Biometrics Busting Out All Over Just as May is ending, biometrics, like the month of June waiting in the wings, is busting out all over.
Right now, mobile hotel booking app Sidehide and Onfido, a global identity verification and authentication company, said that they are about to test “immunity passport” integration for Sidehide’s hotel booking platform to verify immunity status.
Forwarder Dilemma Post COVID-19 “Air cargo, a most affected service commodity under the COVID-19 pandemic,is facing unprecedented challenges ahead,” Keshav Tanna, Director at Links Forwarders Pvt. Ltd. (Mumbai India), told FlyingTypers.
Keshav, who also devotes much time and effort to FIATA as an Extended Board Member & FIATA Chairman - Airfreight Institute (AFI), declares:
“Airlines are bleeding, and airport cargo terminals are congested with uncleared cargo.
“Customs are working at skeletal capacity in many parts of the world and the highly time-sensitive nature of airfreight shipments is making the situation challenging.
Take These Words to Heart “I do not believe that the air cargo industry will change. The significant changes which will take place in the airline industry will be determined by passenger-related issues.”
Jacques Ancher, Amsterdam, Netherlands May 9, 2020.
Air Cargo's Intrinsic Value Ram Menen who invented air cargo for Emirates Airline and then led the Dubai carrier before retiring seven years ago joins the COVID-19 and air cargo story.
“Surveying the air cargo event landscape for the remainder of 2020,” Ram said,” my guess is cargo events folks are a bit more optimistic than everybody else, namely the attendees.”
Truckers Invite Children into the Picture Here is an at home activity to bring out the artists in our next generations.
In the U.S., The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is accepting entries for their annual calendar, inviting children in kindergarten through sixth grade (ages 5-12) to use their creativity and talent to help raise awareness of how to stay safe on the roads.
Winners will see their art on thousands of calendars in 2021 and there are some other prizes as well.
Don't Let the Parade Pass You By Next Monday is Memorial Day in America. The federal holiday honors and mourns military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
The holiday, which is always observed on the last Monday in May, falls a little early in 2020, but that is good because this year it feels like we have all been fighting a war.
We should pause and say prayers for our soldiers, as the country has done since 1870.
But this year, let’s include everyone who has fought and been lost in the battle against COVID-19.
COVID-19 Shakeup Like No Other We asked former President of American Airlines Cargo Bill Boesch to handicap the future of our business and what must we do now and post pandemic to come back stronger than ever?
Bill is the subject of an exciting must-read new book titled “Tracks in the Sand – Bill Boesch and the Iraqi Transportation Network” by Jakub Wrzesniewski. Available on Amazon and on Kindle.
Here is the story of how Bill, after departing his post as President of American Airlines Cargo nearly a decade ago, volunteered to go outside the wire in war-torn Iraq to flip insurgent sheikhs into American partners, delivering essential supplies to U.S. troops all over Iraq.
Wally World on Southwest Time Likeable and without a doubt, a picture worth a thousand words at home is good enough for Wally Devereaux, Managing Director Cargo and Charters, and long-time air cargo point man at Southwest Airlines Cargo here with daughters Emmy (l) and Abby (r). Before we go full barrel Southwest Cargo in an upcoming issue, we wonder here how goes it in Wally’s World this week as COVID-19 continues to impact his air cargo plan?
King Soliman Minds Mateen Mateen Express & Logistics has appointed Albert Soliman as Director, Commercial/Operations and Head of Air Transportation Services.
In making the appointment, Majid Barzanji, Chairman & Executive Director of Mateen Express, declared:
“Mateen Express continues to grow its services for customers and I am very pleased to welcome Albert to the team.
“The creation of this new role combined with Albert’s broad experience, regional expertise and customer centric focus are part of Mateen Express’ continued commitment to excellence in any environment.”
Cargo in the Cabin In a new book just out this week “Shakespeare For Squirrels” meets Dashiell Hammett in a fun and entertaining murder mystery from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore.
Ordinary People Everyday Heroes Sources tell us that in Istanbul, Turkish Cargo people are operating from home, as most citizens of the City on the Bosporus remain sheltered in place.
Of course operations people are working in the warehouse and on the ramp filling up scores of empty aircraft and freighters servicing cargo destinations worldwide.
Right now at Turkish Airlines, passenger travel is limited to Turkish nationals returning home, as well as similar charters moving foreign nationals back to their homeland.
Picture for a Sunday Afternoon So, there you are with a library of films, including some favorites that may or may not have hit your home screen during this pandemic lockdown.
Last month in a weekend edition we listed some aviation-themed film favorites.
This week we want to share the movies of a person you probably don’t know, but should.
Haymes Defines Easy Listening Dick Haymes who was in top form during the same time the immortal Preston Sturges movies were released, was the great baritone “Mohair Sam” of his era: a top 40 musical boy singer hit machine from another time.
Although Dick didn’t work with Preston, his cinema performance in the musical “State Fair” as well as his reading of “How Are Things in Glocca Morra” from Finian’s Rainbow are timeless.
Escape From Shelter in Place In a new book just out this week “Shakespeare For Squirrels” meets Dashiell Hammett in a fun and entertaining murder mystery from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore.
Disney Shanghai Back in Business One bright spot in the reopened Chinese factories is the middle class in China. Having had their fill of sorrow and death, the middle class has elected cars as the mode of travel that avoids public transport and maintains social distancing.
Volkswagen said that sales of passenger cars are up in China, where it has extensive operations, as compared to last year.
As Cargo Goes Main Deck While everybody is masking up to go outside, elsewhere others are attempting to unmask just what our transportation world might look like in the future. One determined freight forwarder, EMO Trans CEO Joachim “Jo” Frigger, insists that “keeping it simple is how logistics works best.”
“While we grieve for everyone that has suffered during the past months and look ahead to an end to this current situation, my view is that logistics is the oldest profession in the world, ever since Eve delivered an apple to Adam, and it has always worked best by keeping things simple.”
What Does the Shipper Want? Sometimes you can uncover exceptional air cargo work just walking up and down the cargo area.
In the go-go, high-tech, and very beautiful city of Tallinn, Estonia, resides Ospentos Oy, a company founded in Helsinki in 1986.
Ospentos handles air cargo related business throughout Finland, the Baltic States, Belorussia, and Ukraine.
The company principals and great old friends Erik Byman and Haiti Arendi, both members of the board, share some thoughts of how they are coping as they guide their very high-tech but always human company through the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Home at Work with Cathy Cathy Roberson spent a decade at UPS as a marketing analyst before venturing out to found Logistics Trends & Insights, which provides industry updates and analysis, reports, white papers, and consulting.
Here she shares a view of working from home near Atlanta, Georgia, her passion for logistics, and also offers a glimpse of her co-worker, Libby.
A-380 Freighters on the Way Lufthansa Technik is busy reconfiguring an expanding menu of aircraft turned into freighters, including a scheme for a possible Airbus A380 to-cargo modification.
With every A380 in the world grounded, with its almost miniscule cargo lifting capacity, the word that the world’s biggest passenger carrier might find a second life as a freighter could be an “Oh my God!” moment for some, but surely better than a punch in the nose indeed.
ATC Looks Past Pandemic to Possibilities “The COVID-19 Pandemic has challenged us at this point on a sustained level as no time in history, but in our line of work we have remained flexible and kept our team on point to be both inventive and to be in close touch with our airline partners.
“The best surprise is no surprise so our top priority is transparency every step of the way before, during and after the lockdown.
“I am very impressed with the flexibility of our team to work remotely and also the support of our service partners in seeking alternative methods to keep the supply chains open.
“Now as we move forward we redouble our effort to be there for our partners every step of the way.”
IATA Webinar Shoulders Cargo in Cabin This past Tuesday showed us just how important the elevated interest is in air cargo.
Over 1,600 people from around the world went online to hear from IATA on a webinar entitled, “Transport of cargo on aircraft configured for the carriage of passengers.” That session, highlighted, prior to being held, here in FlyingTypers, delivered high attendance that among other things showed how much interest there is in the effort to use passenger aircraft for all cargo operations.
The number of carriers now using their passenger fleet for filling the lost passenger cargo belly space is growing daily and demand has been very high.
Senators Hearing Airlines Todd Hauptli, President & CEO of American Association of Airport Executives took a deep breath and shared his future outlook for the airport business in the U.S., quoting Winston Churchill: “When you are going through hell keep going,” Mr. Hauptli said.
The U.S. airlines and airports, crippled in just seven weeks since all went south, were on the menu as the Senate Committee of Science and Transportation heard a parade of aviation spokespeople at coronavirus hearings in Washington May 6.
Will Pandemic 2020 Bring Back Combi Cargo? The carriage of cargo in passenger compartments has opened up thoughts of permanent change moving forward.
It is no secret that cargo in passenger compartments, as an every day event brings into play a great deal of ingenuity to support the safe and efficient operation of this practice.
The question is raised whether the industry will see a return to combi aircraft, not an unreasonable proposition, given the urgent need to put grounded passenger aircraft to use.
IATA Cargo Webinar in Touch Tuesday On Tuesday April 28th, IATA held a worldwide conference call with over 500 people to provide an update on air cargo in the COVID-19 world.
This was the first time that IATA had used a forum such as this and advised that they will be holding more webinars soon.
In fact, the next webinar will be held on May 5th and will be focused on Transport of cargo on aircraft configured for the carriage of passengers. More information here.
Into the Glyn, IATA Looks Ahead Glyn Hughes, IATA Global Head of Cargo for nearly the past six years has stabilized that position by being likeable, knowledgeable and someone you can talk to on a wide variety of subjects and come away impressed.
That is no small feat as IATA Cargo, with a big diverse and at times divided membership, has gone through several years of change at the top.
But along came Glyn, who had served in other positions at IATA for years, ready, willing and able to hit the mark and move air cargo into the 21st century.
Feliz Cinco de Mayo! A man dressed as a female Mexican rebel takes part in a recreation of the Battle of Puebla during "Cinco de Mayo" observance in Mexico City.
Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant serves the best margaritas, and is open at this time for to-go orders and Margarita Pitchers are available with food orders only.
Dixie Chicks on Truckers Menu Donna Mullins of Mullins International Solutions—profiled here recently for her outstanding work in the Atlanta logistics community and beyond—has done it again.
Today when a random act of kindness and caring can often make the difference, she has marshalled a brave band of ladies to venture out with face masks, rubber gloves and proper social distancing to Hartsfield Jackson International Airport (HIJA) in Atlanta, where they have been delivering food to truckers who had nowhere else to go.
Here Donna picks up the story.
Words May Inspire “Health is the key word.
“As long as there is no cure for COVID-19, prevention is our only defense.
“Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of the new German Republic in 1948 who assumed office and then had to deal with the blockade of Berlin when air cargo came to the rescue and helped save a city of two million people, once declared: “The situation is serious, but not hopeless.”
Pumping Traffic for April 30, 2020 Southwest reported disastrous numbers this week losing $95 million in Q1 while saying May numbers do not look much better. “A crisis unprecedented in our history,” said CEOGary Kelly...
Qatar Cargo is up to Down Under Qatar Airways Cargo said it joined the International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) an initiative by the Australian Government to help restore critical global supply chains for high-value Australian agricultural and fisheries producers, who have been heavily impacted by COVID-19 containment measures around the world. Through this initiative, the Australian Government is helping cover the cost of airfreight – reducing airfreight and freight forwarding costs for exporters and other measures for businesses and exporters.
Finnair Sends out the Pasi “It has been interesting and challenging, but at the same time it has been great to see how the Finnair spirit can be seen and felt in the organization,” declared Pasi Nopanen, Finnair Cargo Asia Sales Director. Based in Shanghai, Pasi has been on the job for about a month now.
Virgin Cargo has a Pizzazz Virgin Cargo includes an inventive bunch of can-do logisticians.
There are airlines with bigger fleets but Virgin Cargo has a pizzazz!
First, it was lifting emergency supplies from China to UK.
The pictures of Virgin crew uplifting medical supplies, whilst donning face masks and social distancing in honor of the UK National health Service (NHS) will remain an indelible and highly endearing moment of this crises. The ongoing view of VS inventive and creative marketing has been a beacon of determination and forward thinking, personifying style and spirited elegance during the worldwide lockdown.
Rationalizing Nationalizing Airlines If you examine the Continuation of Air Service Document obligations for air carriers receiving financial relief, dated April 7 and issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the “strings attached” to the bailout funding for the airlines reveals some numbers about service levels that are truly shocking. It’s not about the money that the airlines will or have already received. The DOT paper is a grim, graphic reminder of the crushing blow on the industry we all serve.
Italy and India in Virus Pandemic Geoffrey’s busy schedule, despite isolation at home in New York, has been rich in contacts. In particular India and Italy were the two countries which captured his interest this time. The two are apparently so different, and at times on either side of the rainbow, but they have more in common than one imagines.
An example comes from politics: Sonia Maino Gandhi was born in Italy at the end of 1946, just a few months before India’s independence. Her journey through life is as interesting as a novel.
What Have They Done to the Rain Today, April 22, 2020, marks the 70th Annual Earth Day. Most of the human beings on our planet are at home in the coronavirus lockdown. It’s the perfect time to take a pause in the daily occupation, to take a deep breath and consider all the warnings about global warming and the nasty outcome that may lie in store for all of us because of what we have done to negatively impact the planet.
The reality of global warming always seemed a bit far away, as we went about recycling and changing light bulbs and taking other baby steps that environmentalists insist are not enough to prevent an ecological judgement day. We’ve now discovered the fragility of the life we lead on this earth as we spend another day in total lockdown.
Virgin Reopens China Service Virgin Atlantic Cargo has become the first British airline to resume scheduled services to China, operating three flights a week from Heathrow Airport to Shanghai.
The cargo capacity on two of the thrice-weekly Boeing 787-9 flights from China will be used exclusively by the UK Department of Health and Social Care to increase deliveries of Personal Protective Equipment and medical supplies for front-line NHS staff.
Virgin Atlantic has so far completed five flights from Shanghai for the NHS, with its Boeing 787-9 services having already delivered 80 tons of cargo consisting of 3.5 million items of personal protective equipment, including 50 ventilators, 1.8 million face masks, 600,000 face shields and visors, 1 million disposable gloves, 38,000 items for eye protection, and 75,000 protective coveralls and isolation gowns. Equipment is being dispatched immediately to doctors and nurses in hospitals across the UK to help reduce the impact of the COVID-19 virus.
Virus Trucking Needs Coordination It has been a month since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic.
“Unilateral measures have been put in place by governments. The International Road Transport Union (IRU) global appeal is for immediate and concerted actions by governments and global organizations to stabilize mobility networks and ensure the continued flow of goods,” IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto said emphatically.
United Cargo over the Moon “The struggle to control the pandemic has to be a joint project, as if the whole planet were seeking to reach the moon together,” writes Amy Davidson Sorkin in the April 27 issue of The New Yorker.
Because we are some distance away from seeing the end of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the world is also looking for people to come forward to keep things moving.
Currently in a time of uncertainty, the standout people bravely face down the virus, refusing to quit whilst keeping life moving.
As you look at empty spaces and closed shops and security check points at every cavernous passenger terminal in the world, know that there are lots of people out there making air cargo deals.
Remembering James Hartigan, Sr. Former United Airlines President, CEO, and later Chairman James Hartigan, Sr., died at home in Barrington, Illinois, on March 28 at age 95.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Hartigan started working for United in New York in 1942 as a junior passenger agent.
In 1945 he returned to United after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he underwent pilot training and later was a flight instructor in Florida.
Picture for a Sunday Afternoon Okay, It’s Friday, and the global pandemic swirling all about us, seems to showing a bit of let up, at least, in some quarters.
Whether or not we will have anything that resembles normal in 2020, is an open question, as COVID-19 has turned the world upside down.
In any case, for now, it really doesn’t matter where you are, you’re there and there you are!
Air Cargo Strong We received some words of encouragement from Gentleman Mike White CNS President a couple weeks ago:
“At this time I am getting a lot of calls from many friends and colleagues in the industry that just need to talk.”
American Homespun Air Cargo Rick Elieson moves easily from his vocation as the President of American Airlines Cargo to his avocation as a brilliant naturalist photographer.
These days we imagine Rick working from the sanctuary of home in the embrace of family and photos, continuing to think big thoughts as he pilots the cargo fortunes of the biggest airline in the world.
Here he shares an inside look at his professional and personal life today, and some idea what we all might expect from air cargo moving ahead in 2020.
When Italian Sunday Was Easter and Monday Was Fun In the north of Italy, the 1950s were probably the busiest period the area ever experienced in modern times.
Our industry was trying to recover fast from the destructions of World War II and Turin was then the busiest of all cities, busy inventing and manufacturing Italian television, telephones, cars, chemicals, fashion, food, pens, buttons, tires… you name it.
No Country is Independent “The threat to international trade represented by the epidemic appears to be growing in intensity,” Massimo Roccasecca declared.
“The Italian government seemed to be directed to keep the freight sector out of the restrictions on mobility; however, is it realistic that the logistics sector continues its work without repercussions, like an island in the middle of a stormy sea, without mentioning the unrest spontaneously starting in the manufacturing industry?”
Project Airbridge Not AirBridgeCargo On Sunday, March 29th, Atlas Air operated the first flight for Project Airbridge from Shanghai, China into New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The flight carried 130,000 N-95 masks; nearly 1.8 million surgical masks and gowns; more than 10.3 million gloves; and more than 70,000 thermometers.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “Project Airbridge” effort to move critical supplies into the U.S. continues at fever pitch via more than 70 all cargo flights scheduled during April alone, utilizing aircraft of only U.S. Flag—UPS, FedEx, Atlas Air and some others.
India Stops and Goes Air Cargo Before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the three-week lockdown at 8:00 pm on March 24, freighter movement—without any restrictions—had been allowed. Soon after the announcement, the government has accorded permission to private airlines to operate passenger planes only with cargo.
Who Are Those Masked People? There is something instantly compelling and so wonderfully appealing in this picture of Virgin Atlantic people moving some medical supplies on an all-cargo VS flight from PVG to LHR last Friday April 3.
It’s about the culture of the business we are in and the people that touch us (from a proper social distance) every day.
“We are incredibly grateful to the British National Health Service( NHS) for everything they are doing for the nation in extremely challenging circumstances, as they respond to the Covid-19 crisis,” declared Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo.
In Virus Crisis, Forwarders Get No Respect In the U.S. FlyingTypers learned that several small freight forwarding companies have gone out of business since the COVID-19 Pandemic has shut down the nation and many more are teetering on the edge of insolvency.
“The coronavirus scourge has so far adversely impacted countless companies and millions of American workers,” declared Brandon Fried, President of the U.S. Washington-based Airforwarders Association.
India Agents in Cass Throwdown As the COVID-19 Pandemic continues to take hold in India, the major cause of worry that air freight forwarders have been facing—in the 21-day lockdown that India is going through—are the conflicting directives from authorities and regulators.
One challenge is payment of handling charges through IATA’s Cargo Account Settlement System (CASS) to international carriers bringing or taking goods from India.
China Back to Work...Sort of In the United States and elsewhere in the world, people are feeling the sting of the deadly COVID-19 virus. There is growing apprehension that what is unknown about the pandemic continues to out-pace any true understanding of the virus.
We are living at a time when the global community is increasingly desperate to have some indication of what to expect in the future.
TV shows are updating the viruses’ spread on a daily basis, showing numbers for places like Turin, Italy, or New York City, where the virus is rising and claiming victims.
Now we are told that China and Korea are moving back to work.
United Cargo: A Dream of Eagles United Cargo helps military families stay connected with increased frequency of cargo-only flights between the United States and military bases in various parts of the world, including Guam, Kwajalein, and several countries in Europe.
Last week as we reported here, United began operating a minimum of 40 cargo-only flights weekly using Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft to fly freight and mail to and from U.S. hubs and key international business and military locations.
Cruise from Hell to Mercy Sailing Remember the beginning of the COVID-19 menace in the U.S., when thousands of people were stuck on giant ships bobbing in the bay or tied up at the dock? Back then, when the novel coronavirus was only just beginning to spread, it turned what was supposed to be a sun ’n fun, dressed for cocktails on the high seas seafaring journey into a “Cruise From Hell.”
