The state nicknamed the "Crossroads of America" wants to become a preferred landing spot for cargo planes, but industry leaders say Indiana could have a tough time attracting flights from neighboring states because many airports are competing for the same business and freight companies are resistant to change.
FedEx, which has a distribution hub in Indianapolis, has long asserted that its drivers should be classified as independent contractors.
About 400 people and nine teams convened at a vacant 96th Street distribution center Thursday for the inaugural Indianapolis
LogistXGames.
Retailers restocking lean inventories and more online purchases could be driving cargo uptick.
Congress may determine long-term fate of FedEx’s Indianapolis cargo hub, where about 4,500 work.
Many of the 5,000 employees at the FedEx Express hub at Indianapolis International Airport are benefiting from the holiday
shipping rush by working longer hours.
The cash-strapped Indianapolis Airport Authority suddenly can’t look soon enough at developing some of its vast real
estate holdings, including the city’s former passenger terminal. This month, it plans to conduct final contract
negotiations with a firm that would study reuse of the old terminal, adjacent land and other airport holdings.
FedEx brass have been trying to counter legislation pending in Congress being pushed by arch rival United Parcel Service
and the Teamsters union.
Indianapolis International Airport, already suffering from a 10-percent drop in passenger traffic and a projected $15 million
revenue shortfall this year, is also feeling financial drag from its single most important tenant. FedEx Express cargo shipments,
which amount to about half of the $25 million in airfield fees generated at the airport, fell
16 percent in the first three months of this year vs. the same period last year.
Indianapolis airport officials are considering building a smaller version of FedEx’s 2-million-square-foot hub here, one
that could accommodate several cargo carriers from around the globe. The “international air cargo facility” could be up to
several hundred thousand square feet large and could cost tens of millions of dollars to build.
