Airborne Express

Airborne Express was the trade name, from 1985 onward, for a United States express delivery company sold to DHL in 2003. At the time it was sold, Airborne Express was the number three domestic package express company after FedEx and United Parcel Service. The Airborne name originated as Airborne Flower Traffic, a California-based air freight forwarder incorporated in 1947, which became Airborne Freight in 1965. Management originated with Pacific Air Freight, a Seattle-based air freight forwarder that took over Airborne Freight in 1968, creating a new Delaware-incorporated Airborne Freight Corporation (ABF). Following the U.S. air cargo deregulation in 1977, the company expanded from freight forwarding into overnight package delivery and acquired cargo airline Midwest Air Charter in 1980, including the airline's Wilmington, Ohio hub. Airborne became the third-largest domestic package express company behind FedEx and United Parcel Service before being acquired by DHL in 2003. As of 2026, Airborne's former airline subsidiary, ABX Air, remains in operation, having been spun out at the time of the 2003 merger due to DHL's foreign ownership.