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Vol. 19 No. 69 THURSDAY OCTOBER 29, 2020

Envirotainer Puts Pharma on Ice
Unless you have been living on the moon, or accidentally been locked up in a cool box since 1985, Envirotainer has been the go-to way to move pharma and most other cold-chain commodities for the past 35 years.
In the air with more than 6,000 active temperature-controlled containers in the fleet at Envirotainer, all container types are FAA and EASA certified.
The company reports that right now it is shipping around 2 million doses of medicines per day for all major pharmaceutical manufacturers covering more than 2,000 pharma trade lanes in over 100 countries at 300 airports.

BUD Makes Time for Fun Run
What do you do when the airport is empty as compared to non-coronavirus times?
How about a feel-good activity for charity?
That is exactly what happened at BUD as the Hungarian gateway Runway Run took off for the eighth straight year on October 19.

Vol. 19 No. 68 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21, 2020

IATA Sends a Confusing Cargo Message
     During the War of 1812 after The United States Navy defeated the British Navy in The Battle of Lake Erie, Master Commandant Oliver Perry wrote to his superior:
     “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”
     More than 150 years later NY Herald Tribune cartoonist Walt Kelly, concerned with man-made pollution and debris in our forests drew an early sustainability poster of his famous Pogo character picking up debris in a forest, with the caption:
     “We Have Met the Enemy And He Is Us.”

Kari Tikkanen, Tracer of Lost Overcharges
     A shipment is ordered, the goods arrived on time safe and sound flown or shipped as booked, and everybody is happy.
     Only maybe a decimal point shifted or an extra zero took a reasonable rate and billed the shipper a lot of money.
     Maybe easy to catch for smaller shippers for sure.
     But what about the big corporate guys or perhaps the medium sized volume shipper.

I Happen to Like New York
     Once upon a time, up at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan, there was a piano player/singer named Bobby Short.
     No other city had Bobby Short, who until he landed another gig in heaven a few years ago, sang and beat the hell out of his piano nightly into the wee small hours entertaining adoring crowds for a couple decades inside The Carlyle Café.
     Bobby was so good, he lived to see a street near the Carlyle named after him.

Vol. 19 No. 67 TUESDAY OCTOBER 13, 2020

Air Cargo & Vaccine Distribution
Throughout modern history in general, and this pandemic crisis in particular, air cargo has played a vital role in the delivery of critical supplies and equipment on a global basis. As the pharmaceutical industry dedicates its resources to the creation of an effective vaccine, one of the greatest challenges will be the design and implementation of an efficient distribution system that will address the demanding logistical requirements. Airports and their partners will be critical elements in the planning and operations.

Ready for Frozen Logistics
Last month The New York Times reported that some COVID-19 vaccines may have to be shipped at temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees F, raises the thought that the challenge of getting the life-saving serums could be infinitely more complex than originally believed.
But before we spin ourselves into another “can we deliver?” frenzy, we think a bit of level-headed look about is in order. At arm’s length may be some solutions, including as example, a company out there called Coldco Frozen Fulfillment Solutions.

Back to Life
We heard on the radio that soon travelers could be tested for COVID-19 before boarding a flight and then after landing whilst travelling between New York City and London.
The idea is to avoid that mandatory two-week confinement which might encourage short stay business and pleasure travel. Florida’s airports are doing rapid tests and the prospect of continued innovative thinking will certainly be better than the punch in the nose our industry has taken from the ongoing pandemic.

Vol. 19 No. 66 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 7, 2020

United Nations Forschung for COVID
Dr. Jan Hoffmann is Chief, Trade Logistics Branch in the Division on Technology and Logistics at UNCTAD. In different capacities through our careers, I have been able to meet with Jan Hoffmann several times. Becoming acquainted with Jan has been both a privilege and a discovery for me.
If one looks at the assembly of impressions and observations Jan has been able to put together, starting from his oblique way of looking at international trade in his worldwide journey through haircuts, one soon understands that one is dealing with a strongly original thinker.

Hong Kong is Mr. Roger's Neighborhood
     Despite what you have read or may think you know about Hong Kong reports of that gateway and world money center’s demise deserve a closer look:
     “It’s not over, in fact Hong Kong’s exit from the world stage is simply not going to happen,” Hong Kong-based Bob Rogers, who also is the driving force of the global organization ULD CARES told me.
     “I think one would have to get up very early in the morning to find somebody who doesn't have good memories of Hong Kong. I arrived here on the 29th of December 1974 and while I had a job I certainly never imagined that I would still be here, approaching 46 years later.”

