Air Transport warns of 6,000 layoffs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Air Transport Services Group Inc (ATSG.O) said on Wednesday its main air cargo operator ABX Air could shed 6,000 or more jobs, about 75 percent of the unit's total staff, if German parcel carrier DHL stops using its services, as it plans to do.

DHL, owned by German mail group Deutsche Post AG (DPWGn.DE), plans to use rival United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) instead, as part of a $2 billion restructuring of its loss-making business in the United States.

Carrying cargo for DHL provided about 73 percent of Air Transport Services' revenue for the first six months of this year, the company said. In May, DHL said it would terminate the services of 55 DC-9 aircraft that ABX is operating on behalf of DHL over the course of the next 12 months.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Air Transport Services said about 6,000 employees working in Wilmington, Ohio, will lose their jobs as a result of DHL's plan if it is fully implemented. ABX is Air Transport's largest operating unit, with about 8,000 total staff.

DHL is to reimburse ABX for certain costs of severance, retention and other benefits as a result of terminating its use of ABX's services.

Late on Wednesday, ABX Air announced the first wave of job losses, cutting 200 jobs over the next two months.

Air Transport Services shares rose 1 cent to 97 cents on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby, editing by Dave Zimmerman)