ABX lays off more workers

ABX lays off more workers Wilmington, Ohio-based cargo airline ABX Air announced more layoffs, bringing to more than 275 the number of workers to be cut by the airline through November.
   The airline filed paperwork with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services stating it intends to layoff an additional 41 workers by late November. The move comes after an earlier announcement by the airline that it intended to pink slip 235 jobs by late October.
   According to an announcement by the airline last week, the layoffs are directly connected to package shipper DHL's decision in May to sharply scale back its presence in the United States market and ground almost two-dozen planes by the end of the year. DHL said at the time that it plans to have UPS take over its domestic U.S. air shipments.
   Since DHL's decision, shares of ABX parent firm Air Transport Services Group have slipped to below 75 cents a share, off from a 52-week high of $3.65. Last week, Nasdaq warned ATSG that the firm faced being delisted if its stock value did not increase above the board's minimum of $1 per share.
   Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chair of the U.S. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, said Thursday the planned deal between DHL and UPS 'would be anticompetitive and in violation of antitrust law.'
   In a statement issued after Kohl's comments, a UPS spokesperson said the proposed DHL/UPS deal is a 'straight vendor contract,' and the firm views it as a 'business opportunity.'