DHL

From Wikicompany

DHL, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post, is a worlwide courier service company.

History

DHL was founded in 1969 by Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom, and Robert Lynn, as a courier service between San Francisco and Honolulu. The founders' surname initials form the company name.

The company quickly expanded by adding services in: Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East during the 1970s.

In 2001, Deutsche Post World Net acquired the majority (51%) of the shares, and 100% ownership in 2002. The new DHL was launched by merging the old DHL, Danzas and Euro Express.

On August 15, 2003, Deutsche Post acquired Airborne Express, and began consolidating it into DHL.

DHL owns its own cargo airline DHL Aviation operating out of Brussels International Airport, in Belgium. On September 2004, a planned expansion of DHL activity on the site of Zaventem, where the airport is located, created a political crisis in Belgium [1].

On October 21, 2004, DHL announced that it would move its European hub from Brussels to either Leipzig, Germany, or Vatry, France. DHL's labor unions struck in response, paralyzing work on that day.

Securicor Omega is also owned by DHL.

DHL has come under heavy criticism for its partnership with Myanmar Post and Telecom, a subsidiary of Myanmar's dictatorship government. In September 2004, the Burma Campaign UK officially listed Deutsche Post (the owner of DHL) on their boycott list.