Grounded To be able to do it, Airborne will need to add far deeper trucking ability than it now has. The company believes that doesn't mean new pickup and delivery drivers, but it will mean additions to the existing system of 1,200 trucking linehaul deliveries Airborne now uses to complement its domestic air network. Adding a nationwide ground network, of course, is daunting, but Airborne believes it should be able to add to its current network and build the operation as volume expands. Any add-on would be incremental with the growth in volume. There is one other way to add ground capability, of course, which inevitably raises the question of whether Airborne might, after years of rumors, finally be sold or merge with another carrier.
Regulatory barriers lock out at least one potential buyer, the German post office.
Regulations regarding airline ownership can change, however, and business operations can be restructured to suit foreign investors. Either way, Airborne's lagging stock price makes the company an interesting target for buyers, if suitors believe its problems are momentary. Crowded Skies Summer got off to a sticky start for forwarders in the United States as record passenger business and mounting delays forced them to search for alternatives to some of their basic air capacity. U.S. airlines reported an 80.2 percent combined load factor in June, according to the Air Transport Association and Northwest and Continental airlines shattered their records for passenger loads for any month. The numbers suggested passenger planes were running at pretty much full capacity, and traditionally busier July and August were still to come.