Well “Oceans of Change” are underway as Carnival Corporation has offered to redeploy 15 cruise ships as hospital ships.
PayCargo Freedom in Pandemic The new thinking in these times has also has pushed forward a revolutionary air cargo invoice system called PayCargo.
Lionel van der Walt, who like most of us is working 14-hour days from home, sees some unique possibilities moving forward post pandemic.
Past Pandemic, Air Cargo Could Power the Economy If you are wondering what happens next once the world moves past the COVID-19 pandemic, then you might consider the passenger airlines serving as cargo carriers right now. They are thrusting our industry forward as a powerhouse of the new economy.
Not since The Berlin Airlift in 1949 has there been so much global attention directed toward air cargo.
Air Cargo Delivers the World “Really strange times,” says Achim Martinka, Lufthansa Cargo Vice President Germany.
“My two cents, and sense of the situation shared to our customers, partners and everyone in the air cargo industry:
“We all play a crucial role to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.
“Being in logistics right now, means keeping the food- and medical-supply chain alive around the globe.
“It means getting protection-suits, respiratory equipment and medicine to the hospitals; and also the provisions of life including fruits, vegetables or milk powder to the food-stores.”
Sign Of The Times In Turin, Italy, a sign tells it like it is as unprecedented restrictions are enforced to halt the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
The number of new infections in Italy declined again on March 23 for the second day in a row.
Logistics Delivers Hope To The World If you like classical music and dignified entertainment in Italy, you surely and regularly listen to Radio3.
Each morning at 08:00 Radio3 opens its microphones to the public to call in and voice their concerns or ask questions, which a different journalist addresses every week.
What follows is more or less what I told Federico Fubini, a particularly distinguished journalist working for Corriere della Sera, this morning (March 24):
“My name is Marco. I now live in Turin after a life spent in logistics, before my retirement from FIATA, the international association that gives a voice to all logistics operators.”
Hell Or High Water Cargo Flies “Connecting products to people around the world is the United Cargo mission,” said Jan Krems, United Cargo President.
“That role has never been more crucial than during the current crisis.
“Our team is working around the clock to provide innovative solutions for our customers and support the global community.
“Getting critical goods into the hands of the businesses and people who need them most is extremely important right now.”
EMO Trans Open For Business Worldwide As the COVID-19 pandemic story continues to unfold, EMO Trans said that the global company is stepping up to find solutions and keeping business moving for the stability of the global economy.
“EMO Trans is fully operational, and we are all in this together,” declared Joachim ‘Jo’ Frigger, EMO Trans Chairman.
“We have implemented a 50/50 remote work schedule in which 50% of staff is in the office and 50% are working remotely and alternating days for social distancing. “However, every employee is working each day and available by phone or email.”
The World United President Trump designated last Sunday, March 15, a National Day of Prayer for everyone in the path of COVID-19.
Here, we share our prayers for you.
If there is one thing apparent as the corona pandemic rampages around our planet, it is that when it comes to the next chapter in all of our lives, we will all need to depend on each other, like it or not.
The coronavirus has delivered an important lesson for all of us. Mankind does not get a free pass from suffering, and there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
When you think about it, there are always any number of challenges to us on Earth, but which challenges can or should we embrace?
FIATA Door Open To Busan Fall Meet “I know what you want to ask me,” Basil Pietersen, President of FIATA smiled, “you wonder if our FIATA Annual World Congress will take place in Busan, Korea October 19-24?
“At this point in time I am not able to answer your question definitively.
“That said, expectation that the pandemic will importantly slow down by the summer is grounded on solid science and seems to work in our favor.
“What remains to be seen is whether the ability to travel for FIATA will resume to normal by the summer.”
Big Purple Profits Down Demand Is Up FedEx Chairman and CEO Fred Smith is confident his company is capable of handling increased demand for its international express delivery services.
He was also upbeat about China's recovery from COVID-19 saying “China is up and running again and there are increasing backlogs.”
Mr. Smith also said that out of the 900 plus people Big Purple employs in Wuhan, China “only four contracted the virus and all have recovered.
CNS April Partnership Cancelled In Texas and other parts of the American West when two men dueled, the loser was said to have “bitten the dust”.
Well, sadly after a brave struggle CNS Partnership 2020 scheduled for April 26 in Dallas Ft. Worth is cancelled.
Despite the best effort of CNS President Gentleman Mike White who continues to weigh the possibility of reviving the conference for later in 2020, CNS Partnership for next month, like so many other business gatherings around our COVID-19 world has bit the dust for another day.
Virgin Moves As Pandemic Deepens Today Monday March 16, Virgin Atlantic announced that as result of the COVID-19 pandemic and flight restrictions, the airline is putting “drastic measures in place to ensure cash is preserved, costs are controlled, and the future of the airline is safeguarded.”
Virgin Atlantic will park 75% of its fleet and reduce flights by 80% between March 17 and 26th.
Whatever It Takes As COVID-19 has shut down Italy, talking about what is happening on the ground in Italian logistics right now opens the door for a conversation with some hardworking freight forwarders.
Despite the shut down everywhere else, the logistics industry is open for business in Italy as you read this update.
Scoot Cargo Into China Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines adds passenger configured B787-9s as cargo charters between Singapore Changi and Guangzhou and Nanjing, China.
Earlier Cathay Pacific, another COVID-19 shut down for passengers, launched empty upstairs belly capacity cargo flights and is mulling the same action for flights into Japan.
Trump Bans European Flight Late Wednesday night President Donald Trump suspended passenger travel between the U.S. and Europe for the next 30 days, beginning at midnight on Friday the 13th. United Kingdom was not included in the ban.
His comments referred to air cargo in the ban but that statement was quickly walked back by the White House and the President himself shortly after the nationally televised address.
Latin American Cargo Surges Guess what? The sky may not be falling for air cargo after all.
World Air Cargo Data (ACD), the Netherlands-based provider of air cargo market data said that it has some enhanced ability to deliver more accurate numbers, so maybe for some of us looking at numbers through the bottom of a shot glass won’t be necessary.
ACD reports that worldwide air cargo fell by 2.7% in the first two months of 2020. China and North East Asia (including Hong Kong) were hardest hit, with YoY drops of 7.3% & 7.8%.
Pandemic No Italian Panic As sure as an open space of a lovely park in Turin beckons some old men to gather, albeit at the requisite distance apart, signs of life in Northern Italy are continuing inspite of the not quite reassuring headlines.
“Supplies are plentiful,” reports Marco Sorgetti, our man on the ground in Turin, his home town.
Cargo Events Feel Force Of COVID-19 Most of the talk in the world today is about the human condition in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone is praying that it does not become a plague.
From the City of Wuhan in Hubei Province, China, the most unwelcome thing ever “Made in China” a coronavirus, nobody knows how to tame, let alone cure, has in a few short weeks, maybe forever altered the way humans live and work in almost every corner of planet earth.
Sense and Sensibility As COVID-19 Grips Aviation Despite all the negative impact and disruption of the current COVID-19 outbreak, we as business leaders need to adopt a levelheaded approach to navigate and lead our teams through the complexities of this challenging time. This is easer said than done though!
The biggest challenge we face appears to be how to make sense of fact versus sentiment. Much of this challenge is being driven by a relentless onslaught of media coverage that by virtue of their business objectives are competing for public attention; an objective that in many cases is best achieved by focusing on aspects that drive fear. The media is not the only one at fault though; we as humans, like moths to a flame, are uncontrollably drawn to such excitement and hype, the danger being that we take these reports at face value versus taking the time to investigate further, debate and develop our own informed opinions.
China Up To Speed Could Take Months Right now as we enter the second week of March 2020, world focus continues on emerging new locations stricken by COVID-19.
Back in China, it is now post Lunar New Year.
But in the factories where exports are created, especially in Wuhan, part of Hubei Province the industrial heart of the country where the virus began, the lights are on, but people in that stricken area are slow-walking rather than rushing back to work.
We Can Do It Rosie the Riveter has died. Rosalind P. Walter, also known as “Rosie the Riveter,” passed away on March 4, 2020, in New York City. She was 95 years old.
In the early years of WWII, Rosalind worked the night shift at a plant in Connecticut, driving rivets into F-4U Corsair fighter planes (incidentally, my paternal grandfather flew the same model aircraft in the war). Her work inspired Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb to write the song “Rosie the Riveter” in 1943.
United CEO Takes COVID-19 To Heart Yesterday, March 4, major United States airline chief executive officers met with President Donald Trump in the White House to discuss measures taken in coordination with the government to protect the flying public.
From American Airlines' Doug Parker to Southwest Airlines' Gary Kelly, the words voiced concern for everyone’s safety and the action each carrier is taking as apprehension around air travel mounts in the U.S. and around the world.
Airports In The Viral Landscape In 2020 “Although the threat presented by the virus and the potential near and long-term implications for air cargo and airports are still largely undetermined, if the disease proceeds along the course predicted by health experts, the aviation industry needs to consider several potential impacts,” said Dan Muscatello, long time air cargo airport executive.
For 40 years, Dan has been one of the industry’s leading experts in air cargo, land use, and strategic planning. He’s just about seen it all. Looking over the current airport situation around the world, Dan spoke to FlyingTypers in an exclusive interview.
U.S. Trucker Of The Year There are awards that are just as rewarding for us to read about or watch because of the winner.
Case in point is Don Lewis.
Here he is, bib overalls and all, in front of the big rig he drives from his home in Republic, Missouri, to points nationwide for Wilson Logistics, of Springfield, Missouri.
His video acceptance speech (48 seconds) is a beautifully concise thing. It tells beyond words why he won and also how to accept any award.
IATA Cancels WCS Istanbul IATA has cancelled its World Cargo Symposium (WCS) set for March 10-12, 2020, in Istanbul.
The IATA announcement Monday is the second cancellation for a major world cargo annual event in the past ten days.
Earlier FIATA, the global forwarder organization, said it was cancelling its Annual Headquarters Session set for Zurich on March 26.
FIATA said that the event will not be rescheduled for 2020.
Both cancellations are driven by the global outbreak of COVID-19, a viral contagion that has swept into every corner of the world, disrupting lives and logistics whilst sending world stock markets on a downward spiral.
Reaction As COVID-19 Crisis Deepens According to former Trump Presidential Chief Strategist Steven K. Bannon as the COVID-19 pandemic widens, the deeper issue of globalization emerges, highlighting that in 2020 China is not only “manufacturer of the world, but also the railhead of the global logistics system.”
IATA Istanbul & The Global Emergency IATA’s World Cargo Symposium (WCS) website confirms that the 14th edition WCS scheduled for Istanbul March 10-12 will go on as scheduled.
“The health and safety of our delegates are of the utmost importance to us,” IATA said.
“Our Emergency Response Plan has been activated as we closely monitor developments in the Novel Coronavirus situation.”
COVID-19 Business As Usual Is Unusual As March 2020 takes off, global awareness of the COVID-19 virus continues. The virus has shut down China and claimed victims in countries around the world, spreading uneasiness while wreaking havoc in financial markets.
On the west coast of the United States, the slowdown in ships arriving from Asia is in marked contrast to the standard post-Lunar New Year, when the goods usually pour into the U.S. and backhaul in large movements to Asia.
Virus Cancels FIATA HQ Session FlyingTypers learned that the Annual FIATA Headquarters Sessions in Zurich, scheduled for March 24-28, 2020, have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
“This decision,” new FIATA Director General Stephane Graber said “is being taken because of recent impact of the COVID-19 contagion in Italy, and now in Switzerland.
COVID-19 Widens China Shutdown In early February, Airbus shut down its manufacturing line in Tianjin, shuttering its regular production of six A320 aircraft a month. It wasn’t long before Boeing and other members of the aerospace industry joined carmakers and a myriad of other industries in China in the slow down or complete termination of their assembly lines.
News that the virus has been detected in Milan and the Lombardi counties surrounding parts of northern Italy sent shock waves on Monday. Those areas of Italy generate more than half of that country’s industry and could effectively shut the country down.
JFK Air Cargo Expo March 26 The JFK Air Cargo Association delivers the JFK Air Cargo Expo 2020 on Thursday, March 26, 2020 from 10:00 until 14:00 at Russo’s on the Bay in Howard Beach, Queens, New York.
Branded “Airside, Landside, & Everything in Between”, the year of 2020 marks the 21st anniversary of this grand airport event that gets down to cases with display stands, a thoughtful discussion panel at 10:00 in the morning plus great networking and an engaging selection of speakers that will serve up some forward thinking.
Virgin Cargo MAN Up To DEL Virgin Atlantic Cargo launches new Manchester-Delhi services starting October 26th when the airline will operate three A330-200 flights every Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
The carrier is targeting landing a bigger share of the 20 billion UK-India trade market.
Heartline From Qatar To China Five Qatar Airways Cargo freighters departed from Doha to China on Friday, February 21, carrying approximately 300 tons of medical supplies. The airline donated the cargo, which amounted to 2,500,000 face masks and 500,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to support COVID-19 relief efforts.
The five flights departed one after the other bound for Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou as part of Qatar Airways’ voluntary offer of free air cargo transportation for medical relief aid organized by Chinese Embassies and Consulates worldwide to fight the coronavirus emergency.
No Hugging & Kissing @ Air Cargo India From the moment that you take off from home, stop greeting people by shaking hands, hugging, and kissing.
With COVID-19 on everybody’s mind extend greetings and really show the love the traditional Indian way: with hands together at chest level forming a pyramid as you smile and say “Namaste” which means “I bow to you.”
Such is life in the year 2020 as air cargo begins its long year of trade shows and events.
COVID-19 may have dampened air freight growth across the world, but a sold-out Air Cargo India being held in Mumbai this week, February 25-27, 2020, offers a networking and educational event so that all might get a better handle of exactly where air cargo is heading in 2020.
Celebrating Fat Tuesday In New Orleans The great annual celebration that we so dearly love and have celebrated in our publication for the past 45 years occurs tomorrow.
February 25 marks Mardi Gras, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday, continuing
the Carnival celebrations of New Orleans. Also known as Shrove Tuesday, the events celebrate the Christian feasts of the Epiphany that culminate on the day before Ash Wednesday.
Mardi Gras in jazz-rich New Orleans is like nowhere else in the world.
Virgin Galactic At The Wings Club I was sponsored for membership to the Wings Club in 1981, 39 years ago, by one of that organization’s founders, Ansel Edward McLaurine Talbert, who was present at the club’s creation in 1941.
Other founding members of the Club included Juan Trippe, CEO of Pan American World Airways, William “Pat” Patterson, founder of United Airlines, CR Smith, founder of American Airlines . . . you get the picture.
Pandemic May Get Worse Before It Gets Better The Coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan, China, continues to dominate the news.
Dr. Liu Zhiming, director of the Wuchang Hospital in Wuhan, contracted the virus and has now died. He is just one of more than 3,000 medical workers affected by the virus, with half that number “in severe condition.”
This brings into focus the plight of medical professionals on the ground in China.
One major handicap both for the people operating in China and for the rest of the world as it attempts to gain a better understanding of this unfolding story is the Chinese Government communication firewall challenging transparency.
To date, China has not accepted any help from the CDC and only marginal help from the WHO at a time when the best medical minds in the world are desperately needed in China.
India Budget Slams Door On Cargo Growth Ahead of next week’s Air Cargo India trade show event scheduled for Tuesday, February 25-Thursday, February 27 at Grand Hyatt Mumbai Hotel & Residences, comes word of impact felt as the China Covid-19 news worsens. Add to that the recently released Government of India Annual Budget, squashing hopes for anticipated cargo infrastructure improvements at India’s largest gateways.
Hyped as the ‘make or break’ the widely reported Indian Budget, announced on January 30, might have delivered hope to the aviation community and air cargo stakeholders.
IATA Goes Postal The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Post Corporation (IPC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reinforce cooperation between the two organizations.
“International e-commerce is growing at around 20% per year, leading to rapidly changing market conditions for airlines and posts. Ensuring customers get their packages on time while safety and security in postal air transport is maintained is the main priority for posts and air transport operators alike.
United Airlines - Delhi to San Francisco United Airlines inaugurated daily nonstop service between New Delhi and San Francisco December 9, 2019.
The service between Indira Gandhi International Airport and United’s hub at San Francisco International Airport operates on a daily basis during the winter months and three times weekly during the summer season.
Are Amazon Fulfillment Employees Revolting? Watching the previews for the Frontline show titled “Amazon Empire: The Rise & Reign of Jeff Bezos”reminded me of the Mel Brooks movie History Of The World; in it, the monarchy blithely ignores the needs of its citizens.
“The people are revolting,” Count de Money tells Brooks, who plays the King.
“You're telling me—they stink on ice!” the King replies.
New Era Going For Brokers Executive Vice President Megyn Conyers of The Florida Customs Brokers Association(FCBA) is one smart, hard-working, no-nonsense 21st century team builder.
Here she outlines some ideas of what to expect from FCBA in 2020.
Love Letter To Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area arose at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers where Native Americans traded long before Euro-American settlement. The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the area in 1804 and by the 1820’s, the area was populated by trappers, scouts, traders and farmers. The trading post known as “West Port” was fed by river and provided the last supply depot for pioneers entering the Kansas Territory on the California, Santa Fe and Oregon Trails.
NLB KC Grand Slam At 100 Big sports story this week happened 100 years ago when Negro Leagues Baseball was born in Kansas City on February 13, 1920.
Andrew “Rube” Foster, (above) Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (1981) and acknowledged ‘father of black baseball’ for his managerial and executive skill in forming the league, and other team owners met at what was once the Paseo YMCA at 18th and Vine in Kansas City.
China Pandemic and Air Cargo 2020 Let’s face it.
Everyone had hoped that 2020 would carry forward the signs of recovery that glimmered a bit in December. Now those hopes have been dimmed by the uncertainty of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has been described by some, including former U.S. Presidential Advisor Stephen K. Bannon as ‘China’s Chernobyl.’
Slowdown Slowed ACD Reports In December of 2019 global air cargo business dipped by 1.7% YoY, but that was not the worst, in fact that 1.7 number in a year where the walls kept tumbling down was the smallest decrease since January 2019.
Revenues as compared to 2018 a boom year, were down 11.7%
Last year can be recalled as a time that delivered less than spectacular numbers with tariffs and trade wars and upheaval in Hong Kong, that turned the most powerful air cargo gateway in the world into silly putty.
An Open Letter To Qatar Airways I recently had the pleasure of flying business class from Doha to New York City over the holiday season. There is much to commend about your Qsuites—a quick google reveals countless flattering reviews of everything from your lie-flat seats to your capacious bathrooms. I enjoyed both of those features—the former because I love to sleep and the latter because I am a hapless klutz and need as much elbow room as can be spared when changing into my pajamas, which you also graciously provided—but you gave me something I’ve never had before, and now I’m hopelessly smitten.
All Hail Kale Kale Logistics Solutions named Best Digital Trade Facilitator-Technology by DDP Group Publishers on January 27 at India Cargo Awards 2020 at Noida, India.
Kale Logistics Solutions (Kale) is credited for its digital trade facilitation, including North America’s first Air Cargo Community System at Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Atlanta, USA.
Masks And MASkargo Workers prepare a shipment of rubber gloves, protective facemasks, and other medical equipment, that were shipped this week from Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai by Malaysian Airlines Cargo to assist aid workers in the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic.
A local charity in Malaysia #Opsharapan, raised the funds to purchase and donate the medical equipment while MASkargo provided the lift.
All About Airports: Badge of Pride CVG Workforce Development At the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, CVG, many first-time visitors to the airport are often surprised to learn that, despite being Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio’s primary commercial service airport, the airport itself is physically located in Northern Kentucky. While CVG now serves nearly nine million passengers and has experienced 16% year-over-year growth in annual total passengers in 2017 and 11% growth in the same metric for 2018, the airport’s recent growth is a story also deeply rooted in air cargo success.
Moving Their Tails For Air Cargo Air France-KLM Cargo, Delta Air Lines Cargo and Virgin Atlantic Cargo launched their expanded trans-Atlantic Joint Venture.
The partnership, the JV claims, represents 23% of total trans-Atlantic cargo capacity or more than 600,000 tons annually, and a combined network of up to 341 peak daily trans-Atlantic services.
