In announcing the deal in which DHL estimates it would pay UPS $1 billion per year for uplift, Frank Appel, CEO of DHL's parent Deutsche Post World Net, said the contract has not yet been negotiated but the agreement would span 10 years
at $1 billion per year.
Facing a loss of $1.3 billion in 2008, Appel said DHL had seen improvements since the acquisition of Airborne in 2003, but "the financial crisis has caused a deterioration since last autumn" that necessitated the action. "We have built a plan to improve performance," Appel continued, "we can't proceed like today."
Appel noted that though UPS and DHL are competitors, the agreement for air services has no direct impact on customers. "We're not changing our business model, just the airline services," he said. "We are still doing the same work for our customers, just doing it better." |
