Honda, Subaru bypassing port slowdown with air shipments

A labor dispute at ports along the West Coast of the United States has forced Honda and Subaru to begin shipping some vehicle parts via aircraft.
Thanks to an ongoing dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and management, shipments at the nation’s 29 West Coast ports has slowed to a crawl over the last few weeks. If a labor agreement isn’t reached within the next 10-day, the ports could be closed completely.

In order to bypass the work slowdown, both Honda and Subaru began moving parts from Japan to the U.S. by air instead of boat last month. Those efforts would intensify if a full work stoppage were to occur.

Mitsuru Takahashi, chief financial officer of Subaru, told Bloomberg that the switch to air delivery would increase the company’s costs by $60 million per month.

So far neither Honda nor Subaru have slowed their U.S. production, but Toyota has eliminated some overtime shifts as the result of the labor dispute. Other foreign automakers could follow suit if the situation deteriorates.

Farther reaching than just the auto sector, some have warned that a port closure could cause a “coast-wide meltdown.”