Spaced Out With Afa Nashville Donna Mullins is a treasure.
Always at the forefront, though rarely in the spotlight, Donna Mullins International Solutions is an independent small company that in 2020 is a bulwark of the air cargo community at ATL through its hands-on support for the Atlanta Air Cargo Association and other local airport building efforts.
Women In Aviation Workforce "Women in Aviation Workforce Report" published by the group Women In Aviation reveals that while women are underrepresented in many areas of aviation, the areas with the largest gaps include technical operations and leadership positions.
The report shows that women make up less than 10% of pilots, maintenance technicians, and airline executives.
While continued outreach to underrepresented groups in all areas of aviation is essential for further developing the aviation workforce, the Women Workforce Report also reveals areas that require additional emphasis include pilots, maintenance technicians, aerospace engineers, dispatchers, cybersecurity experts, airport managers, air traffic controllers, and a continued focus on the need for women in aviation leadership positions.
Hootie Celebrates Kansas City On Sunday February 2, Super Bowl in Miami and The Kansas City Chiefs’ stunning come-from-behind victory was the thing here in USA and elsewhere around the world for sports fans.
I have to admit I look at this big show-stopping football event as the post-game gateway to heaven, meaning the advent of six months of nonstop baseball every year.
But this year brought back some memories of being in 1970 in Kansas City, a place that straddles the states of Missouri and Kansas, at (what else?) a trade show. It was the last time the Kansas City Chiefs appeared in a Super Bowl.
EMO Trans Thailand Go "We are very pleased to establish an official EMO Trans presence in Thailandas part of our Asia strategy," Jo Frigger, Chairman told FlyingTypers, as EMO Trans, Inc., the innovative, leading provider of international logistics and supply chain solutions, announced the opening of EMO Trans (Thailand) Co., Ltd. next week on February 3, 2020.
"We see tremendous potential for growth in this dynamic market," Marco Rohrer, President and CEO declared.
Mr. Aswi Pansiri has been appointed Managing Director of EMO Trans (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Mr. Pansiri is supported by Branch Manager Ms. Natthiya Sancum.
Europe's Voice Of Freight Logistics And Customs Services There is a Belgian address to where I often and gladly return: Rue du Commerce 77, Brussels.
This is the head office of the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services (CLECAT), a place and a fine organization that I served for many years before joining FIATA as Secretary General.
CLECAT is the European voice of freight logistics and customs services.
Virus Impacts China Trade As reported here last week, China extended the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2, advising people to just stay home, but FlyingTypers learned that most provincial governments, including the areas of Eastern China and Guangdong, have instructed businesses to remain shuttered until February 9 at 24:00.
China Customs however, will open February 3.
On the manufacturing side, normal production is expected to resume around February 15.
Air Horse One Managing Director Jeremy Instone is proud as punch.
It's unimpeachable . . . . Standing atop a fully collapsed version of his beloved Airstable Horse Container, Jeremy said his company, Instoneair recently won the The European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) European Technical Standard Order (ETSO) authorization to transport the fully collapsible empty horse containers in the lower decks of freighter and passenger aircraft.
“This container will combine optimum comfort and safety for horses along with welcome cost-savings for shippers,” Jeremy added.
On Top Of The World Guillaume Halleux walks into the room and lifts any mood.
He is in his element as Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Cargo and makes no secret that he is on the ride of this life, guiding the fortunes of the best air cargo carrier in the Middle East with passion and élan, a carrier that is at this point in time moving inexorably toward landing on top of the world.
Right now in 2020, when others appear in a state of hangover hibernation, Qatar Cargo is having none of that, having just announced a major expansion of new initiatives including equipment, services and destinations.
ATC's Brainiac Brainway Move Ingo Zimmer, ATC CEO is the braniac in the move to add Brainway to the company fold in January 2020, declaring “We have acquired Austrian GSSA Brainway affording our company an immediate, solid foothold in Eastern Europe to better serve our customers and further expand our capabilities across that area.”
Brainway and its subsidiaries in Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia are now members of ATC Aviation Services Group.
China Shuts Down Wuhan World Health Organization (WHO) reports accelerated numbers of people have been stricken by that widely reported coronavirus outbreak centered in Wuhan City, China.
Wuhan, a transportation hub, also known as the Pittsburgh of China, is home to 11 million, more people than live in New York City.
The USA Center for Disease Control (CDC) put the emergency at Level 3, recommending that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Hubei Province, China, including Wuhan.
Animals Talk At Lunar New Year Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year and Spring Festival (to be inclusive of the East Asian diaspora that is not Chinese) began on January 25, 2020. It is the year of the Rat. The Rat occupies the first position in the Chinese zodiac. The story of how he earned that position has many versions, but they all center around a mythical race hosted by the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor, ruler of all the gods of Chinese mythology, desired 12 guards and decreed that the first 12 animals to pass through the Heavenly Gate would form his regiment.
February Top Banana Once upon a time, probably before you were born, the ‘Top Banana’ was the headliner comedian in a variety stage show or vaudeville, which was live entertainment offered in lavish Hollywood movie houses all over America.
Today the ‘Top Banana’ is Fruit Logistica for air cargo people looking for new business in 2020.
What It Means To Be United In 2020 Jan Krems, President of United Cargo, is ready for take-off in 2020.
Jan Krems at United Cargo is compelling and simply irresistible.
Right now, despite the challenges and the gloom and doom predicted, United Cargo, while not immune by any means to these economic trends, continues to outperform everyone else in the U.S. air cargo business.
It is almost as if the stars lined up above Willis Tower at the Chicago headquarters for United Cargo.
The Redwood At Schiphol Talking about air cargo, its origin and fascinating history, you often stroll through memories to discover some unexpected sparkles in the ashes of the past.
Real pearls of another era that still linger on in present times.
For myself, I started in 1968 at Aeroground Services as a warehouse handler.
My career continued in the early seventies at Pan Am Cargo as cargo representative, and later at Seaboard World Airlines and before the 70’s closed I returned to Pan Am Cargo in 1980.
ATC Steps Out Smartly In 2020 ATC is new GSSA for Alitalia in Germany effective January 15, 2020.
Ingo Zimmer is the immensely appealing, always approachable top-flight executive at ATC that has sculpted a growing, worldwide organization with a cadre of truly professional air cargo executives, plus an emerging impressive array of young talent.
Not for nothing is ATC amongst the most admired air cargo companies.
Lionel Is A Nice Guy First Most people in air cargo know Lionel van der Walt for the time he served as President of Cargo Network Services (CNS).
A short term perhaps, but it was Lionel who came to CNS as an agent of change, delivering a much-needed shot in the arm that favorably impacted the pioneering global organization.
That a tradition of intellect and decency begun 30 years ago with Jack Lindsey and Tony Calabrese, continues today at CNS with the very capable Mike White.
Heavy Lifters At LAX It may have just been a publicity gag but the heavylifters and diggers into the ground in this 1950’s picture featured on the Flight Path Museum at Los Angeles International Airport website appears to leave the work of installing airport signage up to some women.
Well, what goes around as it is said, came around when Flight Path in late 2019 went centerstage at LAWA with a big “open house” party bash that featured Deborah Flint, LAWA CEO, and Agnes Huff, Flight Path Museum Board President, in the middle of all the action.
Quotable Mae Jemison By now most people following space exploration know (or should know) that Mae Carol Jemison, pictured here at the opening of Women of the World Summit held in New York City in April 2019, was the first black woman to travel in space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Mae Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which she orbited the Earth for nearly eight days on September 12–20, 1992.
FedEx & Fred Still Together In 2020 When FedEx let go of a reported $900 million annual business package with Amazon last year, eyebrows were raised.
Now finally admitting what most everybody else already knew, that Amazon is indeed a competitor, Fred Smith is at work rebuilding the overnight service that he invented.
FedEx CEO Fred Smith, as you read this, appears hot on the trail of focusing his business model into serving retailers that have not built out their own delivery network, and are also like FedEx, competing with Amazon for business.
Companies like Walmart, Kohl’s, Home Depot, Target, Apple, Best Buy and others are now shipping increasing amounts via FedEx.
White Paper Looks Ahead “Air Cargo export numbers from USA were a genuine roller coaster ride during 2019,” reports Mike White, President of Cargo Network services (CNS).
“CNS CASS numbers through November 2019 reflect the U.S. government agreements with some of its key trade partners.
“Over all,” Mike said, “we have seen a 6.8% drop in U.S. exports reported through CNS CASS.
“Much of this reduction was in cargo going to two regions: North Asia saw a 10% drop; Asia Pacific was down 7%; and Europe was down 5%.
“The rest of the world has seen much the same, except for India which increased by 6%, albeit on very low volumes compared to the rest of the world.”
Women In Charge: It Takes A Village To Ship Air Cargo Air cargo across Alaska is an absolute way of life, in a place where flying freight harkens back to the early, high adventure aviation days.
Our contributing writers here and, as it turns out, shippers as well, are Miki and Julie Collins who live in Lake Minchumina, Alaska.
They live a completely remote life without phone or computer.
In fact, we only hear from Julie when the hard freeze comes and she or the mailman can walk across the streams that separate the sisters from the rest of civilization, or when an itinerant cargo plane flies into their tiny airstrip.
Will 2020 Be Year Mouse Roared? Happy New Year!
In our 45th consecutive year here, we get back to work, sharing the views of people that make the global logistics industry a success.
Today FlyingTypers is the longest continually published industry media source under the same ownership and Publisher/Editor in the history of air cargo.
But what will happen in 2020?
After a less than memorable 2019, it seems everybody is looking for answers.
Paths of Glory - Leadership Series: Brandon Lets It All Hang Out Brandon Fried, longtime Executive Director of the Airforwarders Association is one air cargo executive in a world of change that seems to transcend time.
While it has become fashion and even rule to flip and change top executives regularly at other industry associations, there goes “Steady Brandon” out there seemingly unflappable as counterpoint to that action.
Rx For January - Laughter Let’s face it, we have more or less, all been home surrounded in the sanctuary of family and friends for the past weeks and now it’s back to work.
As soon as the weekend comes around, we will be back home minus the lights and gaiety of the season, looking ahead maybe at some unpaid bills and in some climes, to nine or ten more weeks of winter.
The weekend might be a good time to watch a movie together at home filled with laughter to bring us all back together once again while the spirit of the holidays still lingers on.
A Tree Grows In Hollis Sometime after my grandmother died, my father planted a tree. He chose a blue spruce. A coniferous evergreen known for its steely hue, the blue spruce looks like it’s bathed in moonlight, even in full sun. It radiates a soft, dusky blue aura that sets it apart from your typical evergreen tree.
Kelly's Christmas Playlist Our Christmas playlist for 2019 features 19 favorites created by Michael Kelly, Cargo Communications Manager from United Airlines.
Michael includes pop vocals, big band, rhythm & blues, soul, rock ‘n’ roll, country, folk, world music, and even jazz, revealing a deep love and understanding of uplifting seasonal music that crosses all lines to spread the joy.
Someone once asked Duke Ellington when he knew the music he was writing was complete.
Ellington thought for a moment and mused:
“If it sounds good, it is good.”
They Shall Not Be Forgotten For the second straight year, United Cargo teamed with nonprofit Wreaths Across America and CEVA Logistics to ship live, Maine-made balsam fir holiday wreaths to Europe. The wreaths traveled from United hubs in IAD, IAH and EWR to AMS for the December 1 event at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.
Assault & Batteries From Amsterdam Lithium batteries has been a hot topic, but it has been even more so with the growth of e-Commerce.
One of the panels held during IATA’s Cargo Events in Amsterdam the end of October was especially well attended.
The “e-Commerce and Mail, a Risk or Opportunity?” panel discussed how e-commerce is providing significant growth by postal operators.
Postal operators are utilizing international air mail for the shipment of products by all sizes of shippers.
The problem that exist is that many shippers are not knowledgeable on what restrictions there are on dangerous goods.
A Kick In The Teeth At Wright Time President Truman said that the only news is history you don’t know.
Maybe the best argument for continually paying attention to history, is so that we might learn from what we missed.
No doubt some direction as to how to set history straight is included in the opening words Thomas Jefferson chose while writing the American Declaration of Independence:
“When in the Course of human events,” Jefferson wrote.
Everything we do or have done connects us as humans, and is part of the history that got us where we are today.
To Our MPs Hong Kong Pro-democracy protesters hold placards and British flags as they gather for a rally outside of the British Consulate in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019.
Meantime, Hong Kong International Airport is rolling out discounts to cargo exporters as freight shipments nosedive during the continuing U.S.-China trade war.
Women In Charge: Cold Chain Diplomat We are on a grand tour of the United Cargo headquarters inside Willis Tower in Chicago.
Just down the hall, as a gentle rain begins to fall outside, inside the bright smile of Kate Harbin lights up the room.
Kate carries an impressive resume, including working as a Public Diplomacy Officer for the U.S. State Department in Hong Kong from 2015-2017 before joining United Cargo just over a year ago.
“I consider Asia my second home, and I enjoy and feel comfortable travelling anywhere on the continent,” Kate says.
Chasing Change Impacts Profit Margins Sir Richard Branson, the British billionaire entrepreneur who launched Virgin Atlantic, summed up his experience in the airline business with a pithy quote – “How do you change a billionaire into a millionaire? Make him buy an airline.” His observation speaks to a real puzzle:
Why is the airline industry, even for someone with the experience and business chops of Sir Richard, such an underperforming sector?
DC3s Apoppin At Florida Air Cargo In Miami, a place historically known for all types of aircraft repurposed for air cargo, lives Florida Air Cargo with a fleet of ancient DC3s flying consignments out of nearby Opa-Locka Executive Airport.
The vintage Doug’s have found new life carrying relief supplies like water and other emergency supplies to hurricane-wracked islands of the Caribbean.
But they are also in use for some regular duties as well.
On Hands And Knees In Hong Kong Just four months after Cathay Pacific's chief executive resigned, Hong Kong Airlines, the city's third largest carrier, is hanging onto its license by its finger nails due to a financial crisis, and is being allowed to survive now with government help.
We began covering the Hong Kong protests earlier this year thinking, how long would this most important city of banking and commerce, and of course air cargo be strapped by pro-democracy protesters?
The answer, as 2019 is ending, was loud and clear in the streets on Hong Kong, Sunday, December 8, 2019 as hundreds of thousands of freedom marchers came out to demonstrate.
Turkish Cargo Great Move The year 2019 will be remembered at Turkish Cargo as a year-long transition whilst the brand continued to build through major investments and expansion of destinations, among other factors.
Turhan Ozen, Chief Cargo Officer explains.
“Turkish Cargo, provides air cargo services to more than 300 destinations in 126 countries in the world.
In 2019 Will The Grinch Wear Brown? In case you had not noticed, in the U.S. Thanksgiving came a little late this year so right now UPS & Fed Ex & USPS are playing catch up as the holiday rush comes hot and heavy.
So folks that traditionally leave it to the last minute might discover a Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) delivery may be their only option.
Dee Spruces Up Trees For Troops It’s happening all over the world.
As Christmas 2019 approaches, organized air cargo, at gateways here in the USA and abroad, is wrapping hearts and minds around helping others.
Sure, the time is right for parties and celebrations but keeping a weather eye out for others is also very much in season for air cargo folks these days, as issues and challenges are put aside if only for a short while as the new year of 2020 approaches.
But of course, business does march on.
There Will Always Be One The attack took place less than five months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941.
Jimmy Doolittle moved from aviation hero and 1930s stunt pilot to immortality, leading an intrepid band of hero airmen on a daring raid of Tokyo, at a time when the morale and spirit of America was badly impacted by Pearl Harbor.
When news broke that a force of B25 light bombers had taken off from the bobbing decks of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers under cover of darkness, flown all the way to Tokyo, and bombed the supposedly invincible Empire of Japan, it lifted the nation and gave the United States a badly needed shot in the arm.
Qatar Cargo Boffo Americas Expansion “Air cargo is a crucial element in the global transport system that supports international trade and the free flow of goods around the world,” declared Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker announcing that scheduled services to Campinas, Brazil (VCP), Santiago, Chile (SCL), Lima, Peru (LIM) and Bogotá, Colombia (BOG) will join the airline’s global freighter network on January 16, 2020 and will be serviced by a Boeing 777 freighter.
Good Morgan With Qatar Cargo's Americas Ian Morgan, Qatar Airways Vice President Cargo The Americas, makes no bones about it.
He got into air cargo by chance but during the ensuing years has never looked back.
He has also worked both sides of the fence, first in forwarding and now at the airlines.
“I started my career in 1979 at Gatwick Airport as a junior import accounts clerk at Pandair Freight.
From India - Leadership Series Pt. 2 Keshav Tanna is a stalwart in global professional freight forwarding, who also gives back, serving on the board of the world freight forwarder organization, FIATA. He is Director (Airfreight), at Links Forwarders based in New Delhi, India.
“It is clear that the industry witnessed a softness in demand in the early months of 2019.
“Already the 50 percent of the China-U.S. airfreight is hampered by the tariff dispute and if this were to continue then 100 percent of all China-US airfreight would be subject to a 25 percent tariff.
“This, because with USA wanting to double tariffs this year to 25 percent on another $200 Billion of Chinese imports, the negative impact on airfreight growth is imminent.”
Second Day First Chance As winter approaches, why not think Summer 2020 as Virgin Atlantic Cargo trumpets a second daily service, via B787 between Heathrow and Delhi, March 29th 2020 that coupled with new VS service to Mumbai means Virgin Atlantic Cargo will offer three daily flights to India.
Under the warmth of the sun for 2020, Virgin frequencies into San Francisco will go to twice daily as Johannesburg, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Lagos get set to debut Virgin Atlantic’s brand new A350 aircraft, elevating space across these blue-ribbon prime cargo routes.
From India - Leadership Series Pt. 1 “I am not an economist, astrologer or diplomat. Nor am I from the political class but I have been in the industry since 1973.
“I would look at the overall impact of pressure from retailers and if there are no further speed breakers of tariffs on China, it will be music to our ears.
“Our Christmas party will not be ruined – that is my understanding and reading.
“One cannot predict if a trade war will eventually benefit America but it caused markets to soar sometime ago. However, the gains were erased a day later amid new fears of an impending recession.”
Word Up Sustainability “Sustainability was one of the biggest topics of this year’s Corporate Inner Circle in Vienna,” writes Jürgen Siebenrock, Vice President Sales and Services Home Markets & Global Key Account Manager.
“As of January 2020, all new corporate contracts will have “carbon-offsetting” as a component of our Lufthansa Group Corporate Value Fares.”
The Lady Commands The Largest Cargo Fleet Meet General Maryanne Miller, the top officer at the USA Air Mobility Command (AMC) who has a long and distinguished history in flying tankers and C-17 as well as leading other major components of the Department of Defense.
In 2019 she is the only female four star-general in the U.S. Air Force.
General Miller’s AMC mission is to provide rapid, global mobility and sustainment for America's armed forces.
Her command also plays a crucial role in providing humanitarian support at home and around the world, as we recently saw in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.
Qatar Ices Cool Chain Award In Istanbul Qatar Cargo people with the Atlas trophy in recognition of superior cool chain operations. Qatar Cargo operates the only ramp-side authorized reefer trucks for perishable and pharmaceutical shipments at IST airport.
Why Issa Baluch Into TIACA Hall Of Fame Matters Issa Baluch is being honored this week in Budapest, Hungary. Mr. Baluch is being inducted into The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) Hall of Fame.
“I am honored, humbled,” Issa said, “and mighty grateful for this recognition.
“Family and friends are equally joyed and to me this is a testament to the many teams and individuals that have worked side by side with me to excel, be it in the logistics world, or in Corporate Social Responsibility,” Issa concluded.
Atlanta Brokers Thanksgiving Friday For the seventeenth year, on Friday, November 22, in Atlanta, Georgia, a grand airport tradition occurs as Atlanta Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders throw open their doors for a couple of hours starting at high noon to share the love. It’s an open house where everybody is invited for a free, old-fashioned turkey dinner.
Another Opening, Another Show Emre Eldener, President of UTIKAD makes a point during opening ceremonies at 13th Logitrans Istanbul Wednesday.
“At UTIKAD we continued our effort to develop the Turkish logistics industry and to facilitate those activities into the global economy.”
