Attacks, poor economy hurt CNF’s earnings projections

CNF’s Emery Worldwide air cargo subsidiary is expected to report a larger loss in the third quarter than originally anticipated. The increased loss is primarily due to significantly lower freight volumes experienced during the quarter compared to the prior year, CNF said.

However, the approximately $16-million net cost of providing a substitute fleet of aircraft following a voluntary shutdown by Emery Worldwide Airlines and the lost revenue from last week’s grounding of all commercial airline flights in the U.S. have added to the strain.

Emery voluntarily shut down its airline fleet after the Federal Aviation Administration threatened to revoke its operating certificate because of aircraft safety concerns.

Another CNF subsidiary, Con-Way Transportation Services, is expected to have a decline in operating income in the range of 23% to 27% in the third quarter compared with a year ago, excluding the loss on the sale of its truckload operations in last year’s quarter. Tonnage at Con-Way is expected to be lower than last year’s third quarter by approximately 2% to 4%.

Menlo Logistics is expected to have operating income that is 5% to 10% lower than the third quarter of 2000, excluding the previously announced loss of approximately $6.3 million in the third quarter from the business failure of customer HomeLife.