Per the previous posts, DHL does not have it's own fleet (with rare exceptions--I think they own European Air Transport, "EAT", Brussels--they might own something else). The freight is flown by a number of contractors and it's hard to figure out who they are. There are a lot of contracts for belly freight and that sort of thing. Lufthansa has a big contract for international, I think Lufthansa is involved with Jade International which will be flying freight from Asia, especially China. Northwest has a contract. I think Gemini has done some flying for them and I know there are contracts with Cathay. So, with the exception of EAT you can't get a job with DPWN/DHL.

DHL America, AStar and ABX are quite occupied with integrating the system and handling the holiday freight. I think AStar did some hiring in 2005, don't think they are hiring at the moment. ABX hasn't hired for quite a while--maybe three years. Movement is very slow at both carriers right now. All of that could change after the integration dust settles. I wouldn't be surprised to see some hiring at both carriers in 2006. Who knows about movement up the list--that depends on DHL's success and growth which is anybody's guess.

As far as being "American", yes the profits ultimately go to Bonn. In the meantime, tens of thousands of U.S. citizens are employed. Whether a "global economy" is a good thing or a bad thing is over my head. FedEx/UPS sued DPWN over foreign ownership (defacto control of AStar/ABX) but now FedEx/UPS are both pushing for open skies so that they can buy stakes in EU companies. Perhaps they are just adapting to marketplace reality, but it seems possible to me that the opposition to foreign ownership was more political than principled from the start. I wonder how FedEx/UPS will handle intra-EU flying? I suppose that's an open question depending on the terms of the open-skies agreement and, of course, the pilot's collective bargaining agreement.

If you're interested in working for AStar/ABX your best bet is probably to find a pilot for one or the other that will take your resume in. Best of luck.