Ohio legislators have called on DHL’s German-owned parent company to hold talks and discuss terms with ABX Air and ASTAR Air Cargo on the airlines’ proposals to remain DHL’s air carriers in the United States.

The June 16 letter, signed by both of Ohio’s U.S. senators plus eight Ohio members of Congress, presses Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) in the final paragraph to give “genuine consideration” to proposals from current carriers ABX and ASTAR.

DPWN announced in late May it plans to contract with United Parcel Service (UPS) as the lone air carrier to transport DHL packages in North America. If the plan is carried out, it’s expected to directly cause the loss of at least 7,000 jobs at the Wilmington Air Park where ABX and ASTAR are based.

The focus of the letter to Jurgen Weber, chairman of the Deutsch Post Supervisory Board, centers on what the legislators apparently view as a lack of interest or effort by DPWN to enter into the bargaining process with DHL’s existing air carriers.

“We understand that you gave a proposal from ABX Air some consideration, but to our knowledge there was no negotiation over that proposal,” says the letter from the Ohio lawmakers.

“We also understand that ASTAR is prepared to present a proposal that would be competitive with the proposed UPS arrangement, and still keep jobs in Ohio,” the letter continues. “… we believe the company has a moral obligation as a good corporate citizen to undertake a meaningful assessment of that proposal before taking an action that will affect the livelihoods of tens of thousands of our citizens.”

Similarly, the letter’s first paragraph says, “… we ask that you allow incumbent carriers to present alternative proposals to DPWN before making a final decision.”

The letter concludes that the lawmakers would welcome an opportunity to help facilitate presentations of ABX’s and ASTAR’s proposals.

Wilmington Mayor David Raizk said Thursday evening it is his understanding from ABX Air President John Graber that ABX made a proposal to DHL earlier in the year — he believes in March — that did not yield a later substantive comment from DHL or lead to give-and-take negotiations.

According to Raizk, a Monday phone call between Ohio Lt. Governor Lee Fisher and DPWN Chief Executive Officer Frank Appel included an indication by Appel they are moving forward with the planned UPS deal. But in reply to a specific question concerning how DPWN would react to being presented a business proposition that’s competitive to the UPS proposal but which involves the Wilmington air hub, Appel said they would take it under consideration, according to Raizk’s understanding.

Referenced in the Ohio lawmakers’ letter is a possible direct loss of more than 8,000 jobs. The same sentence says there could be “an additional 30,000 downstream jobs” indirectly lost in southern Ohio.

The letter was released by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office.

Those signing the letter are Brown, U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, and U.S. representatives Michael Turner, Jean Schmidt, Zack Space, Betty Sutton, Tim Ryan, Jim Jordan, Steven C. LaTourette and Charles A. Wilson.