As part of a bigger reorganization strategy, the staff will be transferred to other FedEx facilities.
The world’s largest shipping company will close bases in the US and Europe and move personnel to already established substitute locations. This action is being taken as FedEx works to streamline and restructure its business operations in order to save up to $4 billion over the next five years.
At three of its facilities where crews for the Boeing 757 and McDonnell Douglas MD-11 are stationed, the reduction will impact the pilots and crew. Along with Los Angeles, California, Anchorage, Alaska, is one of the US bases that will be shutting down. The staff at Germany’s Cologne-Bonn Airport will shift to another location in Europe. Employees who fly two older aircraft types will progressively move to other locations within the FedEx network, the firm stated in an email.
Why are the bases being closed?
At Cologne Bonn Airport, the Germany hub houses crews for medium-sized Boeing 757 freighters. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport are the bases for the leaving McDonnell Douglas MD-11s and the teams that go with them. The trijet’s last current flying variant is the MD-11 freighter, which was also its final iteration to be manufactured.
The air cargo company continues to anticipate receiving the twenty-seven B767-300Fs from its current order, together with the six B777-200Fs that have not changed. According to a FedEx email obtained by Freight Waves, the base closures would be gradual and the move wouldn’t affect the company’s operations:
Our operations in these markets continue to play an important role in the global FedEx network, and the flexibility of this network enables us to make adjustments that best meet the needs of our customers around the world. “The decision only affects the base of the crews operating these flights and will not impact our current service.”In addition to its regional hubs in Indianapolis, Oakland, and Guangzhou, FedEx maintains a pilot base in Memphis, Tennessee, which serves as its global center. Prior to pandemic limitations, the company maintained a pilot base in Hong Kong that was shut down.
a component of a bigger reorganization project.
On its most recent investor call, the company disclosed that it was going through a significant streamlining process. FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Services, and other FedEx operational entities will eventually become a part of Federal Express Corporation through June 2024. Only FedEx Freight will remain an independent business.The cost restructuring plan heavily utilizes FedEx’s air capability. Currently, FedEx Express is in charge of the corporation’s aviation operations. FedEx Express reported declining operating results despite a 3% increase in revenue per package, as a result of lower global volumes and the ongoing impact of weak demand.
The most recent corporation claims that it runs 697 aircraft at 650 airports across the globe. Two of the fleet’s members are being quickly phased out. As deliveries of the Boeing 767F have resumed, the fleet’s 119 Boeing 757-200s are being retired.
Additionally, the business recently started to accelerate by two years the retirement of its MD-11 fleet. The 58 distinctive tri-engine planes that FedEx currently uses will be retired by 2028.
rerouting packages that are not urgent
FedEx stated that it intends to redirect some cargo to ground transportation and third-party carriers in order to save $700 million yearly in its air network. The change will favor direct routes more and place less emphasis on the hub-and-spoke concept. Within the United States, ground transportation will take over as the standard option, and air transportation will only be used for extremely urgent overnight shipments.
By concentrating shipping quantities, the air cargo carrier will also cut its trans-Pacific flight capacity by about 30% over the coming several years.