Uber Freight's Ambitious Aim Lior Ron has spent the last dozen year of his professional life imagining new realties.
As a member of Google’s mapping division, he helped scale Google Maps from 10 million users to more than 1 billion. Later, he co-founded Otto, a self-driving trucking company Uber acquired in 2016.
Virgin Cargo Teams Up To TYO “Cargo customers in Australia and Japan will be very pleased to see the launch Virgin Australia Brisbane to Tokyo-Haneda services March 29, 2020.
“The daily Airbus A330 flight will offer between 15-20 tons of cargo capacity and will be marketed by Virgin Atlantic Cargo under its longstanding international long-haul sales and marketing agreement with Virgin Australia,” said Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo.
Logitrans Istanbul November 13-15 As Logitrans Istanbul opens this week November 13-15, the self- proclaimed “bridge connecting the Eurasian region via logistic solutions,” is greeted by (r) Emre Eldener, President of The Association of International Transport and Logistics Service Producers-UTIKAD, the very important market force for good, talking things over with Geoffrey (l).
Emre’s message to all is straight from the shoulder and right from the heart:
“We are here for everyone,” Emre declared.
IATA AMS All About Operations For 26 years Air Cargo Americas has met in Miami every other year.
Two weeks ago at the same time as Air Cargo Americas, IATA held some sessions in Amsterdam.
Talk about the cup running over!
Thankfully, while there were two major air cargo events going on at the same time, both were markedly different.
Many Happy Returns The last time a Lufthansa freighter touched down at Miami International Airport twenty five years ago, Bill Clinton was U.S. President.
But proving what goes around comes around, Lufthansa Cargo comes back to Miami with a weekly B777 freighter, and Norbert Pahlsmeyer, Director Sales and Handling Florida for Lufthansa Cargo (pictured here with Geoffrey and Lionel Van der Walt CEO of Pay Cargo) could not be happier.
Veterans Day USA 2019 In 1919, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the first “Armistice Day” was observed in America to honor all the people that served in World War I—the war to end all wars.
In 1938, the U.S. Congress changed the name and declared “Veterans Day” a national U.S. holiday.
Here we honor and recall all the people that have served.
EMO Trans Big South Africa Win “The EMO Trans organization proudly announces our new exclusive global co-operation partnership with Bidvest International Logistics (BIL) in South Africa that commences in early 2020,” Jo Frigger, CEO of EMO Trans told FlyingTypers as a blockbuster deal between BIL and EMO was announced Monday November 4.
“EMO Trans, founded 1965 in Stuttgart with a network of 250 offices in 120 countries has worked with Sebenza in South Africa since 1995,” Mr. Frigger said.
“Sebenza is now integrated into Bidvest International Logistics.
Nic Has The Knack Nicolas Danton, Regional Cargo Africa for Qatar Cargo is surveying the sceneat the just concluded FIATA World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa.
Qatar Cargo landed Nic, who today can count 30 years in the business, about six years ago in November 2013.
Since then the soft-spoken executive has stepped up and made things happen.
What it is about Nic Danton is, this great cargo professional continues to deliver his specialty—the shipping business to and from Africa as the Doha-based carrier moves into top of the heap in global air cargo airlines.
Africa From Issa Who Lives It Issa Baluch may know as much about logistics as anybody you will ever meet.
Issa possesses the chops and know-how gained over a career that spans 40 years.
Best known as the founder of Dubai-based Swift Freight, which was a medium sized multi-national that he eventually sold to Barloworld, one of Issa’s lasting contributions is that he is the guy that launched sea-air in Dubai.
High Times In Cape Town No one has to tell FIATA Immediate Past President Babar Badat that life has its fair amount of highs and lows.
Mr. Badat of Pakistan who, in 2017 assumed command of the world’s preeminent logistics organization with 120 National Associations and 50,000 companies as members worldwide saw the hope and promise of the organization’s annual 2018 “World Congress” held in New Delhi impact him personally when India refused to issue a visa to this extraordinary industry builder, claiming some bureaucratic snafu.
Paths of Glory - Leadership Series “While you are reading a book, it is also reading you,” purportedly words once spoken by Hans Christian Anderson have come to mind.
Take the case of Richard Elieson, who has served as President of American Airlines Cargo for the past three and a half years.
We have spoken often about things, usually at a trade show, or even as we did recently during a short interview/meeting inside American Cargo’s new Penthouse Suite of offices at the gleaming new Skyview 8 headquarters building in Fort Worth, Texas.
Usually it’s a battery of questions and answers as the interview goes on.
But in this case what you are about to read addresses only one question.
I asked Rick “What are the most important attributes of a leader?”
All Our Tomorrows Belong To You Still friends, after all these years, are well-seasoned stand up guys at Air Cargo Americas (from left )—Vince Ryan VP the Americas for Air Bridge Cargo, Vince is guiding that carrier’s fortunes through some interesting and challenging times. Ricardo Jorquera continues building his latest venture as President of Air Trade Group. Isaac Nijankin helped build Varig Cargo into a global powerhouse during a time when he both served, and was a guiding spirit at TIACA, and as a major supporter helping create CNS.
Delta's Dash To Your Door U.S. door-to-door shipping just got a great deal easier as Delta Cargo partnered with Roadie, an Atlanta-based same-day delivery service, to launch DASH Door-to-Door.
The 24/7 service is a combination carrier first.
Dash to your door currently serves over 55 cities in the United States, but plans are afoot to expand the service to plenty of additional destinations this year.
Cargo Friends In Miami This Week Air Cargo Americas (ACA) gets underway this week in Miami, October 29-31.
ACA is the Grand Daddy of American air cargo industry gatherings—a wide, open, lusty, and frenetic couple of days of warmth and Latin fellowship and spirit.
Yes, the event can also be a bit wild and even rough around the edges, especially when the party gets going on the trade show floor at 12 o’clock, or as the time is known here, high noon.
About Airports: Calendar Year 2000 - A Spatial Oddity In an air cargo industry that often seems to gauge performance by year-on-year comparisons, airport planners ruminating on 20-30 year forecasts can seem anachronistic but such are the timeframes required to frame considerations of the optimal use of limited on-airport land with generations of repercussions in the balance.
Friction between airport operators with fixed assets and their tenants (airlines and handlers) with more portable assets is inevitable. One can reposition an aircraft and GSE equipment much easier than one can relocate a building.
All Aboard American's Skyview 8 At DFW Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, sit at the south end of The Great Plains, a part of the United States that stretches the length of the country up into Canada.
The corridor north is wind friendly, even blustery—an ideal environment for huge, three-bladed, power-generating whirligigs.
Today Texas leads the United States in wind energy, with more than 13,000 wind turbines.
The land surrounding Dallas-Ft. Worth is mostly flat, coated in muted, sandy clay and composed of heavy backland soils that farmers call “hardscrabble.”
It’s a semi-arid portion of mother earth, mostly barren save for the dazzlingly beautiful succulent plants.
Robert L. Crandall: Up Close & Personal Whether he was busy creating one of the truly great airlines of the world, performing community service, or having a good time, Bob showed up to party.
How Cargo Will Pay It Forward The good news is that digital payment sector is rapidly evolving and PayCargo is leading the way.
Business to consumer (B2C) payment technology trends are being driven by millennials and Generation Z, with changing consumer habits transforming industries across the world.
This is a great opportunity, but how can we effectively harness the benefits for the air cargo industry?
Martin The Jettainer Can Man Martin Kraemer, the effusive Head of Marketing and PR for Jettainer, ‘The Jettainer Can Man’ shares some thoughts.
Martin is better than bright.
He is always on, and as an uplifting steady hand at Jettainer, forever seems to be talking the next thing.
United Eco-Skies Soars In 2019 With the environment increasingly under the microscope, United Airlines stands alone as the only USA flag carrier to utilize biofuel.
Perhaps overlooked in the general rush of things on June 5th was United’s Flight for the Planet, the most eco-friendly commercial flight of its kind in the history of aviation, as World Environment Day was celebrated everywhere.
Her Art Here Finds Friendly Skies “Her Art Here” is an original spirited contest, created to find and uplift underrepresented women artists by providing them with a chance to have their work painted on a canvas like no other—a Boeing 757 plane.
The fact that UA donated a brace of arguably the most beautiful big twin-jets ever built, just makes this story even better.
2020 Sulphur Cap Will Slap Cargo For forwarders and shippers, the key challenge of the coming months will come from the higher costs that implementing new environmental shipping regulations will impose on global supply chains.
From January 1, 2020, new International Maritime Organization regulations will put a 0.5% cap on sulfur content in marine fuels globally, down from a maximum of 3.5% now. With oil prices rising, the exact cost of the new fuels is not yet known for certain, but with low-sulfur fuels significantly more expensive, container line shipping executives have called on supply chain partners to share the burden of rising fuel costs, which they describe as an economic hit.
Farewell Kind-Hearted Joe It said that only the good die young. To that, we might add nothing that is good ever dies.
Joe Badamo, a pillar of the JFK International Airport community lost his battle with cancer on Sunday October 13th and passed away in Massapequa, Long Island, New York at age 65.
Joe, for many years serving as President, has been the glue that helps hold the JFK Air Cargo Association together. He also co-led the JFK Cargo Sales Managers Club.
Virgin Unveils Expansive Plans For LHR Gateway “Our volumes grew 6% in 2018 to their highest level since 2010 and we know customers would give us a bigger share of their business if they had the choice.”
Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director, Cargo at Virgin Atlantic is animated as VS unveiled an ambitious plan to challenge IAG’s dominance at London Heathrow.
The Joint Is Jumping Virgin Atlantic Cargo and Delta Cargo describe their just opened export facility at London Heathrow as “state-of-the-art to future-proof the joint venture’s growth plans in the U.K. market.”
Tania Boyes, Director - Cargo Operations at Virgin Atlantic, puts it this way:
“We now have an export operation at our main U.K. hub which is designed around the current and future needs of our business, and which will further improve customer experience.”
Man Behind Engine At Delta Delta Cargo had just named Rob Walpole as Vice President – Cargo Operations and Logistics.
Mr. Walpole lands at DL Cargo with heavy credentials including a stint at DP World Dubai where he served as Chief Operating Officer and prior to that as Chief Executive Officer at Schenker.
Rob Walpole gets it about change and judging by his recent move and his answers here he is turning an important page moving ahead affecting the future of a great international airline.
Trump Effect Pt. 11: Pressure On China A lot has happened since my last article on the Trump Effect.
The ambitious Trump economic agenda has already started paying off – the U.S. is seeing record low unemployment, robust GDP growth and, for the first time in over a decade, consistently rising wages. Likewise, his muscular anti-immigrant stance has reduced illegal immigration and his forceful brinksmanship on trade has led to more balanced exchange with Mexico.
Ivan Sets The Table At FIATA Congress Above Cape Town, the epoch and very beautiful Table Mountain floats like a ribbon of a highway to heaven.
Likewise Ivan Petrov's presence last week in Cape Town elevated the FIATA 2019 World Congress.
He is decent, easygoing, cool, engaged and full of ideas.
Ivan defined the upside of networking by finding a place in time at his table for everyone.
Here Marco, who knows Ivan as well as anybody, shares the rest of the story.
Free Digital Course Beats Animal Traffic Something for nothing . . . TRAFFIC, the wild life monitoring network out for the prevention of wildlife trafficking is offering FIATA members training in the form of a free digital course.
“TRAFFIC arms freight forwarders with the information they need to protect themselves from inadvertently carrying smuggled wildlife goods and how to report and respond to instances of wildlife trafficking,” Hallie Sack of TRAFFIC told FlyingTypers.
Kraus Aims To Bring Air Niugini Back When Gus Kraus first stood up at the plate for Papua-based Air New Guinea Cargo, the now veteran aviation and air cargo man in the Pacific was a mere lad.
Today Gus can count a great reputation of more than 50 years, building a strong background in freight and airline commercial operations as he returned as GM Freight at Air Niugini, the National Carrier of Papua, New Guinea.
Gus is a quality operator and has been posted at and helped many carriers in the Pacific to re-build their services to meet the changing demand of their customers over the past three decades.
Halal Boys And Girls When Gus Kraus first stood up at the plate for Papua-based Air New Guinea Cargo, the now veteran aviation and air cargo man in the Pacific was a mere lad.
Today Gus can count a great reputation of more than 50 years, building a strong background in freight and airline commercial operations as he returned as GM Freight at Air Niugini, the National Carrier of Papua, New Guinea.
Gus is a quality operator and has been posted at and helped many carriers in the Pacific to re-build their services to meet the changing demand of their customers over the past three decades.
Another Opening—A FIATA Show & Tell Wednesday October 2 included a gathering of costumed performance artists who were joined in song by children serenading the gathering with the national anthem of South Africa in three languages.
Welcoming delegates, current FIATA President Babar Badat, thanking the South African Association of Freight Forwarders said that he departs his term in office amidst what amounts to major changes underway on several fronts at the organization.
Galaxy Of Kale At Hand Kale Logistics Solution has been chosen by Mitchell Cotts Freight, a top shipping, freight forwarding, warehousing and transport resource in Kenya to digitize their entire air cargo handling operations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi and Daniel Tanui, MD of Mitchell Cotts could not be happier.
FIATA World Congress Takes Off In Cape Town Getting ready for that big FIATA World Congress taking place all this week in Cape Town, South Africa is top FIATA officer Turgut Erkeskin, (pictured here with FIATA Fellow Geoffrey Arend).
Turgut, who is also a driving force at The Association of International Forwarding & Logistics Service Providers (UTIKAD) in Turkey serves as President and CEO of Istanbul-based Genel Transport.
Linda Faces Future, Pays It Forward Linda Eshiwani-Nate, Business Development Manager at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport (HJIA) put it on the line:
“I am really excited. For quite a while, U.S. airports have remained far behind their European and Asian counterparts, especially as it relates to the overall airport experience and Cargo handling and operations, as such, I am excited that we (ATL) have arrived here today.
“This momentum we are experiencing today, is a direct response to an overall demand for change and improvement, expressed by our cargo stakeholders.”
Bogotá Watching Flowers With 500 exhibitors expected at this year’s event (held every two years), you’ll get no argument from us.
A genuine buyers and sellers buyers show, ProFlora makes no bones about it with an October 2 set up for visits to any number of the many flower farms in and around Bogotá reserved for “international” buyers only.
Of course there are exhibits and speeches at the downtown Corferias Convention Center and an upscale closing dinner at 8:30 pm on Friday October 4.
How Do You Like Them Apples? Asia Fruit Logistica (AFL) 2019 was held in Hong Kong September 4-6 amidst the protests and unrest which have characterized life in the former Crown Colony, that still continue.
The event, an offshoot of Fruit Logistica held in Berlin every year has consistently grown in Asia during the past several meetings.
From ATC Oktoberfest Done Right “Looking at the 2019 business climate currently in place, ATC sees that in some countries we are slightly ahead and elsewhere a bit lower than we would like.
“Tonnage average overall is somewhat the same as last year but yields are lower.
“Without a doubt the challenge is a tough business year so we remain on our toes and close to our customers.
“The best surprise in this climate is no surprise.
“We have exciting plans and business contracts underway toward final agreement, as we continue our expansion in the months ahead,” said Ingo Zimmer, CEO of top GSSA ATC.
SpiceXpress SpiceXpress, SpiceJet’s cargo division leased a 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF).
“We are expanding the markets we currently serve, particularly in the Middle East, Hong Kong and Bangladesh and the 737-800BCF is helping enable our strategic direction,” said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet.
Dorian Disaster Brings Out The Best In Air Cargo Dorian spun into the northeastern Bahamas as the most powerful Category 5 storm on record. Its eyewall passed directly over Great Abaco and its outer islands before stalling over Grand Bahama for nearly 40 hours. Powerful gusts topping 220 miles per hour destroyed or damaged almost every structure they encountered. Marsh Harbour International Airport was completely flooded for at least two days. At least 70,000 homes were destroyed – at a conservative estimate of 4 people per household, that represents 80% of the population. At 5 inhabitants per home, nearly the entire population would be rendered homeless.
Fast Times @ United Cargo The Loop, Chicago, USA—Looking at the global air cargo market and reaction to business in the here and now from the inside amongst the people at United Cargo in 2019 plays in mind a bit like the famous opening paragraph of Charles Dickens' novel, A Tale of Two Cities. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…”
Breakfast Chicago-Style One of the great joys we discovered on our recent United Cargo HQ trip (poet Carl Sandburg immortalized Chicago the 'City of Broad Shoulders') must be included into your routine.
We figure what is the sense of visiting a great city; like passing through a garden, not smelling the flowers along the way?
A Postscript To D-Day As a postscript to that big D-Day gathering earlier this summer when more than 40 DC3s returned to the skies above the coast of France, we journeyed to Bernay in Normandy and relived some WWII memories through the eyes of a child.
One of the great things about reporting on aviation in air cargo is the places you visit and the people you meet.
Bernay is a small town of just 10,000.
Hong Kong Protestors Untrammeled As police patrol the airport express central train station in downtown Hong Kong, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, protesters were untrammeled in their continued actions against Mainland China’s pressure on the former Crown Colony. Authorities were limiting airport transport services and controlling access to terminals Saturday during a second straight weekend of disruption following overnight demonstrations that turned violent.
Bake Me A Wish, How Sweet It Is In the U.S., Bake Me A Wish, headquartered in New York City began in 2005, offering nationwide service for gourmet birthday cake delivery via UPS.
During the past 14 plus years the company has grown to offer more and more of the finest bakery gifts available including gourmet cookies, brownies, cupcakes, pies and quiches.
Laundering Money Comes Out In WASH. A Louisiana, USA Senator named Bill Cassidy, R-La., who issues a torrent of 'White Papers' on various subjects, including Health Care now wants the Federal Government to look into possible cargo-based money laundering (TBML-Trade-Based Money Laundering), suggesting TBML , “is one of the most profitable and safe mechanisms to launder money, and it is imperative that Congress act.”
Cargo Dips As Beijing Weaponizes Against Cathay Pacific Usually the first of the month trots out the numbers from the past weeks with prediction of various scenarios in play, as the year moves forward.
August shall be remembered by many as the month Beijing weaponized those huge and ongoing Hong Kong protests that a few Cathay Pacific Airlines employees had the temerity to join.
Skye And Cargo Buffalo Make A Wish Come True After beating Hodgkin's Lymphoma, San Francisco teenager Skye Mandigo-Stoba got to wish for anything in the world.
Naturally, it was a toss-up between having lunch with Beyonce or seeing Buffalo Airways Cargo World War II DC-3 cargo aircraft.
Yellowknife, Canada-based Buffalo Airways operates a fleet of World War II-era aircraft that are the aerial lifeline to a number of northern Canadian villages, carrying cargo shipments under government contract. Buffalo Airways has been featured on History Television's Ice Pilots NWT for several seasons.
Plane Savers & Spirit Of Buffalo If you like old airplanes run, don’t walk to YouTube and look up Mikey McBryan and watch how this enterprising young man pulled a derelict C-47 (DC-3) back from the brink in about 100 days and had it air-worthy and airborne for the D-Day celebrations this past June 6th.
Unflappable Nalin In Australia We ran into our friend Nalin Rodrigo, who we first met on Dubai Creek some years ago when he was fronting the cargo fortunes of SriLankan Cargo from his offices in Colombo.
Nalin, an all-cargo pro, was always completely unflappable, energetic and a great air cargo dreamer and doer.
Help Bahamas Hurricane Dorian struck, then lashed northern Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane on Sunday and stalled over the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Island for two days.
The destructive winds, torrential rains and relentless flooding destroyed more than 10,000 homes and wiped out much of the infrastructure, especially in the Abacos.
A Request Thanks to you, we enter our 19th year of publishing FlyingTypers in 2020.
As we redesign our website and mix of air cargo news channels we ask that you answer some questions about how we can make our product offering better to serve you.
Shah of Flexport On Hong Kong Dust Up Neel Jones Shah is a smart guy and a dreamer and doer.
He is no shrinking violet either, but rather someone who is actively on the front lines of change having moved rather easily from top management at the airlines into top management at the wunderkind bunch at Flexport where he serves as EVP and Global Head of Airfreight.
