JOC Staff | Jan 04, 2013 8:57AM EST
John Menzies, the UK aviation services and distribution company, said it is closing its cargo-handling unit at Chicago O’Hare airport as part of a restructuring that also involved the shuttering of freight operations at four British airports.
The closure, following a failure to find a buyer over the past two years, will cost £7 million ($11.2 million), taking total restructuring charges to £18 million ($28.8 million).
The Chicago business has been loss-making since the 2008 global recession, which resulted in sharply lower cargo volumes. The closure will boost 2013 operating profit by $2.3 million, the company said.
Menzies has cargo-handling operations at five other U.S. airports, including John F. Kennedy International and Los Angeles International.
The Scotland-based firm’s aviation unit has 131 stations in 29 countries, handling 1.4 million tons of cargo and 71 million passengers a year. It has a 17,000-strong payroll and generates over $1 billion of revenue.
