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UPS plans to hire 100 pilots
Most to be based at Louisville hub
By Wayne Tompkins
The Courier-Journal
United Parcel Service said yesterday it plans to hire at least 100 additional pilots, most of whom will be based in Louisville.
Spokesman Mark Giuffre said new airplanes and expectations of more international flying created the need for additional flight crews. The pilots will be added through next year.
UPS employs nearly 2,500 pilots, about 40 percent of whom have homes in Louisville. Pilots typically earn between $138,000 and $172,000 a year, with the pilots' union providing the lower number and UPS the higher figure.
Giuffre said the new pilots would be based in Louisville, Ontario, Calif., and Miami.
"I don't have a specific breakdown, but I would say the majority of them" would be Louisville based, Giuffre said. Louisville International Airport is the home of UPS's sprawling Worldport complex, its main package-sorting hub.
Yesterday's announcement comes against the backdrop of contract negotiations between UPS and its pilots, which have taken place over the past two years. Talks are set to resume next week, Giuffre said.
The pilots' last contract was ratified in 1998 after 25 months of talks. A phone message left for Tom Nicholson, president of the Independent Pilots Association, was not immediately returned late yesterday. The association represents UPS fliers.
The United States and China have agreed to significantly expand aviation rights, but the U.S. Department of Transportation still has not permanently awarded those rights to UPS, Giuffre said.
"We're really basing this on anticipated international growth," he said of yesterday's hiring announcement. In the wake of the agreement between the two countries, UPS said in June that it will "strongly consider" building an air hub in China and could increase flights and package traffic between Louisville and that country.
In September, the Transportation Department tentatively gave UPS 12 new weekly flights to China as part of the pact with China.
UPS, which has six flights to Shanghai, said it would use the first six new flights to add service there. The remaining six would be new flights to Guangzhou, inland from Hong Kong. UPS will connect Shanghai to Japan for the first time with nonstop service.
The 2005 flights will allow UPS to offer nonstop service from the United States to Guangzhou for the first time.
UPS began direct air service to China in 2001, flying once a week from Louisville to China via Anchorage, Alaska. Five additional UPS flights to China leave each week from Ontario, Calif. UPS officials said flights between the nations are operating at near capacity.
Most to be based at Louisville hub
By Wayne Tompkins
The Courier-Journal
United Parcel Service said yesterday it plans to hire at least 100 additional pilots, most of whom will be based in Louisville.
Spokesman Mark Giuffre said new airplanes and expectations of more international flying created the need for additional flight crews. The pilots will be added through next year.
UPS employs nearly 2,500 pilots, about 40 percent of whom have homes in Louisville. Pilots typically earn between $138,000 and $172,000 a year, with the pilots' union providing the lower number and UPS the higher figure.
Giuffre said the new pilots would be based in Louisville, Ontario, Calif., and Miami.
"I don't have a specific breakdown, but I would say the majority of them" would be Louisville based, Giuffre said. Louisville International Airport is the home of UPS's sprawling Worldport complex, its main package-sorting hub.
Yesterday's announcement comes against the backdrop of contract negotiations between UPS and its pilots, which have taken place over the past two years. Talks are set to resume next week, Giuffre said.
The pilots' last contract was ratified in 1998 after 25 months of talks. A phone message left for Tom Nicholson, president of the Independent Pilots Association, was not immediately returned late yesterday. The association represents UPS fliers.
The United States and China have agreed to significantly expand aviation rights, but the U.S. Department of Transportation still has not permanently awarded those rights to UPS, Giuffre said.
"We're really basing this on anticipated international growth," he said of yesterday's hiring announcement. In the wake of the agreement between the two countries, UPS said in June that it will "strongly consider" building an air hub in China and could increase flights and package traffic between Louisville and that country.
In September, the Transportation Department tentatively gave UPS 12 new weekly flights to China as part of the pact with China.
UPS, which has six flights to Shanghai, said it would use the first six new flights to add service there. The remaining six would be new flights to Guangzhou, inland from Hong Kong. UPS will connect Shanghai to Japan for the first time with nonstop service.
The 2005 flights will allow UPS to offer nonstop service from the United States to Guangzhou for the first time.
UPS began direct air service to China in 2001, flying once a week from Louisville to China via Anchorage, Alaska. Five additional UPS flights to China leave each week from Ontario, Calif. UPS officials said flights between the nations are operating at near capacity.
