FedEx combining air, ground operations to slash costs
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FedEx will combine almost all of its ground, air and other operations by next year as part of a $4 billion cost cutting plan.
The package delivery company said Wednesday that FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Services and other FedEx operating companies will be rolled into a single entity by June 2024 in a companywide reorganization. FedEx Freight, the company’s freight transportation services division, will continue as a stand-alone company within Federal Express Corp.
Raj Subramaniam will serve as president and CEO of the combined organization. John Smith will become president and CEO of U.S. and Canada ground operations at FedEx Express and assume leadership of surface operations across the FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, and FedEx Freight businesses. Richard Smith will serve as president and CEO, airline and international at FedEx Express, overseeing all other regions and FedEx Logistics.
The company expects to realize permanent cost reductions of $4 billion from the reshuffle at some point during fiscal 2025.
FedEx said in September that its operating expenses were rising and that it was maneuvering to address those costs, including the closure of over 90 FedEx Office locations and five corporate offices. It also said it would defer on new hires and operate fewer flights.
The Memphis, Tennessee-based company also announced Wednesday that it’s boosting its annual dividend by 10%, or 44 cents per share, to $5.04 per share for fiscal 2024.
Shares rose more than 3% before the opening bell.
FedEx, which employs 5,800 people at its Indianapolis International Airport Hub, announced plans late last month to consolidate its Los Angeles-based maintenance operations into Indianapolis facilities as part of a cost-cutting maneuver that would eliminate as many as 400 jobs in California.
Indianapolis is home to the world’s second-largest FedEx facility, behind only the company’s Memphis headquarters. It has about 35 facilities across Marion County alone—accounting for air and ground services—and employs about 13,700 people across the state.