is cut to minus $83.6 million and, as was the case the previous year, no traffic figures are available.
Company employment stands at 1,015 in 1992 and the fleet now includes 54 aircraft: 15 B-727-100Cs, 15 DC-8-73Fs, 11 DC-8-63Fs, 4 DC-8-54Fs, 4 Convair CV-640s, 2 DC-8-62Fs, and 1 each Cessna 208 Caravan Is, Shorts SC-7 Sky vans, and de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Caribou.
While retaining its own nighttime Express Mail flights from Indianapolis, Emery Worldwide protests the award of a $1-billion U. S. Postal Service operator contract to Kitty Hawk Airways.
This year Emery elects to quit the express envelope business to concentrate on heavy freight, parcels, and packages and industry-specific divisions are formed to serve the following segments of the economy: aerospace, automotive, construction, government, perishable goods, pharmaceutical, textile, and trade shows and conventions.
The contract with DHL Worldwide Express takes effect in March. Under its terms, they share space on DHL’s daily DC-8-73CF service from New York to Brussels, flown on the Emery aircraft leased the previous year. A separate agreement allows Saturday service from New York to Brussels and Manchester while a third pact permits DHL to provide Emery with intra-European contract airlift via Brussels, thereby permitting Emery to end its European hub and feeder aircraft operation based on Maastricht.
In October, the company’s Russian agent-partner, Inservice AirFreight, assists Emery in opening an improved air cargo consolidation service at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport; the operation employs Inservice AirFreight’s facility, the first privately operated bonded warehouse facility ever constructed at the airport.
Also during the fall, the new $64-million Eagle Network Hub is opened at Indianapolis and its new buildings and sorting centers are first utilized during the Christmas rush.
A total of 825.2 million FTKs are transported during the year and as a result, revenues slide 11.8% to $1.15 billion. Although expenses are still higher, the operating loss is cut to $32.7 million.
The fleet is reduced to 38 aircraft in 1993, including 29 DC-8s, 4 B-727-100Cs, and 5 DC-9Fs.
A three-year contract is received in January allowing the airline to serve as primary air freight carrier for the Chrysler Corporation’s North American vehicle assembly and manufacturing operations.
The Kitty Hawk Airways case is settled in early April with the North Carolina-based Convair operator losing its contract, but receiving $18.5 million for its trouble. Emery, meanwhile, is awarded a new 10-year, $880-million contract on April 25 by the U. S. Postal Service for the transport of Express Mail and Priority Mail, effective seven months hence.
On July 1, Emery arranges with Ryan International Airlines to operate its new U. S. mail award under a subcontract. Ryan, which has carried mail for Emery for nearly four years under an earlier subcontract, will, as a result of this new deal, be able to create 30 more jobs in Wichita by year’s end.
A hush-kitted DC-8-73F is employed, also in July, to inaugurate early morning air freight deliveries into Boston.
Two contracts are won with Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corp. in September. One will have the airline serve as primary carrier for the transport of cargo between the company’s two major facilities in Dublin, Virginia, and Orville, Ohio; the other is for two-day service between points on the carrier’s U. S.-Canada network.
The U. S. Postal Service’s new logo is introduced in October, painted on the tail of an Emery B-727-51C.
Later in the fall, a three-year agreement is signed with RENFE, the state-owned national Spanish railroad, to provide international shipments to and from Spain.
By December, Flight Dynamics has completed installation of its Heads-Up Guidance System on 17 of the company’s trijets.
Freight climbs 7.4% to 933.81 million FTKs, 25th highest among all the world’s airlines. Revenues slide to $1.3 billion, expenses are $1.28 billion, and a $16.59-million operating profit is generated, the first since
1985.
Emery begins to execute its multimillion-dollar postal contract (ANET-93) on January 1, 1994. Good for 10 years, the arrangement will pay $880 million into company coffers.
Although another B-727-51C painted in the new color scheme of the USPS arrives, the application of the new livery to other aircraft slows, as the expense becomes politically sensitive. Still, the process will be completed over the next year.
In addition, capacity on the North American air freight network is increased by 25% through the addition of three DC-8-71CFs. A three-year contract is received in March from AT&T to fly the communication corporation’s air freight shipments throughout North America.
Six more DC-8-71CFs are chartered in April, giving Emery the second-largest Douglas freighter fleet in the air cargo industry after UPS (United Parcel Service).
Later in that month, Emery is selected by United Technologies as the prime contractor for its North American air cargo shipments.
On August 2, this unit of Consolidated Freightways, Inc. is named Chrysler Corporation’s primary air freight carrier and receives a 3-year, multimillion dollar contract.
