Started Ops With Two DC-8s In 1988
The anniversary passed quietly on Friday, as media attention was
fixed on the Super Bowl. But in Louisville, KY, the 20th
anniversary of UPS Airlines is a pretty big deal. Starting in 1988
with two DC-8s -- which remain in service -- UPS is now the
ninth-largest airline in the world, with 268 aircraft and 3,000
pilots. And it's still growing.
Joe Reagan, president of Greater Louisville Inc., the metro
chamber of commerce, tells the Louisville Courier-Journal, "UPS
Airlines' headquarters is almost like a hidden jewel." He adds most
people living in the area associate the international air hub so
closely with the UPS brand, they don't know the airline is a
separate division of the company, one which didn't exist before
1988.
Reagan is grateful UPS chose Louisville for the operation. He
tells the paper the headquarters provides "the kind of jobs that we
compete for every day, that other communities compete for. Many,
many communities would love to have that headquarters in their
backyard, so we're very proud that they call us home."
Former UPS Airlines
President Dick Oehme, who retired to Vero Beach, FL, recalled the
seven-year effort to create the new carrier from scratch, starting
in 1981. Oehme told the Courier-Journal he began his career with
UPS as a package-car washer, and had climbed the ranks to become an
assistant region manager when he landed on a committee to
investigate adding next-day air service to compete with Federal
Express.
A plan evolved to utilize the hub already established at
Louisville by UPS for its second-day service, which used contract
carriers including Evergreen Airlines, Orion Airways, Ryan
International, Interstate Airlines and IPX Air. For a while, UPS
hired other airlines to fly planes owned by UPS to provide next-day
service. Oehme says that as volume grew, "It was becoming very
difficult to coordinate four different airlines into one air
operation."
What happened next was impressive. UPS announced its intention
to form its own airline on August 24, 1987. Despite the immense
task of organizing and staffing the operation from scratch, and the
fact that Oehme's airline experience was zero at the time, UPS
Airlines was granted its certificate by the FAA just five months
later, on January 25, 1988. The company says that's a record time
for certification of a new US airline.
The paper notes the team that oversaw the airline's launch
included future CEO Mike Eskew, future chief operating officers and
airline presidents Tom Weidemeyer and John Beystehner, and Jack
Blaisdell, who managed the Hub 2000/Worldport project.
Bob Lekites, UPS vice president for airline and international
operations, tells the paper the company remains happy with the city
as the relationship enters its third decade. "As a transplanted
Louisvillian, it's been great to watch UPS and my adopted hometown
grow together. We plan on continuing our success in Louisville and
in the air express business for many years to come."