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Saipan won’t be affected by DHL’s cutback
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Posted on Nov 21 2008
Saipan’s DHL office will not be affected by the company’s restructuring of the business.
DHL Express, founded by former Saipan resident Larry Hillblom, is discontinuing U.S. domestic ground and air service on Jan. 30, 2009. International shipping to and from the United States will remain intact.
Robert Mintz, spokesman for DHL, said the restructuring would not impact Saipan because the company considers the island international. Guam and American Samoa also are considered international, he said.
Earlier this month, the company announced it would close its U.S. ground hubs and reduce the numbers of stations from 412 to 103, causing 9,500 jobs to be lost on top of the approximately 5,400 positions reduced since January of this year.
About 3,000 to 4,000 employees, focusing on the international side, will remain on board. The measures will reduce DHL’s operating costs from 5.4 billion to under $1 billion, a decrease of more than 80 percent, according to the company.
“This is the right move for our U.S. Express operations given the current economic climate and for the long run,” said John Mullen, Global CEO of DHL Express in a press statement. “Focusing our U.S. Express efforts on what we do better than anyone else—international shipping—serves the best interests of our customers, employees and shareholders around the world.”
Hillblom was one of the founders of DHL. He was the H in DHL. He moved to Saipan in the 1980s and died during a plane crash off Anatahan waters on May 21, 1995.
