Even though United Parcel Service Inc.’s principal West Coast facility is at Ontario International Airport, it also likes the idea of an airport at El Toro, said Michael L. Eskew, vice chairman of the world’s largest courier.
“It has great infrastructure,” Eskew said. If the former Marine base does become an airport, “it’s something that we would be interested in looking at.”
But for right now, Eskew said, as UPS grows its business in Orange County, the company wants to add to its one flight daily permitted out of John Wayne Airport.
Eskew said the nation’s infrastructure needs are not keeping pace with demand for air courier services.
“As the aluminum keeps getting put in the sky, we need more concrete on the ground. We do need to keep the infrastructure moving. That’s the demand that we all need to face,” he said.
Eskew made his comments after giving a speech last week to the Orange County Chapter of the British American Business Council at the Sutton Place Hotel in Newport Beach.
Eskew said UPS has experienced 15% growth in the Asia-Pacific region in the first semester this year. He also noted the company is building a new $23 million facility in Singapore.
And UPS is negotiating for direct flights into mainland China. If granted, travel time for parcels could be reduced from the three to four days it now takes to get into China through a Chinese carrier.
“We think (direct flights) will take at least a day off the shipping time, maybe a day and a half,” said Eskew. n
