HOUSTON -- One of Evergreen International Aviation Inc.’s last viable divisions closed abruptly Sunday night, stranding air cargo nationally.
Evergreen EAGLE
managers told customers they were ceasing operations, no longer
providing ground-handling services for major airlines at numerous U.S.
airports.
The closure came shortly after Evergreen founder and chief executive Delford Smith told
The Oregonian that the subsidiary, Evergreen Aviation Ground Logistics
Enterprise Inc., was doing fine.
EAGLE’s demise continues the collapse
of Smith’s McMinnville-based aviation group as creditors drag its
flagship Evergreen International Airlines Inc. into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
“We
received word from Evergreen EAGLE late last night that they were
ceasing operations at all of their locations,” said Dan Landson, a
Southwest Airlines spokesman in Dallas, in a statement e-mailed Monday.
The
ground handling enterprise had continued generating income as
Evergreen’s cargo airline parked planes and amassed debts and default
judgments. Evergreen sold its helicopter division earlier this year to
pay down debt. Smith has been selling off land from an agricultural
subsidiary to raise cash.
Smith said Dec. 19 that another division -- Evergreen Trade,
which carves up planes for parts sales -- had been doing well, along
with Evergreen’s nonprofit aviation museum and water park. But an
employee said that Mike Hines, head of the parent company, Evergreen
International Aviation, told staff members in a conference call Monday
that the Trade division would close Tuesday. Employees say the Trade
division has been largely inactive, lacking money for aircraft
purchases.
The museum and water park
remain open, but creditors are selling two planes on display and the
owner of the giant Spruce Goose wooden plane is seeking final payment
for the flying boat.
Therefore EAGLE’s closure leaves the
privately held Evergreen group with few apparent assets for creditors,
even as Smith tries to save the airline by converting the Chapter 7
liquidation into a Chapter 11 reorganization.
Smith has not
returned repeated phone calls since Dec. 22 for comment. Hines did not
return a call Monday concerning EAGLE and Evergreen Trade.
EAGLE
provided ground handling services at more than 35 domestic airports such
as New York’s JFK, Chicago’s O’Hare, Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Seattle, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, and Anchorage. EAGLE handled mail cargo
and baggage transfers and provided skycap and wheelchair services. It
broke down incoming cargo for delivery and storage. It provided aircraft
cleaning, towing and pushbacks, crew transport, de-icing, loading and
unloading, lavatory waste disposal and vehicle and equipment maintenance
The
company supported carriers including Evergreen, the U.S. Postal
Service, UPS, Singapore Airlines, Air India, Turkish Airlines, Pakistan
International Airlines, Avianca, Emirates Cargo, Cathay Pacific Cargo,
Air France, Nippon Cargo Airlines, Lufthansa and Korean Airlines.
Jens
“Jay” Schulz, a former Evergreen International Airlines employee at New
York’s JFK who works at a courier company, said he received an e-mail
Monday from a Southwest Airlines cargo representative concerning EAGLE’s
shutdown in Milwaukee.
“Very sorry for the trouble and
inconvenience this sudden news causes,” the Southwest Airlines e-mail
said. “Unfortunately Southwest Cargo management did not receive word
from Evergreen until late last night that they were ceasing cargo
handling operations at all locations including MKE.”
Schulz is a
plaintiff in a federal class-action suit seeking back wages and benefits
from Evergreen. He said Southwest Airlines informed customers that
EAGLE had stopped accepting outbound freight.
“We are working towards resuming freight operations at MKE as soon as possible,” the Southwest Airlines cargo rep wrote.
Landson,
the Southwest Airlines spokesman, said EAGLE provided cargo handling
solely in Milwaukee for the airline, which had used the service for
about 18 months.