ALPA's Communications Department provides information and support for news media inquiries. An ALPA communications representative can be reached in the Herndon, Va. office at (703) 481-4440.

News Release

Release #03.028
March 27, 2003

CINCINNATI --- The following statement was issued today by Captain James Bonney, chairman of the DHL Airways unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) which represents DHL’s 489 pilots:

"DHL Pilots are concerned with statements made by John Fellows, CEO of DHL Holdings (USA), Inc., regarding DHL’s plan to purchase Airborne Express.

"During a conference call with investors and analysts yesterday, officials of DHL Worldwide Express D.V., a subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Post, confirmed that its U.S. DHL subsidiary will acquire the ground operations of Airborne Express Inc., the third-largest U.S. express shipper, for approximately $1.05 billion.

"The proposed transaction would put DHL Worldwide Express and its American subsidiary on par with shippers FedEx and United Parcel Service, giving DHL a greater share of the U.S. cargo.

"As part of the transaction, Airborne's air operations will become an independent public company that will continue to be wholly owned by Airborne's current shareholders.

"During a question and answer period following the announcement, Mr. Fellows intimated that some DHL business might be diverted to Airborne. DHL Pilots are troubled about this statement because such an action would be a clear violation of the pilots’ collective bargaining agreement.

"The DHL Master Executive Council (MEC), the highest union governing body of the pilot group, is now working to determine if these comments truly represent DHL’s proposed policy. We will provide further comment when we have more specific information."

ALPA, the world’s oldest and largest pilot union, represents 66,000 airline pilots at 42 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Its Web site is http://www.alpa.org.

# # #

ALPA CONTACT: Mark Damron, (859) 282-1475