David I. Beatson becomes president/CEO in September and an agreement is reached with United Airlines on December 15 for the purchase of six B-727-223Fs, all of which will be operated by Express One International under contract.
Cargo increases 32.5% to 1.23 billion FTKs and revenues swell 24.5% to $1.56 billion. Expenses rise 23.8% to $1.49 billion and allow a huge pretax profit of $77.61 million.
The workforce stands at 6,700 in 1995.
Cargo code-sharing begins on Swissair, A. G. flights from Basel to Chicago. In July, the carrier initiates Emery Expedite, a 24-hr. 365-days-a-year urgent door-to-door freight service. Gold Priority, a program which offers guaranteed next-day, airport-to-airport delivery, is also initiated.
During the fourth quarter, the company receives a five-year multimil-lion-dollar contract extension from Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corp. to continue “expedited overnight and second-day delivery service” of shipments up to 2,500 pounds, largely in support of the assembly plants in Virginia and Ohio.
Traffic accelerates by 10.3% as 1.36 billion FTKs are operated. Although there is a $15.6-million operating profit, there is a net $4.28-million loss.
The airline employs 1,100 in 1996 and a contract is signed with Custom Air Transport under which that carrier will fly packages on behalf of Emery from points in the Midwest and Northeast to Florida.
The airline’s parent, Consolidated Freightways, now spins off its surface transport division, CF Motor Freight, into a new publicly owned company, and is itself reformed under a new name, CNF Transportation. Emery becomes a CFN subsidiary, but this subsidiary is completed under the 1989 title.
In October, the company receives a six-year contract from Dade International, S. A. for the management and operation of a dedicated European distribution center at Anderlecht, Belgium, for its in-vitro diagnostic products.
Cargo grows by 3.2% to 1.4 billion FTKs. Operating income drops 28.1% to $213.08 million while costs fall 32.5% to $189.43 million. The difference leaves a positive balance sheet that shows an operating gain of $23.65 million and a net profit of $15.56 million.
Former Polar Air Cargo Vice President Operations Kent T. Scott is named vice president/chief operating officer in April 1997, succeeding the retiring Willard Scherrer.
During the spring, the 1,100-employee carrier wet-leases three Lockheed L-1011-200F freighters from American International Airways. Emery wishes to compare them in service with three DC-10Fs that it is chartering from another concern.
When company pilots vote in July to choose a union, 223 of 348 eligible flyers cast their votes for ALPA.
In what the media portrays as one of the last great labor-management clashes of this century, 200,000 members of the Teamsters strike UPS (United Parcel Service) on August 4 and the job action is supported by company pilots. Management flyers and contract aircraft are only able to provide a trickle of service. During the shutdown, Emery Worldwide attempts to accommodate those customers sending packages in excess of 5 pounds. However, UPS’s major competitors, Federal Express and DHL Worldwide Express refuse most new business (the latter takes new international business), but do accept packages left in drop-off boxes.
Talks between the Teamsters and UPS resume on August 7 and the job action is resolved a little over a week later. Emery is able to keep some of the business generated during the walkout and which was transported on the wet-leased TriStars.
On August 20, the carrier receives a $5-million, one-year contract from sports product manufacturer Nike. Under terms of the agreement, the carrier will move finished apparel, footwear, and athletic equipment via air freight from origin factories in India, Singapore, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Malaysia to Nike’s distribution centers or directly to customers in Europe, North America, and South America.
Late in the month, the carrier, in anticipation of significant growth in the new year, arranges leases for four L-1011Fs. Three aircraft are chartered from American International Airways (3) and the fourth from Arrow Air. Upon receipt, the wide-bodies will be employed on company routes to Dallas, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Portland.
During the fall, a $1.7-billion, 58-month contract is received from the U. S. Postal Service for the establishment and operation of a separate and exclusive Priority Mail sorting and transport network, including air transfers, on the U. S. East Coast. The DC-10Fs arrive in November and are employed as extra capacity for the transport of Christmas packages.
By year’s end, Emery serves more than 200,000 customers through a network of 590 service centers and agent locations throughout North American and in more than 95 countries worldwide. A total of 1.41 billion FTKs are operated this year, a slight 0.6% increase. Operating revenues jump 22.8% to $261.61 million, while expenses climb 17.4% to $222.38 million. The operating gain increases to $39.23 million and a $25.33-million net profit is posted.
