The survey, designed to identify the most customer-sensitive U.S. companies in various industry categories, was conducted by Knowledge Exchange, a Los Angeles-based publisher of business and finance books, which also presented the awards.

"Airborne's reputation for quality service starts with the ability of our employees to listen to customers," said Gary Reynolds, Airborne Express vice president of customer assistance. "Understanding customers real and perceived needs, we identify solutions that truly make a shipper's job easier."

Among the solutions that helped Airborne achieve distinction are:

• 22 regional customer assistance centers staffed by full-time customer satisfaction representatives.
• A culture steeped in personal accountability and a fundamental employee commitment to make Airborne the premier provider of customer satisfaction in the transportation industry.
• Ongoing, personalized training of customer satisfaction representatives to ensure excellent performance.
• A variety of automated, computerized and online service options which allow customers extensive control and flexibility in the scheduling of pickups, tracking of shipments or processing of information.

Fred Wiersema, a nationally recognized business strategist and author of new book, Customer Intimacy, published by Knowledge Exchange, said, "In today's competitive marketplace, companies seeking to improve their bottom lines must regard customer service and human capital issues with the utmost seriousness. The findings of this survey show that, in many cases, those companies with the best customer service practices are also industry leaders. Every management team should take note."

Airborne's focus on customer intimate, specialized solutions for business has recently earned the company numerous quality service awards from corporate customers, including AT&T, C.H. Robinson Company, Harris Corporation, RJ Reynolds, PMI Foods, Premark Corporation and Texaco.

Airborne Express, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 1996, is the third-largest and fastest-growing domestic air express delivery carrier in the nation. Airborne offers customized solutions to fit the needs of businesses worldwide, including same-day, overnight express, next afternoon, second day, international express and freight, logistics, warehousing and ocean service.