In addition, Neel sits on the Board of Directors of Amerijet International Holdings, Global K9 Protection Group and is a Senior Advisor to The Boston Consulting Group.
FIATA Fit For New World Order Ex-DSV executive Steve Walker called on FIATA to “become a safe haven for forwarders to discuss a wider new industry strategy,” in the face of vertical consolidation by shipping lines, and the attempt to control data via platforms such as TradeLens, a join partnership between IBM and Maersk.
Mr. Walker questioned if FIATA is “still fit for purpose,” citing that if one was to mention FIATA to any young forwarder, they probably think they are an events company for old forwarders.”
Remembering Dick Wiebe Richard William 'Dick' Wiebe was educated in elementary schools in Newark, NJ and graduated from Lyndhurst High School, Lyndhurst, NJ in 1942. In 1943, he joined the U.S. Army and became a B-17 pilot in November 1944 and trained navigators for B-29 Pacific Missions. In 1945, he joined the Air Traffic Command as a Traffic Officer serving in Salzburg, Austria and Rome, Italy and was honorably discharged in 1946.
Cathay Keelhauled by China Rarely has Cathay Pacific been taken to task, but that is exactly what happened when cabin crew got involved in protests, and employees were arrested a week ago.
Mainland Communist China holding 30% of Cathay shares, unleashed its full ire against Cathay and took down the carrier long-regarded as the royalty of Hong Kong business, humiliating and forcing its two top executives to resign.
CNS President Looks Ahead In a year of uncertainty marred by huge unrest in everybody’s favorite gateway, Hong Kong, we asked Mike White, President of USA-based Cargo Network Services (CNS) to share some thoughts that might also act as a beacon for many of us in transportation trussed up in tariffs and an otherwise tough (to the point of being even a nasty awakening) business year.
So, pour a coffee if you are at work, or an adult beverage if it is after hours, pull up a chair, take this in, and then maybe call up a colleague and have the story read (if they have not seen it) so you can both help widen the school of thought, as 2019 slogs along.
MIA Too Hot To Handle Air cargo readies the biggest cargo show of the year in the U.S., as Air Cargo Americas meets just off the main runways of Miami International Airport at the World Trade Center October 29-31. Miami International Airport said that it served 688,000 more passengers for the first six months of 2019 than last year, up in fact three percent to 23.4 million travelers.
During the first half of 2019, American Airlines launched new service Miami-Cordoba, Argentina service on June 7.
Stan 'The Man' Hong Kong Plan When writing of the Hong Kong conflict going on right now in the former Crown Colony, now a special district, we cannot help but wonder what’s next for air cargo?
So, we figure why not go to someone who carries the credentials of experience, knowledge, passion and air cargo building, Stan Wraight, CEO of Strategic Aviation Solutions (SASI).
Stan ‘The Man’ is busy these days working for airports, and for IATA and TIACA, training the next generation of logisticians.
Geoffrey and Stan go all the way back to the 1980s in Amsterdam, when Stan was a key executive of what was arguably the most brilliant and at least most avant-garde airline air cargo team, headed up by the great Jacques Ancher as top executive at KLM Cargo.
Vanya & Jennifer - United Cargo's Front Line Connection Bitter or sweet, most memories become precious and more meaningful as time moves on.
This story is a memory and I am grateful for it.
We find ourselves with a ringside seat to the endless interplay of customers and airlines at the CNS Partnership Conference.
We are sitting in the lobby of the Gary Player Villa at Trump National Golf Hotel in Miami, Florida.
Outside, sheets of rain cause small streams of water to flow and puddle almost everywhere, while inside teams of airline air cargo sales and service personnel are engaged in non-stop dawn to dusk customer meetings.
Hong Kong Chaos Those ongoing strikes in Hong Kong are no Mickey Mouse affair, stranding thousands at Hong Kong International Airport for a second day Tuesday, August 13.
The strikes that have plagued Hong Kong for the past months get little resonance from the government, but citizens of this special place will not be held back.
So no surprise, when all flights out of Hong Kong from 4pm onwards on Monday were cancelled. As this is written on Tuesday morning in New York City, flights were limping back into business after thousands of anti-government protesters occupied the airport terminal building, following another weekend of clashes with police.
Virgin Parties Times 30 As Virgin Cargo marked 30 years of service to the U.S., an intimate gathering with summertime Manhattan under the watchful eye of the glorious Empire State Building served as a celebration point.
This was an understated fun event with local cargo people, who showed up and were shown a good time, with lots of great food and conversation in this splendid setting.
Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director-Virgin Cargo greeted the gathering proclaiming “thanks for your partnership and for your faith in our product.
Turkish Cargo Doing What Comes Naturally We asked Turhan Ozen, top cargo officer at Turkish Cargo, how goes business and how was that big move from Ataturk Airport, and his reaction is a broad smile, not a weary one.
The idea that an airline cargo division could pack up and move half of its operations from one airport to another, now accomplished on time and apparently without a hitch, Turhan eases back in his chair and smiles.
Women Light Up Oshkosh Sky “Now in its twelfth year, WomenVenture, a week-long social and networking event during last month’s big EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, attracted hundreds of women who are part of the aviation community and enjoy getting together to be inspired, to network, and to just plain have fun.
“More than a thousand women gathered in Boeing Plaza for the WomenVenture’s annual group photo, with most participants wearing their purple WomenVenture t-shirts.”
Mother And Daughter Team Up Meet Carly (right) and Karen Barry (left), who have a story to tell of pioneering in the ground transportation business in Southern Florida.
Karen is a working Mom, who in 2007 was joined by daughter Carly, at her company, Ever-Green Express.
Karen is no overnight sensation either.
She has operated her company for the past 22 years, moving from serving as a school teacher and then into founding Ever-Green Express after learning a bit about trucking from her husband, who did ad hoc charters.
Uberizing Logistics Da Doo Run Run “We fundamentally believe there’s a new era of opportunity in logistics,” Ron said.
“Technology streamlines things, connects things and that builds trust in physical networks.
“With the logistics market currently representing 12 percent of global GDP,” Ron said, “there’s an even greater need for solutions that bring value to trucking industry stakeholders besieged by rising costs, a 98 percent driver turnover rate and a litany of inefficiencies ranging from long delays at facilities to ‘empty’ miles in which trucks run with vacant trailers.”
Frankie Flies Himself British Immigration & Customs may have to go mobile, as Franky Zapata France’s “Flying Frenchman” lands in St. Margaret's Bay in Dover August 4.
Lazy Afternoon Never enough music like this, dear reader.
We hope, whilst reading about some truly outstanding women in air cargo like this mother/daughter dynamo in Florida, you will plug in or amp up or top it all off with this brief encounter that includes some truly outstanding ladies of song.
For us it’s a share thing.
Maybe you never heard of Mabel Mercer.
But after you hear this lady deliver “Ace In The Hole,” you might never forget her.
Slowdown Hoedown News that the Cass Freight Index of North American Freight Volumes moved downward another -5.3% in June adds up in USA to a slow dance of negative cargo volumes seven months in a row 2018/2019.
The Cass Freight Index covers shipments of merchandise for the consumer and industrial economy via all modes of transportation, but it does not include bulk commodities, such as grains or chemicals.
Perils Of Jet Airways Not since 1914, and the silent movie serial “The Perils of Pauline,” which was in 1947 brought back as a talkie starring Betty Hutton (pictured), has transportation had a cliff-hangar to top the on-again, off-again saga of now bankrupt Jet Airways.
Just like Pauline, every time you think she is finished, even as a high-speed train bears down on her helpless figure tied to the track, somebody jumps out and saves the day.
India’s Jet Airways enters the conversation these days in India every now and then raising the question, will it ever be revived?
Qatar Cargo Ode To Pittsburgh In Pennsylvania, USA—Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO Christina Cassotis, (right) and architect Luis Vidal (left) sit in front of a rendering of the proposed terminal modernization at Pittsburgh International Airport during a meeting to unveil the more than one billion dollar project that is scheduled to open in 2023.
On the cargo side, “land a customer, get an airline,” matches up Qatar Cargo with Sri Lanka-based 3PL Expo Freight (EFL) with a weekly B-777 freighter.
Super Mariano Gets Delta B757 And Delta JFK Gate Delta Airlines came up big for baseball and “The Boys of Summer” July 16, naming an airplane and numbering an airport gate at John F Kennedy Airport in New York, honoring New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, a five-time World Series Champion.
Mariano was on his way to Cooperstown, New York to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, when these pictures were snapped July 16.
Unilode A Kick In The Can “Changing the customer experiences from our interactions, products and
services and mastering the data challenge and driving innovation are the orders of every day at Unilode,” said Benoît Dumont, Unilode CEO.
“We are very excited, honored and proud to announce a long-term ULD management partnership with Korean Air,” Dumont said.
Dial Designated Excellent Delhi International Airport became the first airport in India to operationalize a dedicated Transshipment Excellence Centre (TEC). The initiative was taken by DIAL as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) under the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 to develop Air Cargo Transshipment Hubs at major airports of the country.
The Customs department has cleared the operations of the TEC and charted out the Standing Operating Procedure for transshipment of cargo.
September Montreal ULD Confab For Urs Wiesendanger, President, ULD CARE, and Bob Rogers, (above right) VP & Treasurer, ULD CARE, kicking the cans has been a joyful lifelong obsession.
“Montréal, Québec, Canada is the site of the next ULD CONFERENCE, September 16-19, 2019,” Urs said.
VS Cargo iQ Puts U On The Smart Track “We are passionate about great customer service and consistently meeting our customers’ expectations and we need the tools to meet this promise,” Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director, Cargo at Virgin Atlantic declared accepting IATA Cargo iQ certification.
The IATA Cargo iQ audit conducted by SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA revealed Virgin Atlantic’s performance against delivery commitments created at the time of each customer’s booking.
Qatar Cargo To The Top Qatar Airways Cargo delivered the second highest cargo uptick of airline growth on IATA’s just published top airline cargo rankings, as traffic jumped 15.4% to just under 12.7bn FTK.
Right now QR is Number 3 in the world and is not afraid of stepping into Number Two.
Amazon & Air Cargo In Focus “The first thing to remember,” writes air cargo great Bill Boesch, “is that Amazon is not an airline but a unique e-commerce platform controlling its door-to-door operations to provide free next-day or 2-day shipping for its products. “As a result, in the U.S., Amazon is not covered by the Railway Labor Act nor is it fully unionized.
“Amazon hubs – unlike FedEx and UPS – are fulfillment centers.”
How Big Is A Really Big Change? “Huge, and we are not underestimating or taking anything for granted,” said Dominic Kennedy, Virgin Atlantic’s Managing Director, Cargo.
“Our entire business model is based on giving customers more choice and flexibility, whether this means more routes and frequencies, new products and services, or the ability to interact with us in the way they want to do business,” he said.
Down In The Depths At 35,000 Feet Air cargo rates continue to see weekly volatility, but with the demand outlook tepidand ample capacity available on most lanes, pricing continues to fluctuate, albeit within boundaries far below those enjoyed in 2018.
Things To Come In 2019 Ram Menen is one of the original founding team of Emirates Airline, that headed SkyCargo from inception in October 1985.
Ram, it can be said, built SkyCargo from the ground up to its place near or at the top of the world, as top executive and guiding spirit for 27 years.
In fact when he retired in 2013, he departed Emirates with SkyCargo as the largest international cargo airline in the world.
Season Of The Witch Nadezhda Popova was born on December 27, 1921, in Ukraine. At the fledgling age of fifteen and unbeknownst to her parents, Nadezhda joined a pilot club in the Soviet Union, where females accounted for only a quarter of the population. The Economist called her “a wild spirit, easily bored; she loved to tango, foxtrot, sing along to jazz. It made her feel free, which was also why at 15 she had joined a flying club without telling her parents.”
Ma, He Is Making Eyes At The World As previously reported in FlyingTypers, Amazon’s emergence as a major player in air cargo and logistics has been meteoric.
But Amazon is not the only ‘e-tailer’ with an ambitious plan to integrate online and offline commerce by building huge logistics networks.
Alibaba is also most definitely causing a stir.
CNS Partnership Best In Class As trade show season ended for the summer we asked Lionel van der Walt newly-named board member of fast rising PayCargo to share some thoughts about the CNS Partnership Conference in his new role after having served as President of CNS.
Here is his reaction.
“I was very glad to see that the Partnership Conference is still the premier U.S. cargo industry event.
“As the conference boasted another record attendance this year, its success in drawing key decision-makers both locally and globally has become more than evident.”
Cabotage So Good It Must Be Illegal Ever since the 16th century when France added the noun “cabotage” to the world trading dictionary, declaring that only French ships could trade in French ports, the rule has spread from ships to airplanes, to rail and road transport all over the world.
Well, move over cabotage, here comes Anchorage, Alaska.
United Cell Bells The Pharma “TempControl’s transport of vaccines and other high-value biopharmaceutical shipments is increasing rapidly,” said Jan Krems, President of United Cargo (pictured here with Team United in Germany at Air Cargo Munich earlier this month), as the carrier became first USA flag to induct SkyCell temperature-controlled containers.
“Extremely precise, long-duration temperature control is required for the safe transport of these highly sensitive shipments,” Jan declared.
MASkargo Gets It On Halal “We are most probably the first Cargo Terminal Operator in the world to be classified as a halal cargo handler from a globally recognized and renowned Islamic Affairs Regulator for halal products,” Ibrahim Mohamed Salleh, MASkargo’s Chief Executive Officer said after receiving certification from the Malaysian Department of Islamic Development (JAKIM), that MASkargo is now part of the halal logistics chain.
If that sounds like MASkargo pulled an inside straight, you’ll get no argument from us.
Issa Is A Man For All Seasons The Baluchi Mosque in Mombasa, Kenya is a rather noticeable building in the otherwise ordinary Baluchi Street, neighboring the Makadara Grounds open space; a small alleyway opens its ingress almost in front of the mosque and hosts, right at the beginning, an impressive array of on-wheels book stands, containing all kind of literature, journals, comics, essays, novels and dissertations, all there on sale with other articles of more prosaic nature.
More Power To SAS & Airbus Airbus & SAS have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for hybrid and electric aircraft eco-system and infrastructure requirements research.
The MoU was signed by Grazia Vittadini, (left) Chief Technology Officer, Airbus and Göran Jansson, (right) Deputy President EVP Strategy & Ventures, Scandinavian Airlines. Collaboration begins this month June 2019 and will continue until the end of 2020.
From Nightwatch To FlowerWatch Everybody knows that a Dutch master created the “Nightwatch.”
Well, move over Rembrandt, as Air France KLM Martinair Cargo’s flower flow from Kenya is accredited FlowerWatch.
FlowerWatch is an organization based in the Netherlands that aims to be the world’s leading authority in bringing flower supply chains all over the planet up to a higher standard, whilst facilitating continuous improvement.
Election Time Is Climate Time On May 26th, Denmark and other EU countries voted on national candidates to represent each country in the EU Parliament. Each elected national candidate in turn affiliate with one of the political groups of the EU Parliament, determined by each national party’s political conviction. Consequently, Denmark shall elect 13 candidates (14 once the UK –finally! - leaves the EU). The EU’s 751 Parliament members handle and vote on highly important EU issues, representing the interest of the EU citizens and as such get involved in the EU budget and many other issues, such the EU Climate Policy.
The
800-lb. Amazon Of Air Cargo Recently Bill Boesch, the distinguished and eloquent former President of American Airlines Cargo, explained in a FlyingTypers column how Amazon has the capability to transform the air cargo landscape.
For example, the e-tailer is already “its own air cargo customer,” thanks to its ACMI contracts with ATSG and Atlas for Boeing aircraft, which will give it a fleet of more than 50 freighters by next year. This leaves integrators such as UPS and FedEx in the position of both providing services to Amazon – one recent report claimed Amazon accounts for 6.5% of total UPS revenue and 4.7% of FedEx revenue - as well as competing with it for customers and their cargoes.
Excitement
Reigns As Ospentos Steps Up The great northern Europe air cargo pioneer Erik Byman informs us that his Tallinn-based handling company Ospentos signed an agreement with Juneyao Air for trucking and handling service in the Baltics, Ukraine & Belarus.
“On June 28, 2019 when Chinese Juneyao Airlines (HO) launches its maiden flight to Europe by opening a direct daily connection from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, we will be ready with top handling and connection services,” Erik Byman said.
The
Great Man In Air Cargo We posed the same questions to a pair of top managers in our business today—an air cargo industry stalwart and an airport visionary.
Team
EMO At Air Cargo Europe Team EMO Trans is pictured at the Transport Logistic Air Cargo Europe exhibition last week in Munich, Germany.
Jo Frigger, Chairman of EMO Trans reports:
“EMO Trans is well prepared to master present and future economic turbulences by maintaining a high degree of service levels for our customers through our dedicated teams supported by technological improvements.
An
Awarding Dinner In Munich Ingo Zimmer, CEO of fast growing ATC, a big winner in the global GSSA game serving 75 airlines, passed up attending the “gala” Air Cargo Europe awards dinner Wednesday March 5 in Munich.
Ingo, as dynamic as he is tall at 6 foot 5, had a better idea, delivering a simple thank you to his customers in an extraordinary once in a lifetime setting.
Guenter
Rohrmann Is 80 Although he was action central in American, German and International air cargo for more than 50 years, and is now retired, a belated special Happy 80th Birthday salute to the great Guenter Rohrmann, who was born on April 15,1939.
The essential thing you need to know about GR is that he was an industry builder.
He put his time and money into creating a better air cargo business.
Awards
Leave Some At A Loss Air Cargo Europe bestowed another blizzard of air cargo awards at its “Gala Dinner in Munich on Wednesday.
Trade shows, industry organizations, and especially publications are handing out awards left and right.
There are awards for everything, from company of the year, to person of the year, to most influential, to lifetime service.
Achim Is Back And good for him and air cargo as well!
Personal fave, and all around good guy Achim Martinka named new Vice President Region Germany for Lufthansa Cargo Friday June 7.
“I am very much looking forward to this great challenge and even more, coming back to the business-environment I love so much,” Achim told FlyingTypers.
Achim Martinka began his career at Lufthansa Cargo in 2000 as Senior Manager Global Accounts.
Virgin Cargo IT Vision Is 2020 We show up in Munich, where everybody all at once is going for the big splash, jumping into the mega cargo event pool.
In the sink or swim sum total game, here comes “heyworld” a ‘new’ product from Lufthansa Cargo.
Hearing the run together words “heyworld” as branding, gets a knee jerk reaction and a smile, as we recall the great Anthony Newley in the play titled “Stop The World I Want To Get Off.”
But on or off, we can say ideas and action are the stuff of trade show excitement.
A League Of Their Own There may be “no crying in baseball” as a movie suggests, but listening to United Cargo President Jan Krems we learn the same rule applies in air cargo.
“Sure business is tough right now,” Jan said, “but as the wise saying from ancient times puts it, ‘You can’t always choose your circumstances, but you can always choose how you respond to them.’”
Is The Sky Falling In On Air Cargo? While the mood in Munich’s maze of exhibition halls was decidedly – perhaps surprisingly – upbeat, a deluge of negative data and forecasts were raining down.
And for what it is worth Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Cocky Locky, Ducky Daddles, Goosie Poosie, Gander Pander, Turkey Lurkey and Foxy Loxy are all on the record here.
Yes, our view may be a children’s fairy tale, but isn’t it so that sometimes the gloom and doom forecast turns out like the unexpected last boom in air cargo that no one, including the crystal gazers at IATA Cargo saw coming?
Qatar Makes Music In Munich The supplest sanctuary at Air Cargo Europe was at Qatar Airways that was designed in muted earth tones offering quiet places and private seating on the ground floor and an imaginative series of comfortable meeting rooms up a short flight of stairs allowing for simultaneous encounters with attendees from every continent in the world.
Appointment books were filled to the brim. At the opening of the exhibition, Guillaume Halleaux, Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo greeted the conference, extending the hospitality of Qatar, whilst a lovely foursome of formally dressed musicians set the musical tone of the day. Berlin Airlift In Germany Today
We have known, and very much liked Volker from the days of Lufthansa Charter and the absolutely outstanding people who populated that company like Christian Fink, Heide Enfield, Andrew Morch and some others.