At the beginning of 1998, Emery provides services to 229 countries through a network of more than 600 service centers and agent locations around the world. It is now the 23rd largest airline in terms of freight carried. The fleet now includes 7 B-727-100Fs, 18 B-727-200Fs, 4 DC-8-54Fs, 9 DC-8-62Fs, 10 DC-8-63Fs, and 16 DC-8-71F/73Fs.
On July 1, Emery announces that it will add five DC-10Fs over the next two years, all leased from Pacific Aviation Holding Co. (Pegasus Capital Corp.) of San Francisco. The first will enter Emery’s fleet before the end of the year, with all five operating from the North American Sor-tation Center at Dayton by the fall of 2000.
Gold Priority service is introduced on August 24 between Miami and the Mexican communities of Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey.
With volume increases of over 400,000 pounds each month, Emery is able to successfully handle volume surges in military traffic from the Defense Distribution Depot (DDSP) in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Germany. The company, over the five-month period of military action in Bosnia, is able to get needed goods to Europe in less than 32 hours. Stateside during the year, Emery will handle over 800,000 pounds every month for the DDSP, with a 96% on-time performance record.
On December 8, Air Canada, Ltd. re-endorses Emery Worldwide as its primary carrier to move the airline’s engine parts and maintenance materials between the U. S. and Canada. Under the new three-year contract, which also applies to the “Air Canada Connector” carriers, Emery will continue to transport shipments from Air Canada’s 2,500 suppliers in the U. S. to its facilities in Canada and from its Canadian depots to its 42 stations throughout the U. S.
Cargo traffic during the 12 months dips 0.7% to 1.4 billion FTKs. Revenues skyrocket 420.4% to $1.36 billion, while expenses are up 520.5% to $1.37 billion. There is an $18.36-million operating loss and a net loss of $34.26 million.
A new Guaranteed Service Program is unveiled in January 1999. It is designed to provide the transportation industry with the most comprehensive service guarantees for business-to-business heavy cargo shippers within the U. S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
An agreement in principle is signed on March 8, under which Emery Worldwide will acquire the air freight and ocean freight business of Walsh Western International, Ltd., which has been Emery’s exclusive partner in Ireland since 1995.
On March 9, a disaster is narrowly avoided at Indianapolis when, on final approach, the pilot of a company freighter suffers a heart attack. He is able to get the aircraft safely on the ground, some 50 ft. off the runway. Rushed to hospital, the aviator dies.
Two B-747-200Fs join the fleet on April 6 and are used to improve air cargo efficiency for the carrier’s Guaranteed Service Program in heavy-volume lanes for its North American customers. One aircraft services companies in southern California through Los Angeles while the other serves companies in the southeast U. S. and Puerto Rico. The East Coast Jumbojet is routed through Raleigh, North Carolina, and San Juan.
The first of five former Continental Airlines DC-10-10s, converted into DC-10Fs, arrives at San Jose from Dayton on April 28. Following a christening ceremony presided over by CNF Transportation, Inc., President Gregory Quesnel, the wide-body freighter is assigned to the Guaranteed Service Program. It will operate daily return service between Dayton and San Jose to serve manufacturers in the Silicon Valley region.
At the beginning of May, the flight deck and first class passenger cabin of a B-747-136 retired by British Airways, Ltd. (2) in 1998 is moved overland under the coordination of the company’s Global Project Management group from Roswell, New Mexico, to the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California. The move is funded by retired The Flying Tigers Line pilot Al Silver. The massive 15,000-lb. section unit will be displayed adjacent to the two-story exhibit building and will open later in the year.
As a direct result of its sterling support for the DDSP the previous year, Emery, on May 4, is awarded the 1998 “Quality Award” by the U. S. Military Traffic Management Command. During the Commercial Aviation Report Air Cargo Symposium at Washington, D. C. on May 18, Chief Operating Officer Scott informs the press that it is his hope to be able to announce an order before year’s end for a new aircraft type with which to replace Emery’s aging DC-8s. Four DC-8-60Fs will be retired by December.
On May 26, the electronics contract manufacturer Manufacturers’ Services, Ltd. of Concord, Massachusetts, signs an agreement with Emery under which the carrier guarantees on-time delivery in the U. S., Canada, and Puerto Rico for all MSL domestic air shipments over 15 pounds. Emery will handle the contract under its Guaranteed Service Program.
Valued at more than $1 million per year, a “Dealer Direct” contract is received from Porsche, A. G. of Germany on June 29 under which Emery will handle door-to-door delivery of between 80 and 100 automotive-related shipments every day.
In September, Emery introduces a second-day, time-definitive delivery service for heavy shipments traveling between business centers in 20 European countries. The new service is also available for its more traditional short hops in Western Europe.
