A strike by ABX Air pilots in Ohio could cause delivery delays for DHL and Amazon, just as the busiest shopping season of the year begins.
According to USA Today, ABX Air is responsible for 45 daily DHL flights and 35 for Amazon, all of which were canceled Tuesday and will not be taking flight until the strike ends.
The transport company is seeking a court order to end the strike, USA Today said.
About 250 pilots are participating in the strike, and no pilots will cross the picket lines to allow ABX to operate in any way.
At issue is staffing levels, with the pilots saying that they are being forced to work on their days off and against their contract, Fox News reported.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, the pilots' union claims that they have had to cover more than 8,000 emergency assignment days on their time off rather than calling back pilots that had been furloughed.
Airline president John Starkovich claims that the strike is illegal and needs to be settled through arbitration. A judge will decide on Wednesday whether to end the strike forcibly.
Amazon reportedly told Bloomberg it will be able to make deliveries as scheduled because it works with many different carriers, USA Today said.
Amazon is building three data centers and two warehouses in Ohio and plans to invest $1 billion into the state, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
USA Today reported that according to The Associated Press, DHL and Amazon made up 65 percent of Air Transport Service’s revenue in the third quarter. Air Transport Service is the parent company of Air ABX.