Once above Germany, Volker and I flew in a restored S38 flying boat from the 1930s, the aircraft dressed up in zebra stripes, the way wild life explorer Frank Buck's 'Bring ‘em Back Alive's, S38 flying boat flew the skies.
Atlanta Turns A Paige With Schiphol If Elliott Paige had any better a handle on what it takes, and what Atlanta has to offer, it would be hard to discover.
The Air Services Development Manager at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport is so smart and upfront about HJIA’s cargo program you can go to school on the word picture he paints.
“Air Cargo efficiency improvements,” he smiles and speaks softly, “is the name of the game.”
Shop The World I Want To Get Off We show up in Munich, where everybody all at once is going for the big splash, jumping into the mega cargo event pool.
In the sink or swim sum total game, here comes “heyworld” a ‘new’ product from Lufthansa Cargo.
Hearing the run together words “heyworld” as branding, gets a knee jerk reaction and a smile, as we recall the great Anthony Newley in the play titled “Stop The World I Want To Get Off.”
But on or off, we can say ideas and action are the stuff of trade show excitement.
Why ATC Matters In Air Cargo Europe This Week Right now in Germany, not only the most exciting, but also the best GSSA operation in the world is emerging.
To listen to ATC CEO Ingo Zimmer, ATC has only just begun to continue its unprecedented growth plan that has seen the GSSA move from regional European services to ATC spreading its wings across America, Canada, South America, and now Asia in just the past five years.
A Paris Life United “The reason I love what I do is the people I connect with. Moving from what's familiar to places yet to be discovered—that’s what I appreciate about being in the airline business.
“The unique quality United Cargo brings to this industry is our commitment to making sure everyone does well in their business—our airline and our customers.”
When we met with United Airlines’ France Cargo Sales Manager Laurent Bernet in a small, elegant hotel garden in Place Pigalle Paris recently, we discovered a seasoned veteran of the air cargo business.
Spargel For Dinner At Air Cargo United Whatever you do next week whilst attending Air Cargo Europe in Munich, (June 4-7) do not allow the opportunity to enjoy a proper German white asparagus dinner slip by.
White asparagus or spargel is a very short seasonal offering in Bavaria and it is everywhere this time of year, unique in the world, and so very delicious!
Going To School On Flying Fish “We moved the first fresh catch of Copper River salmon on the largest airborne salmon in the world – the Alaska Airlines B737-dubbed Salmon-Thirty-Salmon,” beamed Jason Berry, managing director at Alaska Air Cargo.
This time of year Alaska Airlines, which wrote the book on seafood shipments almost since the carrier went into business in 1932, once again sees “business as usual, unusual,” as the carrier goes all out with the most imaginative and high-spirited fish story you have ever seen streaming from nose to tail on any airplane.
All Together Now The unique atmosphere one breathes at the FIATA HQ – and even more so at the FIATA Congresses, which have 3 to 4 times more participants – is something you have to try yourself, it is not enough to describe the endless opportunities and the meaningful encounters simply in descriptive words.
Even casual words seem to become meaningful in the end, thanks to FIATA.
As I am proudly the one and only FIATA Fellow in the world having been recognized at one of these sessions in 2016, I am well aware of the efforts that are deployed every year.
Where The Cargo Essential Is American Somebody once asked the great photographer Ansel Adams to identify what makes a picture great. He said: “There are always two people in the picture: the photographer and the viewer.”
We are sitting in the lower lobby of the Trump golf resort, host to a rousing CNS Partnership Conference for 2019. Above our table are some wonderful pictures of Ben Hogan, a top golfer in the 1930s and 40s.
As he closes in on his second year of serving as President of American Airlines Cargo, it is fair to say that Richard (Rick) Elieson guided the freight fortunes of the world’s largest airline with a steady hand.
Tariffs Throw Air Cargo A Curve In 2019 Shippers planning for the summer peak season received a curve ball from American President Donald J. Trump earlier this month.
With only a few Presidential tweets of warning, the U.S.-China trade talks that optimists hoped would bring an end to confrontation and protectionism, yielded an escalation instead as the U.S. raised tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese imports from 10% to 25%.
Dhaka Easy As ABC AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) recently added Dhaka to its international network.
The B747 freighter that will be touching the Bangladesh capital twice a week will not only help relieve the congestion at the airport but also boost exports.
Lightfoot & Airport Rain At Town Hall I saw Gordon Lightfoot at Town Hall in New York yesterday with my son, Geoff, and spent a couple of hours singing along some songs written by this long-time kindred spirit from Canada.
Gordon is on an “80th Anniversary Tour” celebrating achieving both that hallowed age, and still out there, singing his great ballads.
Gord, most recently, ducked the The Watchman (a great ballad Gordon wrote in the 1960s), thumbing his nose at the grim reaper and staying alive after suffering a stroke that left him in a coma for six weeks.
Qatar Has Pole Position In Race To The Top “The market might be less than a year ago—but it’s not bad,” insists Guillaume Halleux, Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo
“Don’t let people tell you that we are in a recession again—we are not!”
Guillaume is approaching his third anniversary atop Qatar Airways Cargo this June.
“I have worked internally to make sure that cargo is a strong contributor to the airline’s bottom line by making sure everyone understands our business and its objectives and possibilities. ”
Warren Jones Towering Example Warren Jones does not wear a mask, like the fabled movie & comic book hero, The Lone Ranger. But at CNS Partnership 2019, Jones, who stands at about six foot seven, held sway as a towering example of how cool it is to be a super hero.
Warren Jones delivered to this air cargo conference what everybody in air cargo has always wanted to see:
In 2019 Warren Jones is a shipper.
Chicago Delivered By Irish Ken It’s a long way from Tipperary as the song goes, but when you think about it, that makes Dublin, Ireland a rather far piece from Chicago Rockford International where an Irish native-born son is Cargo Marketing Manager.
Meet Kenneth Ryan, who at CNS this week was talking up the attributes of Chicago Rockford in some rather explicit terms.
Sterling Is Silver At 25 Sterling may be celebrating 25 years of service since Keith Davis dreamed up the great southern route across the USA to move trucking lorries overland between Los Angeles and Miami.
But for Keith, founder and CEO of Sterling Transportation, and his energetic team, CNS Partnership “is where the world should be for industry trade shows.”
Why CNS Partnership We asked Joachim Frigger, Chairman of EMO Trans, which has been a continued advocate of CNS Partnership Conference for the past decades to share his view of the “partnership” today.
“The formation of CNS always was and still is, a great opportunity for meaningful dialogue between the airlines and freight forwarders.
“We have always supported this goal and hope that going forward, a balanced view of all participants and their business interests can be maintained.”
Opening Night At CNS Opening night at CNS Partnership In Miami and “all of my friends are here,” Ian Morgan, Qatar Airways Vice President Cargo, The Americas said, greeting an overflow audience for an evening of music and networking punctuated with a gala fireworks display that played against mother nature, as heavy rain dropped in off and on.
Lionel Gets An Offer He Can't Refuse The announcement that former CNS President Lionel van der Walt will be taking the reins from Eduardo Del Riego as fast-rising PayCargo’s President and Chief Executive Officer The Americas, swept across the opening session at CNS Partnership Conference in Miami.
As it moves forward, with recent advances and mega deals with organizations, including CNS and IATA Cargo, the hyper growth Financial Technology (FinTech) company has air cargo worldwide locked onto its radar.
Carmen Darn Charmin' Carmen Gloria Alvarez, Cargo Network Services (CNS) Head of Operations and Business Development is the steady hand at CNS customer events, cargo transformation meetings, and liaison go to person for all things membership for the past three years.
Carmen Alvarez started at VIASA Airlines in Chile. Later she moved to a freight forwarder.
From her freight forwarder base Carmen became assistant general manager for the Association of Chilean Cargo Agents (ACHIAC) (FIATA members).
In Golfer's Paradise Here at CNS, we are surrounded with memories inside a golfer’s paradise.
Even the hotel buildings called “villas” are named after golfers.
Lobbies in the villas and the walls inside hallways and rooms are lined with pictures of golfers.
So the Jack Nicklaus or Gary Player villa is also a trip through memory lane for any golfer or fan of old pictures.
The Shah Of Flexport U.S.-based Flexport is not lacking ambition. Formed in 2013 and offering a full suite of air and ocean forwarding services, it has been open about its determination to disrupt forwarding and logistic markets by using its powerful technology platform to deliver “deep visibility and control, predictable supply chain costs, and more reliable transit times.”
Turhan Takes On TIACA “Effective leadership is required to handle the customers' constantly diversifying demands accurately across the air cargo industry.
“I truly believe that my new membership duty of the TIACA committee will reinforce this leadership, and provide a positive contribution to development of the international air cargo industry.”
TWA Constellation Is A Piston Pounder A very popular aircraft from the 1950s and early 1960s has ended up as a restaurant, and often as a bar at several locations in USA. Usually perched on a concrete buttress, is all or part of a Lockheed Constellation.
The aircraft was first operated by TWA, when Howard Hughes owned the airline, and later by all the airlines, including Pan Am, Lufthansa, Air France and many others.
Harmonize Your Next Cargo Meeting Upcoming this Sunday May 5, CNS Partnership takes off in Miami at the Doral National.
Here is some music, a double entendre really, suggesting something that airlines and forwarders and conference organizers might consider advancing.
Very rare Bing Crosby with some lovely acapella voices that we share after getting a heads up today that the old groaner was born 116 years ago May 3 in Tacoma.
Wonder if there has ever been an air cargo glee club?
Boeing Pledges MAX Safety Boeing CEO & Chairman Dennis Muilenburg kept his job after the annual shareholders meeting Monday at the Field Museum in Chicago where he spent an additional 16 minutes to meet the press and talk about the B737 MAX.
Boeing is under pressure to deliver a software fix for the B737 MAX anti-stall system - called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS, and a new pilot training package that will convince global regulators, and the flying public, that the aircraft is safe.
Reimagine Awards As More Rewarding It seems like a good time to dust off our story decrying the overabundance of awards in the air cargo business at nearly every turn.
Now in Spring 2019, like a rite of event passage in air cargo, as the awards go from selective to an outright bonanza, what is the net positive effect of awards upon the industry?
Creating a blizzard of awards for airlines, forwarders, airports, and people as baseline activity at almost every organized event in air cargo, big and small, we think, has an overall net effect of diminishing the meaning and importance of the honors.
JFK Cargo Gets A Pulse Claiming “to advance JFK International Airport’s place as an international cargo handler,” a “place” that the airport once upon a time dominated from its opening in 1948 until the early 1990s when more than half of all airborne cargo in USA transited the facility, airport operator The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey signed a deal to allow JFK Air Cargo LLC to lease a new 250,000 sq. ft. cargo transfer facility to be built with $70 million in private funds at the airport.
The Port Authority said it is putting up $13 million toward site preparation work and needed roadway improvements. Located on 16.2 acres of property in the North Cargo Area, the JFK Air Cargo LLC facility is projected to be completed anytime between 24 months and two years.
Air Cargo Is About People When Lionel van der Walt departed IATA CNS a couple of years ago, our industry lost a great leader, although we got lucky again right away, when Mike White stepped up to take the presidency. Mike has carried forward admirably, assembling and hosting a huge Annual Partnership Conference about to take off in Miami on May 5.
A very cool way to get it on Latino in Miami and celebrate Cinco de Mayo, while networking with some old friends and making new ones, we say.
AFKLMP Change and Forwarders Cheer “Our latest partnership with WebCargo stipulates time and again that our strategy ‘be there, where the customer is’, is the right one,” said Marcel de Nooijer, Executive Vice President of Air France-KLM Cargo & managing director Martinair Holland NV.
A new deal had just been announced between Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP Cargo) and Web Cargo by Freightos.
But you hear claims and counterclaims as we all know. so Flying Typers decided to check this deal out.
A300F@25 Twenty five years ago, this week on April 23 1994, Airbus delivered the first of 25 Airbus A300-600F dedicated freighters to FedEx.
Today the Memphis-based integrator lists 142 A300/A310s, with about half of them mothballed.
Good to recall that 50 years ago the innovative Airbus Industrie was formally created, launching the A300 performing its maiden flight in 1972, and entering service with Air France in May 1974.
Supermarket In The Sky With No Breakage In Aisle One When you think about the air cargo landscape today, the Russian phenom air cargo operation, Volga Dnepr Group is the most diversified and easily the most capable air cargo resource in the world.
The Volga Dnepr Group fields an array of services, companies and airplanes heretofore unseen in aviation history.
The variety includes the mammoth Antonov 124 that flies anywhere with enough people onboard (11) to form its own football team, if they were not busy carrying almost anything you can imagine, anywhere on earth.
Celebrating Earth Day 2019 It’s an honour to write a few words on the sustainable aviation industry on the Earth Day celebration. The Earth Day initiative is the biggest environment movement in the world and deserves respect for the effort to gain support and understanding for how important it is for us as human beings to take action to combat man-made climate change, extreme weather patterns, global pollution and the steadily increasing global warming.
Trump Effect Pt. 10: Challenges U.S. Cargo President Trump has been in office for over two years now and – despite major politicalopposition from Congressional Democrats and some Republicans – he’s made good on many of his promises to enact sweeping change in America.
With the confirmation of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as a record number of lower court judges, he has established a conservative majority in the judiciary.
Move To Popularize India Air Cargo The Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) has taken on the task to make air cargo popular – both as a profession and a service.
A tall order, no doubt – especially when passenger growth continues at a scorching pace prompting aviation stakeholders to look forward to the day in 2024 when if predictions hold, India will become the world’s third largest aviation sector.
ACFI could turn out to be the right vehicle for the task since it is the only association nationwide representing the entire air cargo logistic/supply chain in India responsible for the transportation of 30 per cent of the total national trade & commerce.
Atlas Southern DHL Pilots Protest Atlas Air, Southern Air and ABX Air, (ABX pilots fly for DHL) protested Thursday April 11 at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) “to raise alarm about the worsening problems at their carriers and to call for an end to stalled contract negotiations.”
“CVG is the largest hub for each of the airlines,” Airline Professionals Association (APA), Teamsters Local 1224 which represent the pilots said.
Mr. Smith Goes Big Time @ Dubai Air Cargo Integrators (ACI) CEO Lionel Smith is surveying the trade show scene at the TIACA Air Cargo Forum that took place in Toronto, Canada, in mid-October 2018.
As he looks up and down the aisle, Lionel, at six feet, seven inches tall, enjoys a unique vantage point.
Born in Kenya and on the scene in Dubai cargo for the past several decades, Smith is a transportation executive that stands out head and shoulders above the crowd. He joins a cadre of special people we have known during our 44 years on this beat.
Virgin Moves As Nigeria Pharma Builds Tania Boyes, Director – Cargo Operations at Virgin Atlantic was upbeat as Virgin Atlantic Cargo awarded a five-year import /export handling contract to Sifax SAHCOL in Lagos beginning this week on April 10.
“Lagos has been an important cargo market for us for more than 17 years,” Tania said, adding, “we are forecasting further growth in our export and import volumes in 2019.
“By moving to a larger and more modern facility, we can improve our product and service offerings for the growing number of companies moving goods to and from Nigeria,” Tania said.
There Will Always Be One The attack took place less than five months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Jimmy Doolittle moved from aviation hero and 1930s stunt pilot to immortality, leading an intrepid band of hero airmen on a daring raid of Tokyo at a time when the morale and spirit of America was badly impacted by Pearl Harbor.
When news broke that a force of B25 light bombers had taken off from the bobbing decks of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers under cover of darkness and flown all the way to Tokyo, dumping bombs on the supposedly invincible Empire of Japan, it lifted the nation and gave the United States a badly needed shot in the arm.
A Brexit Must Read “The United Kingdom Has Gone Mad!”
“The problem with holding out for a perfect Brexit plan,” Tom Friedman writes in The New York Times, “is that you can’t fix stupid.
“If you can’t take a joke you shouldn’t have come to London right now, because there is political farce everywhere.”
Looking For The Upside As Q2 Begins After three consecutive contractionary months of scores below 50, the official Chinese manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which measures sequential growth momentum, climbed to 50.5 in March from 49.2 in February.
Of more interest to the logistics sector, the new export orders sub-index jumped to 47.1 in March, from a slump to 45.2 a month earlier, while the new orders sub-index climbed to 51.6 last month from 50.6 in February.
Hare & Hounds At CNS As the time gets closer to Cargo Network Services (CNS) Annual Partnership Conference to be held this year in Miami May 5-7 at Trump Doral, Mike White, CNS President will once again present ‘Innovation Stage’ as an integral ongoing part of the event.
“The CNS Innovation Stage will be two days of updated products and ideas for the industry,” Mike assures.
Gone is a CNS Partnership Conference that conducts sessions and topics in side halls or meeting rooms that was once the practice here.
Fala At 79 Apropos of “Canines at CNS,” this week we salute U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s dog, Fala, a Scottish Terrier.
Fala was born April 7, 1940.
One of the most famous presidential pets, Fala was taken many places, including aboard the Pan Am B314 Clipper that transported FDR to the famous Casablanca meeting with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco from January 14-24, 1943.
Captain of the Clouds In USA The Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC) recognized Lufthansa Group for sustainable corporate actions.
Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, accepted the organization’s award.
We are especially pleased that FMC recognized Cargo Human Care (CHC) activities in Kenya.
Undefeated Babar Badat FIATA Headquarters' Session 2019 took off March 27-30 in Zurich, Switzerland.
“A great opportunity for FIATA Association Members and Individual Members to exchange information and deliberate on important policy issues of our industry,” FIATA President Babar Badat told FlyingTypers.
“I am especially happy to announce that the first digital courses of FIATA 'Introduction to Global Logistics Management, Theory and Practice' & 'Maritime Transport' as well as the digital 'Train-the-Trainer Course for FIATA Foundation Vocational Training' are also due to be launched.”
Auntie Of Cargo Pioneering “Woman In Air Cargo” Mathangi Krishnan could easily pass off as my auntnext door.
She is measured in her conversation, and there is an air of calm around her, which belies the presence of Madam Mathangi in the midst of the cacophony and helter-skelter of air cargo terminals.
But that is where her heart is.
As a partner of S Natesa Iyer & Co, one of the oldest freight forwarders in Chennai, Madam Mathangi has completed over 30 years in the business –
“A journey,” she terms as “exciting and filled with loads of experiences, good and not so good!”
Peg O' My Heart Speaking to Peggy Guse in March 2019 during International Women’s Month we were struck by how closely her discussion of her team’s accomplishments and ambitions dovetailed with the theme of the worldwide celebration of “Women’s Day on March 6: “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change.”
Women in Charge - Keep On Truckin' You may have thought the one place in transportation, where there would be a noticeable drop off in activity by women, would be in the USA over the road trucking industry.
Well, think again.
In 2019, not only are women behind the wheel, but also in many cases top of the heap in the USA trucking business, as you read this.
On April 12, five leading women in the trucking business will gather in Orlando at a conference as part of “Women In Trucking Association” (WIT) where one lady will be feted as winner of the “Distinguished Woman In Logistics Award.”(DWLA).
May Or May... Not: A BREXIT Exclusive The UK’s political contortions continued this week even as it races towards leaving the EU on Friday, March 29. It now seems an extension of some sort will see that deadline pass, but one noted analyst told Flying Typers that whatever happens next, the UK’s economy and standing in the world have already been harmed.
Wolfgang Lehmacher, leading logistics consultant and the former Head of Supply Chain and Transport Industries at the World Economic Forum in Geneva and New York, believes Brexit is already reshaping European supply chains, irrespective of how and when the UK departs the Union.
JFK Air Cargo Expo This Thursday JFK Air Cargo EXPO 2019 takes off this Thursday March 28 from 0800 until 1700. There is still time to attend.
Tariff is $95, which includes the luncheon. Venue is Russo’s on the Bay in nearby Howard Beach, Queens, New York about 10 minutes from JFK International’s main runways.
This is the 20th anniversary of this grand airport event that gets down to cases with display stands, a thoughtful discussion panel at 0900 in the morning plus an engaging luncheon guest speaker who will serve up some forward thinking after a very good meal.
Cathy & The Art of Looking Beyond the Obvious The technological challenges facing the logistics industry and the celebration of International Women’s Day were on the agenda when FlyingTypers had a chat with the always insightful Cathy Morrow Roberson, Founder and Head Analyst of Atlanta-based Logistics Trends & Insights LLC.
