Reroute, rearrange and rethink

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, September 12, 2001

By Bryan Corliss

Herald Writer

The closure of America’s skies to air commerce is not disrupting the region’s largest aerospace companies, but Tuesday’s terror attack is causing other Snohomish County businesses to reroute, rearrange and rethink their operations.

"It’s a lot to take in," said Dave Hamilton, president of Delivery Express of Everett.

American airports remained closed to general aviation and most commercial flights Wednesday. The closure will continue until the Federal Aviation Administration can impose new security measures, the agency announced.

So far, the Boeing Co.’s delivery schedule has not been thrown off, spokesman Doug Webb said.

The company has not been able to do test flights, with airspace closed to commercial aviation. But crews at Paine, Renton and Boeing fields have continued to do ground testing, he said.

The company should be able to reconfigure its test flights and delivery schedule to make sure all planes set for September delivery will in fact be delivered by month’s end.

Air shipping schedules from suppliers also have been disrupted, but not to the extent that it will cause problems, Webb said. Boeing continues to receive parts and components by road and rail, he said.

Likewise, Goodrich Corp.’s operations at Paine Field have not been disrupted, said spokeswoman Sherry Bergstrom. "We don’t anticipate any impact, really," she said. "We hope as things start settling down, it will get back to normal."

But for other companies that rely on air cargo, the disruptions are real.

"There’s no (Federal Express) flying," said Charlie Gibbons, who owns Multi Fish and Seafood, a Mill Creek seafood brokerage. "The mail service from the Atlantic to the Pacific is nonexistent, because it’s all going by truck, taking 10 days instead of two."

Gibbons said he has two air shipments of fish that haven’t been delivered by FedEx. And one he was sending by truck to Toronto — which was must be delivered today to meet a store’s advertised sale — was stuck Wednesday at the Canadian border, which was "backed right up to your armpits" because of security checks.

The air cargo business already was in a slump before this happened, Hamilton said. He predicted the nationwide grounding will put some of the tottering cargo carriers out of business.

North Carolina-based Midway Airlines, already in bankruptcy, went out of business Wednesday, he noted.

But while the air cargo business has "totally dried up," ground-based shipping is booming, Hamilton said. Customers who used to spend about $100 to ship to Spokane by air now are spending about $400 to hire Delivery Express to drive deliveries there.

The major air cargo companies themselves are switching to truck transport for the interim, Hamilton said. And he’s trying to pick up trucking business from some of the grounded airlines he does business with.

In all, the situation is "kind of up and down," he said. "It looks like it’s going to be more of a help than a hindrance."

However, the terror attacks have got him rethinking his operations, Hamilton said. "We’re really the kind of company that could be easily set up."

One of his largest customers, a local manufacturer he didn’t name, now is insisting his office call with the name of the driver before dispatching deliveries to its plant. He’s going to start issuing photo identification badges to his drivers, Hamilton said, as well as instituting more stringent background checks to ensure he’s not hiring a potential terrorist.

Gibbons said his Wednesday sales calls were fruitless. Instead of closing deals, he listened to customers talk about their relatives missing after the New York attack.

"People aren’t buying," he said. "Their morale is down.

"It’s been difficult," Gibbons said. "It really has — but not as difficult as losing loved ones, or what New York’s going through."

You can call Herald Writer Bryan Corliss at 425-339-3454

or send e-mail to corliss@heraldnet.com.