Airborne Express
 |
|
| cargo airline, express delivery | |
| Industry | Logistics |
| Successor | DHL |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Defunct | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
| Website | none |
Airborne Express (IATA: GB, ICAO: ABX, Call sign: Abex) was an express delivery company and cargo airline. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, its hub was at Wilmington, Ohio.
Airborne was founded as the Airborne Flower Traffic Association of California in 1946 to fly flowers from Hawaii to the US Mainland.
Airborne Express developed special narrow containers which allowed the use of passenger jet aircraft without needing a large cargo door modification.
It was acquired by DHL in 2003. Prior to the acquisition, it was the third largest private express delivery company in the United States.
Growth during Airborne's first 22 years was slow. Progress came slowly and competition was stiff. But in 1968, the airline started going through some changes. To begin with, Airborne of California merged with Pacific Air Freight of Seattle. The airline moved its headquarters there and changed its name to Airborne Freight Corporation.
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