China Airlines has suspended cargo operations at Nashville airport, a victim of a sluggish economy and weaker international trade, particularly with its major customer here, Dell Computers.Nashville International Airport officials are holding out hope the suspension is just that, and that the cargo air carrier resumes operations here at some point.
China Airlines has operated here since 2001. What no-one points out is the cost to the people who worked there. Without warning, their jobs are yanked out from under them. And from that there is a ripple effect up to and including foreclosures. It is a short news item, an airline stops flying to a destination. But it has a long tail.
Tennessean.com points out that United Parcel Service and Federal Express are the airport’s biggest cargo customers, along with Taiwan-based China Airlines, which has operated a Boeing 747 cargo flight six days a week through the Nashville airport.