At the beginning of December, the “Golden Priority Plus” service, with its delivery guarantee to North America for packages shipped from South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand, is expanded. A “Golden Priority Express Plug” guaranteed delivery service to Japan and South Korea from Los Angeles is added.
At the end of the year, the company’s one-year contract with ICC International Cargo Charters Canada, Ltd., doing business as CCC Canada, Ltd., is renewed.
Cargo traffic accelerates 12.1% to 1.57 billion FTKs. Revenues plunge 29.6% to $958.42 million, while expenses drop 31.5% to $944.92 million. The previous year’s operating loss is turned into a $35.24-million gain; the net loss “improves” to $10.5 million.
Company employment at the beginning of 2000 stands at 4,940, a 0.2% decrease over the previous 12 months. Among the world’s top 25 airlines, Emery ranks 25 th in FTKs. The main line fleet comprises 5 DC-10-10Fs, 3 DC-10-30Fs, 2 DC-8-54Fs, 11 DC-8-71Fs, 6 DC-8-62Fs, 6 DC-8-63Fs, and 16 DC-8-73Fs. The majority of the company’s Boeing 727F fleet is now leased to Ryan International Airlines. On its behalf, Ryan now operates a major U. S. Postal Service contract employing 5 Dash-51Cs, 1 Dash-51C, 5 Dash-22Cs, 1 each Dash-134C, Dash-76c, Dash-77C, Dash -82C, and 3 Dash-223Fs, all in USPS livery. In Emery Worldwide livery, Ryan flies 4 Dash-21Cs, 8 Dash-222Fs, and 3 Dash-225Fs.
Gold Priority Plus service for Shanghai shipments is added in January.
Just 45 seconds after takeoff from Mather Field, Sacramento, for Dayton on February 16, Flight 17, a DC-8-71F with three crew reports load balance trouble and attempts to return to its point of origin for an emergency landing. The freighter goes out of control and crashes into an automobile salvage yard 1 mi. E of the airport, exploding and setting fire to 100-200 cars. Debris cuts a swath a.25 mi. long and 250 yds. wide. There are no survivors.
A tripartite signing ceremony is held in New Delhi in March on a pair of new cargo agreements. In one, Emery acquires 80% of the daily cargo capacity of Indian Airlines, Ltd. between Madras and Singapore. The other, between Swisscargo and Emery, permits Emery to book belly space aboard Sabena Belgian World Airlines, S. A. passenger flights and Swissair, A. G.’s dedicated thrice-weekly DC-10-30F freighter service to Africa and beyond from Basel.
Two DC-10-30Fs, once flown by Laker Airways, Ltd. and Leisure International Airlines are leased from GECAS on May 2 for later delivery. Also during May, an ACMI contract is signed with Express. Net Airlines for the operation of two of its three Airbus A300B4-203Fs on Emery’s behalf from Dayton to Phoenix and Minneapolis (MSP).
On June 23, AirlinersOnline. com reports that the carrier has retired its two DC-8-54Fs. The first chartered DC-10-30F, delivered new to British Caledonian Airways, Ltd. (BCAL) years earlier and recently converted into a cargo plane by the Italian firm Aeronavali, arrives at the end of the month.
After 27 months of negotiations, contract talks between the company and its ALPA-represented pilots reach the state of impasse by July 25. As it has been elsewhere in the industry this summer, strike-talk is heard.
Scheduled to last just four days, a new round of contract negotiations between pilots and management get under way on August 8. On August 11, GECAS supplies a DC-8F under a four-year contract.
A new four-year pact between the airline and its pilots is ratified by the latter on September 21. Late in the month, Chutta Ratnathicam becomes CEO, succeeding the retiring Roger Piazza. Ratnathicam had departed Emery in 1997 to become chief financial officer of its parent corporation, CNF, Inc. A good month is finished with news that, after a long dispute, the U. S. Postal Service has agreed to pay $102.1 million in money owed under an earlier Priority Mail contract, which the two sides terminated on January 7.
DC-10-30F return cargo service is initiated on October 1 between Dayton and Los Angeles. Also in October, the company signs a three-year forwarding contract with the British Defence Transport and Movements Agency, its first defense-related agreement with any arm of the U. K. government. In South America, an office is opened at Antofagasta to serve the mining region of northern Chile.
The company suffers a $5.8-million third quarter operating loss, which is blamed on a onetime, after-tax loss of $7 million for the termination of leases on several maintenance-plagued freighters.
In December, an 80,000-sq.-ft. service center is opened near the Toronto Airport.
World History
