Pilot Strike Threatens Amazon, DHL Holiday Delivery

More than 200 pilots at ABX air are on strike due to staffing issues. (Image via ABX Air)

More than 200 pilots from ABX Air, a subsidiary of Air Transport Services Group that serves Amazon and DHL Worldwide Express, went on strike this morning to protest staffing shortages.

ABX Air runs 35 daily flights for Amazon and 45 for DHL, according to Business Insider. With so many pilots out of the fleet, these two companies could see big delays this holiday season.

However, Amazon said in a statement that it is "confident in [its] ability to serve customers."

ABX Air's president, John Starkovich, told Business Insider that the company is informing customers and affected parties about interruptions in flight operations to allow them to plan accordingly until things go back to normal.

"We stand ready to assist our customers in any way we can to minimize any impact on their own operations during this critical holiday period," Starkovich told Business Insider.

Also, ABX Air is seeking a court order that would force the pilots back to work.

"We expect the court will uphold our position that the actions taken by the union to refuse work assignments is not legal, and the issues involved constitute a minor dispute to be resolved via arbitration under terms of our current labor agreements," Starkovich said.

The pilots, on the other hand, said the company forced them to work "emergency assignments" during contractually obligated time off. The union told Business Insider that the pilots had to cover more than 8,000 emergency assignments on these days off due to staffing issues.