For the last two decades, the native of South Carolina has been offering the logistics industry a rare mix of heady insight and down-to-earth common sense.
Her storied career, prior to setting up her own rapidly expanding business, was built on a decade as an analyst at UPS Supply Chain Solutions followed by a consultancy role at a boutique transport analyst company.
São Paulo Gets Virgin Focus 2020 The name São Paulo honors the Apostle, Saint Paul of Tarsus.
The city's metropolitan area, the Greater São Paulo, ranks as the most populous in Brazil and the 12th most populous on Earth.
The municipality is also the Earth's 11th largest city proper by population.
The city is the capital of the surrounding state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest state in Brazil.
FlyingTalkers
Podcast Off the cuff, right to the heart of the air cargo business. It's the past, present, and future in conversations with Geoffrey Arend, award-winning Editor & publisher, Air Cargo News FlyingTypers.
Celebrating
Women In Air Cargo Two
powerful women serving in key posts for international logistics are profiled.
The technological challenges facing the logistics industry and the celebration
of International Women’s Month were on the agenda when FlyingTypers had a chat with the always insightful Cathy Morrow Roberson, (left) Founder
and Head Analyst of Atlanta-based Logistics Trends & Insights LLC.
Celebrating
Berlin Airlift and the Birth of Modern Air Cargo It's happening in Wiesbaden and some other airfields.
Just as the Air Cargo Europe Trade Show ends in Munich June
7, in Berlin and elsewhere in Germany, a nine-day event will begin on June
10, as The Berlin Airlift will be recalled with a giant fly-in by more than
40 vintage aircraft that saved that city during the blockade of 1948-49.
Zeynep A Good Bet For DB Schenker Zeynep Kasikci, Head of Air Freight at DB Schenker Turkey, based at Istanbul has a clear cut philosophy on how things in the logistics business works
“Good logistics are analytic,” she said. “You always have short lead time, so results have to be fast.
“So thinking things through always delivers the best result.
“I have been in this business for 25 years.
“But I take a very clear view of never losing our edge when it comes to shipping solutions.”
A Young Man Called Francesco Recently at a trade show a colleague came by to congratulate us on our having reached our 44th anniversary serving the global air cargo industry with our publications. We appreciate the kind gesture and accept with humility the good wishes of course, but as the first and only FIATA Fellow I have been given access and illumination of the greater world with all the wonderful people of FIATA, the global freight forwarder organization.
Here, our friend Marco Sorgetti profiles a true pioneering family of transportation, Trieste-based Francesco Parisi.
UTIKAD Lifts The Bar For Global Logistics Turkey’s 458 member Association of International Forwarding and Logistics Service Providers (UTIKAD) has assumed global leadership in transportation unmatched by any other organization of freight forwarders.
“UTIKAD has become a signatory of United Nations Global Compact in 2015, said Emre Eldener, president.
The UN Global Compact Communication on Engagement Report for the period 2017- 2019 details in clear and transparent words and pictures both involvement and adoption of The United Nations Global Compact, a principle-based pact that is also the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.
Can Brian Do It Again? Most people who pay attention to these things recall that Tony Calabrese headed up Cargo Network Services (CNS) in the U.S. for a quarter century, serving as President for so long that often dear Tony is thought to have been first top officer of that organization.
Well, guess what?
First Board Member of CNS was Brian Barrow.
Pay Puts The Go In Cargo PayCargo inked an agreeement with IATA to jointly offer air cargo the IATA-PayCargo System. The system will serve as an import payment platform for the global air cargo industry
Built on the success of the PayCargo-CNS System that began in 2017, the new deal allows cargo customers the ability to access information to settle up import billings with online payments.
Looking Good In The Neighborhood “Looks like this year will be challenging but we still are going to deliver double digit increase in business,” said Turhan Ozen, Head of Cargo Turkish Airlines pictured (L to R) with Orhan Yilmaz, Regional Cargo Manager-Singapore; Huseyin Ceyhan, Vice President Asia Pacific and Cagn Alpak, Application Programmer.”
Ingo Towers Above Pictured at IATA World Cargo Symposium in Singapore March 13 are (L) Vikram Singh, CEO World Freight Company (parent company of ATC), and Ingo Zimmer CEO ATC.
“I think,” said Ingo Zimmer, “the greatest service we deliver to our customers is ATC’s every day total dedication to our major asset as a company, our people.”
Faces Going Places New Faces . . . Meet Vera Marzoug Bassi, United Cargo eCommerce Technology Manager, fresh on the scene from UA pax marketing, where she was involved in creating the carrier’s Mileage Plus tracker program. Vera came to United from Wunderman, a giant digital ad agency.
Cargo March Hopes For Better Numbers A disappointing Chinese New Year has been followed by weak demand on the major lanes out of Asia, exacerbated by the disruptive currents emanating from the U.S.-China trade war and uncertainty over ongoing negotiations.
Most industry experts now don’t expect a jump in volumes and/or pricing rebound to materialize until the second half of 2019.
Every Day It's A Getting Closer Virgin Atlantic celebrates women in aviation every day; encouraging and helping women to be whatever they want to be.
“We believe in treating all of our people fairly, but like the rest of our industry, our gender pay gap is higher than we’d like it to be,” VS said.
“While that’s heavily influenced by the demographics of specific roles in our business, particularly Pilots, Engineers and Cabin Crew, it’s something we’re committed to improving.”
Love St. Patrick's Day There may be always an Ireland, and beyond that lovely prospect, always 100 parades around the world to celebrate March 17th.
But from 11:00 a.m. until about 3:00 p.m. on an island called Manhattan, where a green stripe runs down the middle of Fifth Avenue from 44th to 86th Street, The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of New York City’s greatest traditions.
United Tops U.S. Belly Cargo The news that 2018 saw United Airlines Cargo not only preserve its number one ranking as top USA belly cargo carrier, but also widen the gap, increasing its lead, is certainly welcome word up and down the halls of the UA Willis Tower headquarters in Chicago.
But at closer look, these days at United, air cargo often referred to as a “night animal” finds itself in a run to daylight with an exciting team effort, and a more than charismatic team leader.
Vive La Différence Normally we prefer to stay out of the picture, but as we were making our way to the opening evening meet and greet at the Mandarin Bay Sands Conference Center, we encountered an enormous horde of young people, 30 somethings that came streaming out of an adjacent hall, laughing and talking and elevating the atmosphere in the hallway. As I entered our hall, I thought wouldn't it be nice if everybody attending WCS 2019 would bring in one person under 30.
Imagine what could happen if the under 30 and the over 30 got together.
Wings Of Layda Layda Garcia started her career in aviation with Eastern Airlines the wings of man.
Today 46 years later, she is still in air cargo. We can only marvel at the wings of this most extraordinary woman and know her work in the airline business has affected people around the world.
Layda Garcia, Director Carrier Network and Sales, Amerijet Cargo is based in Miami.
New Horizons You ask Vladimir Zubkov what he likes about air cargo and this likeable 49-year industry veteran with smiling eyes comes on like a breath of fresh air, and full of engaging ideas.
‘The thing I love about air cargo is the diversity. You meet people from all parts of the world, learn about different cultures and become life-long friends.
Goyal Departs Jet Jet Airways’ Chairman Naresh Goyal stepped down on March 1, ending 25 years with a whimper; aviation pundits in India were not surprised.
Fliers will agree that not too long ago, Jet had set the gold standard for service and excellence.
But over the last few years, its quarterly losses had grown, as had its woes.
In just ten years, the company with close to 50 percent market share went down to less than 15.
Jenni Moves Forward At EMO Trans and AfA As the U.S. celebrates Women’s History Month in March and the world celebrates International Women’s Day March 8, Jennifer Frigger Latham, Vice President, Sales & Marketing at EMO Trans based in Long Island, New York is amongst the outstanding emerging women in global transportation.
Jenni, as she is known to friends & family and just about everyone else, just had returned from the important Airforwarders Association (AfA) AirCargo Conference in Las Vegas where she moved up her workload and duties for that 250-member organization accepting the post as AfA Vice President.
Balance For Better Today March 8, 2019, is International Women’s Day. This year’s theme for Women’s month is
#BalanceForBetter, which is a call-to-action for driving gender balance across the world.
It’s ironic, then, that still in 2019 we’ve found so many women in positions of power who wish to recede into the background when it comes to their gender. Acknowledge me for my work, they say, and not for my gender.
Cargo Delivers As Space Goes Private Once again cargo leads the way in aviation pioneering, as humans have entered SpaceX's Crew Dragon in outer space, just hours after the commercial spacecraft docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday morning. This was the first time for Crew Dragon in space.
The new space vehicle, carrying 400 pounds of cargo was launched Saturday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A Tall Tale The idea for these stories was not planned. They happened in the course of gathering editorial. Recently we had the good fortune to speak to Thomas Uschtrin of United Cargo in Moerfelden, Germany.
Thomas stands at six foot seven. Beyond the obvious, he stands tall in performance and thought as well.
Overnight Sensation Decade In The Making “Continuing a partnership marketing cargo for Edelweiss that began in 2009 offers great opportunities for both us and our customers, as we are able to complement our already strong international network with additional routes in diverse markets,” said Ashwin Bhat, (above) Head of Cargo, Swiss WorldCargo confirming the agreement with Bernd Bauer CEO, Edelweiss.
Karneval In Rhineland They are celebrating Karneval (Carnival) in Cologne, Germany this week, and during the festivities cargo is in the picture.
An indication of the importance of this Rhineland event each year is seen in a classic candid with Cologne native Jo Frigger, Chairman of EMO Trans, toasting the grand event.
Birth Of Modern Cargo Now for everybody who loves aviation, and especially folks that today live and work in air cargo, comes a unique opportunity. Right on the heels of a major world gathering—Air Cargo Europe in Munich, Germany at Transport Logistik June 4-7, the 70th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift is being celebrated in grand style from June 10 until June 18. Eight days full of events featuring the people and more than 40 aircraft gathered from all over the world, returning to Germany, where modern air cargo made history saving the city of Berlin in 1948-49.
The "heroes" of this hitherto unique humanitarian aid action and solidarity were the aviation and ground crews of the "Raisin Bombers”.
Spell Diversity And Inclusion - Qatar Airways “Qatar Airways recognizes the need for wider diversity in the workplace, not just in our airline but across the industry as a whole, which is why we are delighted to have this opportunity to reward individuals and teams who are going against the trend and proving that diversification is the way forward for aviation,” declared Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker as Qatar Airways said it is partnering up with IATA for a ten-year program called The Diversity & Inclusion Awards.
Vegas Baby Best Was First All kinds of air cargo trade shows everywhere in the world as the calendar moves along, but for our money, the Air Forwarders Association (AfA) or “The Brandon Fried Event,” that was held February 10-12 in La Vegas delivered just the right blend of people. These people make the going great for our industry by working diligently in advancing all aspects of the form.
Will Bangladesh Go From Rags To Riches? Bangladesh has been facing serious problems in the export of readymade garments (RMG). For the small nation, it is a huge problem simply because it is the second biggest manufacturer of RMG.
The biggest hindrance export cargo from Bangladesh faces is not merely the lack of flights from Dhaka airport, otherwise known as Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), but the fact that the airport has often been scored for its lax security.
To further complicate matters, the airport faces capacity constraints, which lead to higher shipment costs.
Turkish Opticool Moment A landmark agreement between Turkish Airlines Cargo and Opticooler container provider DoKaSch of Germany cools the way for expanding perishable shipments worldwide.
Fatih Cigal, Turkish Cargo's Senior Vice President Marketing said, “As a leading global airline of the world, Turkish Airlines Cargo provides the highest quality services to transport high-value pharma products. We are delighed to confirm agreement with DoKaSch of Frankfurt as we begin to intergrate Opticooler containers for temperature-sensitive products such as vaccines and other pharmaceuticals across our global system effective this month.
Past Numbers & A Look Ahead As predicted last month by FlyingTypers, there was little sign of a pre-Chinese New Year rates or volumes surge, with frontloading on the Transpacific lanes and weak European demand making for a tepid run-in.
The latest numbers from TAC Index reveal that Hong Kong-North America, lanes dipped from a peak of $5.69 per kg on November 19, 2018 to 3.52 per kg on January 21 before picking back up $3.87 per kg on February 4, just as factories in China closed for the holidays. Hong Kong-Europe routes, meanwhile, peaked at $3.77 per kg on December 10 before slumping to $2.74 per kg on February 4.
A380 In A Field Of Flowers Festooned in colors of yellow and orange, Frankfurt is a field of flowers as an Emirates A380 readies departure February 19.
The attractive super jumbo billboards “Expo Dubai 2020”. On November 27, 2013, The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) general assembly in Paris awarded Dubai as the host designation.
A380 Beat B777 On Long Route Cargo Of all the airline air cargo executives that you have ever met or for that matter have ever heard of, no one was closer to A380 and its possible uses for air cargo than Ram Menen who was present at the creation of SkyCargo and top executive of Emirates Cargo until 2013.
We reached out to Ram, who today is retired, and living with his wife Malou in Luxembourg, and this is what he said about A380.
Ode To A380 “Listen kid,” the drill sergeant told me on my first day in basic training after being drafted into the U.S. Army, before being shipped off to Vietnam:
“I have been in this Army, boy to man, for 22 years.
“I was here when you arrived,” he growled, and “I’ll still be here when you are long gone.”
I thought about that admonition this morning, reading about the end of production for the Airbus A380.
Who Has The Next Big Idea IATA said that it is in the final round for a ULD Air Cargo Innovation Award scheme.
“Out of the 56 innovative ideas submitted, an independent jury shortlisted three finalists,” IATA said.
Unilode Aviation Solutions is a finalist for its Digital Transformation Program; Air New Zealand Cargo & Cargo Composites for the aeroTHERM ULD, and SITA, Safran & CHAMP for their Smart ULD.
Cabin In The Sky The best airplane meal I’ve ever had was, conversely, on the ground in a place called Rocky’s, located downstairs in the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport New York, the place Air Cargo News FlyingTypers saved in 1980, and maintained an office for 30 years, turning the historic airline passenger facility into a landmark for all time.
The food that day at Rocky’s was a reproduction of what people were served aboard the 100-ton Boeing B314 flying boats that once operated from the MAT after taking off from the waters behind the building in 1940, when service was opened between New York City and Europe.
Flossie's Moon A United Airlines aircraft heads home from China across the "Supermoon" in the night sky on February19.
The Supermoon is a full moon that nearly coincides with the moon's closest approach to Earth in its orbit, resulting in a slightly larger size and a brighter view.
The Tel Aviv Virgin See you in September . . . As Virgin Atlantic welcomes cargo potential for its new start-up daily flights between UK and Tel Aviv September 25, Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo declared,
“This is a really exciting new route for us and plays to our strengths in terms of quick connections to and from US and our proven expertise in carrying the major types of products moving in and out of Israel.”
At AA Cargo Andy Is Dandy We caught up recently with Andy Cornwell II, who serves as Regional Sales Manager, Northern Europe for American Airlines Cargo. Andy lives in Teddington, Greater London, United Kingdom.
Teddington is a green upscale part of town with a history going back hundreds of years. That history also includes a time during World War II, when General Dwight D. Eisenhower planned the D-Day landings at his Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) at Camp Griffiss in Teddington’s Bushy Park.
Coo Coo For Keukenhof Snow continues to visit us in the northeast, but our trustiest weatherman, the groundhog, has forecast an early spring, so we should soon be amid a flurry of flowers rather than snowflakes. The promise of warm weather couldn’t come at a better time, too, with the month of love already underway and the desire for fresh-cut flowers only growing.
This is also the time of year when our favorite story is who flew how many flowers for the romance of Valentine’s Day (Thursday, February 14) or upcoming Eastertide on Sunday, April 21, 2019.
Save The Best For First AirCargo 2019 If you count yourself a progressive in this air cargo business, then you will be amongst the registered attendees for the Air Forwarders Association AirCargo 2019 conference that begins on Sunday, February 10. The show launches with its popular Women's Networking event sponsored by Air Canada. “That session will be followed by two spectacular days during which we have air cargo industry experts coming from Washington to discuss the state of industry and security, as well as high-ranking TSA officials, fresh from the recent shutdown who will be there to answer vital questions and provide a glimpse into what new regulations we can expect from the agency this year,” promises AfA Director Brandon Fried.
BREXIT - Soft Or Hard Roll “Both the air cargo sector and its leading lobbyist and networking body, The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) face multiple challenges this year.
While the latter has had well-publicized funding issues, ‘air freight’ is staring at trading headwinds in the shape of Brexit, the damaging Transpacific trade war and economic slowdowns in China and the EU.
Ready For Their Closeup Yes, with Geoffrey Arend II starring in the U.S. television series “Madam Secretary” and son-in-law Anthony starring as Donald Trump in the Comedy Central hit, “The President Show” and daughter-in-law Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), currently starring in the television series “Good Girls”, you can say that we are a show business family.
So often when someone in our clan goes out the door, the words “break a leg” will trail the departure as the day’s adventure unfolds.
Also the question, “ready for your closeup?”
Turkish Cargo March Into SmartIST “Our goal is to be a top-line enabler and to position our offering amongst the top echelon of the world’s cargo carriers by 2023, as the Turkish Republic celebrates its 100th anniversary,” Turkish Airlines Chief Cargo Officer, Mr. Turhan Özen said.
Explaining Blockchain To A 10 Year Old Clearly, not a lot of people without a substantial background in technology can make much sense from the Wikipedia definition of blockchains.
Any technologist who wants to explain the concept to a business leader or an investor who isn't very tech savvy would require a simplified version.
A Tale Of Two Markets At Chinese New Year With Britain a chaotic mess of political indecision ahead of its scheduled ‘Brexit’ from the European Union on March 29, with the potential scenario that a no-deal Brexit will see a divided country sleepwalk off an economic cliff into a recession grows by the day.
Elsewhere in Europe the news is equally bleak. Italy is, well, Italy, France is beset by protests and Germany may have avoided entering a technical recession in the final quarter of last year, only because Q42018 was a day longer than Q4 2017.
Pig Into 2019 Here comes Chinese Lunar New Year for 2019, which arrives on February 5. It’s the Year of the Pig. Kung Hei Fat Choi!
Sure, we love February ‘cause we have two kids born this month. But we also like, that both Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day happen during the second month of the year. And that daylight hours are inching forward to the moment when baseball catchers and pitchers will start reporting to camp.
UK Nightmare On A Merry-Go-Round With Britain scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, a reasonable observer might have expected to find that an orderly withdrawal had been negotiated a long time before now – after all, Britons did vote to leave by 51.9% to 48.1% all the way back in June 2016.
Unfortunately, reason and Brexit have long since decoupled.
We Like CNS And We Like Mike “CNS Partnership 2019, like love, is just around the corner!
“As the President of CNS,” Mike White declares,” it has been great to hear all the supportive comments we got back about the 2018 CNS Partnership Conference. Our guests that attended the first time and those that have attended for multiple years all have come back congratulating our team for last year’s event. ”
Miami Lands Brazil Post Deal “I applaud the efforts of MIA and our trade community, for keeping Miami-Dade County on the forefront of innovation within the global air cargo industry,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez as Miami and the Brazilian Post Office (Correios) announced partnering up in a first-of-its-kind, expedited shipping service that allows e-commerce packages of all sizes from anywhere in the world to be shipped to Miami International Airport (MIA), be pre-cleared by Correios, and arrive in Brazil as domestic cargo within days instead of what used to take weeks or months.
Quote of the Day In Last November’s U.S. elections, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Latina running her first campaign, ousted 10-term incumbent Representative Joe Crowley in New York's 14th congressional district in the most shocking upset of the political season.
Pictured here on Saturday January 19, in New York City at the Women’s Unity Rally, she has stepped onto the national political stage in the U.S., leaving little doubt that she is a face and force of the future.
Miami Doubles Down As Cargo Event Dynamo “We are honored that TIACA has chosen MIA to host its biennial Air Cargo Forum,” said Lester Sola, Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department.
“As the busiest U.S. airport for international freight and the only U.S. airport among the world’s top 10 in that category, we welcome the opportunity to discuss MIA’s new initiatives and best practices with our counterparts from around the world.”
