By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The UPS cargo plane crash on Tuesday at the company’s global aviation hub in Kentucky, which killed at least nine, will temporarily disrupt the supply chain and result in some shipping delays.
But UPS says it has contingency plans in place, and experts say the impact should be cleared up before the peak holiday season.
The plane crashed Tuesday evening as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport, UPS’ largest shipping hub, at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Package sorting at the center was halted late Tuesday and the halt continued on Wednesday. About 416,000 packages can be sorted at the facility per hour, according to a UPS fact sheet.
UPS has not released any details about how many and what type of packages were on the plane.
Ed Anderson, a professor of supply chain and operations management for the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, estimates the average number of packages per plane leaving the Louisville shipping hub is 10,000 to 13,000.
Consumers who want to check on their UPS packages can wait to hear from the company or look up tracking details online. UPS has a claims process for lost or damaged packages, but it is unclear if people and businesses with packages on the downed plane will have to go through that process. UPS will likely reach out to affected customers in coming days. They did not respond to a request for comment.
Tom Goldsby, professor of supply chain management at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, said UPS will most likely step up flights to its regional hubs to offset Worldport’s closure.
The hubs are “going to take on a greater burden until that critical operation in Louisville gets back to the full capacity,” he said.
UPS said in a statement that it has contingency plans in place to help ensure that shipments arrive at their final destinations as quickly as conditions permit, but did not give specifics on what the plans were.
Goldsby said UPS will be under pressure to resolve any delays before the peak holiday season.
“It’s an issue that they quickly want to resolve, but they are going to have to do their due diligence in resolving the current crisis,” he said.
He himself was expecting a UPS package from Oregon routed through Worldport today, but got a message that it would have to be rescheduled.
“I understand the circumstance and will gladly receive it when it arrives,” he said, adding patience will be needed for others expecting packages. “People and businesses don’t have a lot of understanding (about the supply chain). We just don’t expect our logistics operations to have a calamity or even a bad day.”
The crash comes as UPS works on a turnaround, focusing less on Amazon deliveries and more on business-to-business deliveries. In its most recent earnings report last week, the company said it has cut 48,000 jobs in the year to date and closed some buildings as part of its turnaround. Its third-quarter results beat expectations.