SWISS WorldCargo Extends A Helping Hand For Swiss WorldCargo, Michael Ganz, (right) Head of Cargo Northeast U.S. and Canada and Hendrik Falk, (left) Head of Cargo West Coast USA & South America spoke to the U.S. government shutdown and its impact on air cargo shippers:
“So far,” the duo said, “the effect of the U.S. government shutdown has only indirectly impacted Swiss WorldCargo.
TWA Cargo À un petit marché français In an upscale store that was located in a suburb of Kansas City, called The French Market, the order of the day was produce and vegetables flown in “air speed fresh” from TWA’s USA and international destinations.
“I recognize the store front and of course the TWA flight attendant training center was less than a mile from my house,” Michael Webber, Associate Vice President-Landrum & Brown recalls.
Shutdown Described As Devastating “Devastating,” an industry source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told FlyingTypers.
“Because of reduced staff at FDA as example, Pharma in many cases cannot be cleared in a timely matter.
“Although facilities have to guarantee viability and safety of the pharma shipments, storage costs are sky-rocketing.
“As far as USDA Inspectors also, the same reduced staff situation brings food safety into question.”
One For Boyes At dnata Heathrow Tania Boyes, Director-Cargo Operations at Virgin Atlantic, puts it on the line:
“Moving into dnata City East later this year will be a game changer for us and our joint venture with Delta Cargo.
“It will not only double our capacity at Heathrow and provide space to grow, it reinforces our commitment to be easier to do business with, to use new technologies and automation to simplify and improve our customer experience, and to leverage our partnerships.”
Brave Bessie Blazes A Trail In America, next Monday is Martin Luther King Day, February celebrates Black History Month, and March celebrates Women’s History Month, which beggars the question of where to place someone as historically significant as Bessie Coleman.
One of 13 children, Bessie Coleman was born in 1892 in Atlanta, Texas, to George and Susan Coleman, both African American sharecroppers. The family was poor and could afford very little, and once the children were of age they were expected to contribute to the household income.
Mayhem On The Brexit Menu The Brexit deadline marches ever closer. The UK is scheduled to leave the EU at 11 pm local time on March 29, 2019. As that deadline looms for Brexit, Ram Menen observed:
“We can expect mayhem.
“There is currently a procurement frenzy to stock up with goods because of the uncertainty and to beat the initial confusion and chaos that is likely to unleash post March 29, 2019.
Ram says that in a no-deal scenario, “cross border sales are likely to be in a turmoil, especially where land transportation is concerned as all cargo will have to go through the border control process, which is likely to create major bottlenecks at various customs points.”
Fruit Up For February Get a head start and maybe harvest more lettuce in your revenue garden by thinking Fruit Logistica, which will host more than 3,000 exhibitors and 78,000 visitors, February 6-8 in Berlin, Germany.
Fruit Logistica held at Messe Berlin is now in its 26th year of operation covering every sector of the fresh produce business.
The venue provides a worthwhile picture under one giant roof of the latest innovations, products and services at every link in the international supply chain.
How U.S. Government Closure Impacts Air Cargo FlyingTypers asked Brandon Fried, Executive Director of U.S.- based Airforwarders Association if and how the current U.S. Government shut down is impacting his members and received this replay Monday afternoon.
“The air cargo industry’s successful efforts to work with Congress and the TSA,” Brandon said, “to provide its own security measures, are producing dividends during the current partial government shutdown.
“While these initiatives have enabled the flow of air freight to generally continue unimpeded, we are seeing brewing challenges behind-the-scenes that could have a substantial impact on the industry.”
Focus vs. Confrontation Challenges Trade Air freight markets have rapidly deflated in the early days of January with a hoped-for pre-Chinese New Year bump failing to materialize, at least so far.
According to the TAC Index, average gateway prices on routes from Shanghai to Europe fell from $3.17 per kg on November 5 to $2.98 per kg on January 7. The decline on the Transpacific Hong Kong-North America lane was far more severe, however, slumping from a year-high of $5.69 on November 19 to just $3.79 on January 7.
No Horsing Around Turkish Cargo’s membership in the Animal Transportation Association (ATA) delivers assurances for shippers that a close working relationship with a “great international organization that aims to transport live animals at secure and ideal conditions is in place,” the carrier said.
Who Plays The Fool Post Brexit The aerial highway between the UK & EU could get messy as post-Brexit negotiations take place, said Investopedia, a website based in New York City that focuses on investing, finance education and analysis.
The creation of the EU saw tourism in Europe grow as low-cost airlines flourished. However, following the triggering of Article 50, the European Commission has said U.K. carriers will be forbidden to travel between European cities and will be left to direct flights in and out of the U.K.
Ready Set Go 2019 The festive vox pop by FlyingTypers found air freight stalwarts in good form and, reasonably positive about the industry in 2019. But obstacles to growth are also on the horizon.
Sebastiaan Scholte, CEO of Jan de Rijk Logistic and chairman of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), has been outspoken about the lack of hub capacity for all-cargo operations at European airports during 2018, but he believes the challenges of 2019 will lie elsewhere.
About USMCA President Trump’s efforts on revamping the U.S. trade agreements to make them more fairly balanced came under much criticism but they are starting to bear fruit and trade flows are increasing.
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement was signed with two of the U.S.’s top three trading partners, Mexico and Canada. China, the third partner is still engaged in trade talks that are close to being concluded, although there are other considerations (political) involved.
Celebrating Herb Kelleher “Too bad he is gone.
“We need more like him in both private and public life.
“A man of courage, ambition, ability and integrity who made a real contribution to the industry,” said Robert Crandall, legendary former president and chairman of American Airlines.
Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines, died last Thursday January 3 at the age of 87.
Mr. Kelleher was a "pioneer, a maverick, and an innovator," Southwest Airlines said.
True Confessions - Oliver Evans It was Samuel Johnson who observed that languages are the pedigrees of nations. And it was Oliver Evans, chief cargo officer of Swiss International Airlines and chairman of The International Air Cargo Association, who leaned on those pedigrees to broaden his executive and managerial talents in a global air cargo universe.
True Confessions - Jim Butler At first blush, it appears that Jim W. Butler 42-year-old president of American Airlines Cargo is not much of a desk man. In his first year as the airline’s top cargo officer, he logged close to 200,000 miles touching base throughout its domestic and international systems, which he acknowledged left him somewhat “terrified.”
True Confessions - Dan Muscatello Described in its simplest terms, the design and construction of an airport are for safe aircraft takeoffs and landings; and in between is Dan Muscatello who has spent more than three decades in the public and private sectors wrestling with all manner of cargo problems and strategies. Over the years, like a planter sowing seeds he has applied his expertise and progressive outlook around the world.
A Tree Grows In Hollis Sometime after my grandmother died, my father planted a tree. He chose a blue spruce. A coniferous evergreen known for its steely hue, the blue spruce looks like it’s bathed in moonlight, even in full sun. It radiates a soft, dusky blue aura that sets it apart from your typical evergreen tree.
Kelly's Christmas Playlist Our Christmas playlist for 2018 features 25 favorites created by Michael Kelly, Cargo Communications Manager from United Airlines.
Michael includes pop vocals, big band, rhythm & blues, soul, rock ‘n’ roll, country, folk, world music, and even jazz, revealing a deep love and understanding of uplifting seasonal music that crosses all lines to spread the joy.
Someone once asked Duke Ellington when he knew the music he was writing was complete.
Deck Us All With Boston Charlie By now everybody knows that this publication loves cartoons.
Thinking back, that all started for me during the time I worked as a copy boy at The New York Herald Tribune.
That job didn’t pay much. I supplemented my income and ability to eat regularly, by serving as a runner, placing the bets for some of the writers, with the press room guys who ran the sports book.
A Christmas Story Every day that I can do it, the family Volkswagen Bus rolls out of the garage and two of our four kids jump in for a ride from our Queens, New York home to Amsterdam Avenue on the west side of Manhattan where they attend school.
Winter Solstice As the winter solstice is celebrated December 21, in Grainau, Bavaria, ice flowers at a window of the Zugspitze mountain station look like down feathers.
Lake Eibsee and the Ammergebirge mountain can be seen through the glass.
Herd At The Airport Must have been a slow news day as New York Times headlined a story ”Where Reindeer Are a Way of Life” about the Sami people who have fought for generations against Norway’s limits on reindeer herds.
Air Cargo To The Rescue The world looked on in horror in late September when the central region around Palu on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. And then the world quickly turned away again, exhausted by natural disasters and titillated by reality TV and politics, often at the same time.
First Cargo Flight Was Wright Stuff Today, December 17, 2018, marks 115 years since the Wright brothers flew their epoch first flight.
But does anybody know who piloted the first air cargo shipment?
The idea that an airplane might carry cargo was initially sparked seven years later in 1910, when a Columbus, Ohio merchant by the name of Max Morehouse recognized the public interest in “flying machines.”
What A Year After the super strong peak season of 2017, perhaps 2018 was always going to be a case of “After the Lord Mayor’s show. But it’s not exactly as if the wheels have come off the donkey cart this year.
Late November and early December demand was healthy and most macro-economic indicators are performing strongly given the looming threat of protectionist feeling and the policies such as populism are sprouting. Cross-border global e-commerce also continues to flourish. Things just look a little less shiny than they did a year earlier.
Wright Stuff For Children There are plenty of inexpensive wonderful books and items for children that deal with the Wright Brothers. In time for Christmas are a few suggestions for the wee ones in air cargo.
There is also a great website for all this stuff @www.yellowairplane.com. (also neat aircraft models and other transportation items).
FIATA Focus On Youth Starting from the hard figures, unofficial sources report that around 1,100 participants were in evidence at that big New Delhi FIATA World Congress that closed its doors Sunday September 29.
These numbers speak of success; if we look at the program we see a good mix of old and new and the topics discussed were surely such as to attract the interest of the professionals of the sector.
We have read and heard in these pages that the hitch with the visas had affected even the President of FIATA, but despite the fact that Babar Badat of Pakistan had to direct FIATA from Karachi, all went well under his firm guidance.
L&B Strengthens Airports Offering Landrum & Brown (L&B), the global aviation planning and development consultancy based in Cincinnati, Ohio USA believes it has found a solid opportunity in airport air cargo development worldwide and has strengthened its air cargo offering with Kevin Hoffmann who joined the company recently as Senior Managing Consultant.
Mr. Hoffmann joins L&B after concluding a stellar 35-year career with UPS, where he most recently served as airport properties manager, and was a vital force that helped the company open many new markets via carefully planned and executed advanced cargo facilities.
UA-LH Cargo JV Looks For The Silver Lining We all know that United and Lufthansa Cargo launched a Joint Venture (JV) earlier in 2018. Here once again is the overture:
"We are excited about the customer benefits that will be generated as our aligned teams and processes deliver superior service quality on our combined capacities,” said Jan Krems, President of United Cargo; and "The Lufthansa-United Cargo joint venture will provide numerous benefits to our customers because our continental and transatlantic networks, our hubs and our fleet complement each other effectively,” declared Peter Gerber, Lufthansa Cargo CEO.
So what else has happened?
While Organ Donors Wait India’s Civil Aviation Ministry has been approached by regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ask domestic carriers to help speed up the process of flying out donated organs.
Moving donated organs in the country has not only been a time-consuming process – often defeating the very purpose of the donation – but also an expensive one.
Logitrans A Wrap Transport Logistic, the folks that brought the industry Air Cargo Europe in Munich, and recently has been acquiring other trade shows, including TIACA 2020 in Miami said that its Logitrans Istanbul 2018 in November hosted 136 exhibitors from 20 countries with more than 14,000 visitors.
The event included a heavy dose of German companies, plus lots of road, rail and ports exhibiting. The show seemed busy November 15, the key day, however it slowed down to a crawl, attendance wise by Friday, November 16.
Ups & Downs of Paracargo Virtually a war-born technique, the art and applicability of parachuting gained as the war progressed in Europe, North Africa and the China-Burma-India theater. Ammunition, food, medical supplies, mail were airdropped to troops in battle and those based in inaccessible areas. Ultimately, the military equipment chuted to earth included such items as Jeeps and howitzers.
Moment of Prayer As we begin our look back at the outstanding events of 2018, a picture from Monday October 29 captured an unforgettable moment as Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, (center), and Turkish officials prayed at the inauguration of the gleaming new aviation hub in Istanbul.
Ethiopian Fitsum & Jet Some Out Of Africa Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services Managing Director Fitsum Abadi was the man with a long queue at TIACA Toronto. The emerging national carrier of Africa continues to add partner airlines in countries far and wide across the dark continent, supported by an ambitious growth program that among other things features a joint venture with DHL, the addition of an expanded service offering, and also new advanced long and medium range aircraft joining the ultra modern Ethiopian fleet.
Lifting Christmas Dees', a plant and flower nursery, is an old time, family business that has been located just off the main runways at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Oceanside, New York since 1958.
Dees' spends most of the year selling plants and trees and lawn care products to people from all over the metropolitan area.
But once a year for the past eight years now, Dees' chops down several hundred Christmas Trees from its big farm in Maine and, in partnership with DHL, sends the trees free of charge to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Will Pharma.Aero Fulfill Expectations?
In a world where the new grows old rather quickly, the emergence of the Belgium-based Pharma.Aero as an umbrella organization for the hottest sector in the air cargo business has gained a flurry of attention.
CIFFA Pioneer Steps Down Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) Executive Director Ruth Snowden, who stepped up to the challenge a decade ago as a pioneering woman in transportation, revealed at TIACA Toronto that she will step down from full time employment at the association by mid-2019.
“The Executive Committee of the board has already met and succession planning is well underway, a process where I am fully engaged,” Ruth declared.
Christmas Party This Week Here’s some party news as our industry takes a deep breath, with 2018 almost in the rearview mirror. Stay tuned, and send in your event information, and we will do our best to talk about it.
Getting off to a roaring start this past Thursday in Melbourne was the Cargo Club of Australia Christmas Party held at the “Deluxe Rooftop Bar” in Moonee Ponds.
Figures that this group would lead the party parade.
AfA Forward Into The Breach
Let it never be said that Brandon Fried and his intrepid band of freight forwarders in America who are members of AfA –Airforwarders Association had any hesitation about staring into the face of the beast, to bring about change.
And what better place to knock down walls then at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport with its beastly truck queues.
India Ahead Of UK Brexit As the deadline of March 29, 2019 approaches and Britain gets ready to step out of the 28-member European Union, there is pressure on India to strengthen business ties with the EU.
Overtures from France and Germany have been coming regularly. At the beginning of this year, French President Emmanuel Macron was in India. During the visit, a total of €13 billion in investment deals was signed.
Quote At Logitrans
Recently, Turkish Cargo commenced flights to Bangalore, that has a high annual export potential of 170 thousand tons annually.
"With our understanding of world markets and Istanbul's great centralized position as a gateway to both Europe and Asia, we have great hope to connect Bangalore's central position in the production of the aerospace industry, IT industry, computer and hi-tech products to the world," Turhan Ozen, Turkish Chief Cargo Officer told FlyingTypers.
Blue Monday After Black Friday U.S. markets are also caught in a sort of frenzied paralysis due to expected increases of tariffs from 10% to 25% on many imports from China on January 1, and the threat of even more tariffs on Chinese products in the future. This has left shippers balancing the pros and cons of when to ship Chinese goods based on their view of whether the U.S.-China trade war will escalate, remain the same or an agreement might be reached. This is called risk management by some; gambling by most.
Give The Gift Of Laughter Give the gift of laughter this holiday season with American Tantrum, written by my son-in-law Anthony Atamanuik. Anthony has spent the last 3 years channeling The Donald in a worldwide comedy tour, for The President Show on Comedy Central, and now in his first published book. American Tantrum is a hilarious, cutting satire that imagines the contents of the 45th President's Presidential Archives in interviews, classified documents, illustrations and more.
Thanksgiving In America 2018 Thanksgiving in America is held every fourth Thursday in November, and is the best of all the holidays that gather families and friends around a common celebration.
Personalities aside, this is one holiday that is a no-pressure deal.
Nobody gets gifts or is expected to do more than show up, eat, drink and refrain from getting too overserved so that you don’t get into a mix with old Uncle Al, or that other occasional family member that you just can’t stand.
If Peak Is What You Seek
The National Retail Federation, which represents many of the U.S. leading importers, predicted last week that U.S. retail sales for 2018 would be up 4.5% over 2017, with imports set to spike in the coming weeks, ahead of tariff hikes on Chinese imports scheduled for January 1.
By contrast, the picture in Europe looks rather less buoyant, at least from an air freight demand perspective. GDP growth has been sluggish across the EU, with economic expansion hindered by deteriorating consumer and investor sentiment, while the geopolitical and economic headwinds emanating from Turkey and the UK, both key trading partners for the Eurozone area, have added to uncertainty.
Conversation With A Shipper At TIACA ACF The old joke is that at an air cargo trade show usually the only shipper that you see out walking near the display stands is a meeting session guest speaker looking for the bathroom.
We are sitting inside the host hotel at TIACA Toronto taking a quick lunch break in a soaring glass ceiling room with a view of the sky above.
Although it is cloudy, the room is beautiful while a few of us enjoy a break. We note two businessmen from the TIACA event also on a break each seated at a table for one, while talking to each other.
The Right Hotel Chemistry The old part of town in Istanbul is called Sultanahmet.
The area is a trip back from modern to ancient times. Even today old Roman walls and obelisks still partially ring the area.
Other remnants of this city date back ten thousand years from Istanbul to Constantinople.
Landmarks seem to be everywhere—important Christian and Muslim places of worship dot the city, including the world-famous Blue Mosque.
The World @ Logitrans Istanbul
As Logitrans 2018 opens its yearly tradeshow expo in Istanbul, Turkey, November 14-16, we spoke to Turkish Airlines VP Cargo Turhan Özen.
Not only is the news positive right now at Turkish Cargo, the ever-expanding, go-go world of Turkish Airlines is front and center as the opening of the newest and most advanced international airport in the world continues all this month in Istanbul.
“We are very excited to report our all-new, purpose-built, advanced cargo center at New Istanbul International Airport is scheduled to open March 2019.”
UTIKAD Open House At Logitrans Front & center as Logitrans opens in Istanbul this week is Emre Eldener (pictured here with FT Publisher Geoffrey Arend), President of the very important market force known as The Association of International Transport and Logistics Service Producers or UTIKAD.
Nadia & A Big Hunk Of Love The National Association of Freight & Logistics (NAFL) in Dubai is one great organization that is constantly trying to lead by example.
Here we learn what can be done by sponsoring new companies with port visits, familiarization activities, and advancing education and training that brings out the best in the shipping community.
“If someone wants to form a company in UAE we can help them,” President Nadia Abdul Aziz assures.
Remembrance Sunday
There are many cenotaphs around the world, in places like Hong Kong and also Auckland, New Zealand, but perhaps the most famous “empty tomb” memorial is to the dead of World War I at Whitehall in London.
Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the Whitehall cenotaph in 1919. It is the template for many other war memorials in Britain and in the British sectors of the Western Front, as well as those in other current and former Commonwealth nations.
Atlanta Brokers Thanksgiving Friday For the fifteenth year, on Friday, November 16, in Atlanta, Georgia, a grand airport tradition occurs as Atlanta Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders throw open their doors for a couple of hours starting at high noon to share the love. It’s an open house where everybody is invited for a free, old-fashioned turkey dinner.
This annual party reaches out far and wide to host several hundred people to a homemade turkey dinner with all the trimmings, as the United States looks forward to celebrating the wonderful American holiday Thanksgiving.
Fokko Captain Of The Clouds
Meet the outstandingly special Fokko Doyen, a true “Captain of The Clouds.” He has occupied the left seat on the Bridge of Lufthansa Cargo flights around the world for the past four decades.
But Fokko truly takes off to new heights as a genuine human being who does not live a single day of his life without thinking about and actioning a great charity effort that changes lives.
It’s rare that you get to meet a genuine aviation hero up close and personal who also finds time to serve as President of an exceptional charitable effort.
The Arend Men Generations of Arends are captured here as father Ralph, a proud Gramp, and Uncle Geoffrey gather around young Obhishek, who arrived on October 29th.