Pumping Traffic for October 7, 2020

Welcome Back
If you had not guessed it yet, the airport that reflects the community best is Miami International.
From its sprawling air cargo center where mammoth reefers are masquerading as cargo transfer facilities, to its long corridors up and down the central passenger areas filled with Cuban coffee stands with Latin finger food to the always sunny and lilting rhythm of people, language and outright hospitality, MIA has it all going on.

Vol. 19 No. 65 FRIDAY OCTOBER 2, 2020

More Homemade Freighters
Cathay Cargo has taken the seats out of a couple B777-300ERs. Our story on Finnair last week reported on AY doing much the same thing with its A330s. Now Cathay is flying cargo charters from Hanoi via Hong Kong to Pittsburgh . . . lots of fanfare for a two-month deal.
But let’s hear it for PIT; they found a shipper and Cathay may have discovered some local sponsorship as well.

Qatar Cargo Lands Kirsten
At a time when almost no one is hiring, here comes word that Kirsten De Bruijn has joined Qatar Cargo as Senior Vice President, Cargo Sales and Network Planning.
“The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the need for flexibility and agility. It has also fast-tracked demand for digitalization.”

Pandemic Delayed Medical Dispensary
In a peculiar twist, Cargo Human Care (CHC), under the leadership of the great former Lufthansa Chief Cargo pilot Fokko Doyan (Fokko ditched his chief pilot post so he could devote more time to this charity, although he still flies an MD-11F for the carrier), found itself with a medical facility that had to wait to open because of COVID-19.
After its completion at the end of February 2020, the dispensary was to be handed over to the Itolish Primary School and the Kilgoris. Unfortunately, the handover could not take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vol. 19 No. 64 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Why CNS Partnership?
     “IATA and Cargo Network Services (CNS) must recognize that CNS needs to maintain a strong voice for the airline forwarder partnership,” said Jan Krems, President of United Airlines Cargo.
  “Right now thankfully, we seem to be at the doorstep for the hoped for vaccine that will deliver us from the global COVID-19 nightmare.
  “The CNS Partnership is and will remain a vital force for good as the industry works to get things back to normal.”

Will IATA Take CNS Down?
     We have been thinking about IATA as air cargo becomes more famous in the mainstream media in regards to COVID-19 PPE flight performance.
     In the face of all the attention, IATA has shuttered all its cargo expertise in Geneva and Montreal.
     Glyn Hughes, Head of Cargo, and others in both locations have taken packages and are out.
     Is Cargo Network Services (CNS) next? Do we stand to lose the expertise of Mike White and his team?

Vol. 19 No. 63 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

Ethel: An Aviation Guiding Light
     On September 25, 2020, Ethel Lund Pattison will retire.
     Let me state matter-of-factly that we will not see anyone quite like her again.
     Her retirement won’t be accompanied by the multi-million dollar rewards bestowed upon pampered airline executives for the accomplishment of losing billions of dollars.
     So let us resolve that at least her retirement will garner the respectful attention that Ethel deserves.

Helicopter Lady Up Where She Belongs
A logistics professional with over 22 years of experience, Mumbai-based Chaitaly Mehta is the first woman in the family business – a third generation customs broker and a second generation freight forwarder who is at the helm of operations in her family-owned business, EKF Global Logistics (formerly Express Kargo Forwarders Private Limited).
Her ability as a natural problem solver and keen observer has allowed her to quickly learn the tricks of the trade and carve out a niche for herself in this dynamic sector. Armed with a law degree, Mehta is sought out amongst her peers for her ability to objectively look at situations and provide valuable advice.

China is Once in the Future
     The old phrase “you can never go home again” can be applied to the recent growing separation between the U.S. and China.
  There is no doubt, however, that China is tied into the world economy and there is no turning back.
  A quick look at China courtesy of a satellite shows a country obliterated by pollution, driven by clogged roads and factories puffing away, which prove that the business engine is back and goods are going somewhere as we approach the Christmas rush.

Vol. 19 No. 62 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

Nils Haupt is top corporate communications officer at Hapag-Lloyd AG, the fifth biggest container shipping line worldwide.
Nils served in the same position at Lufthansa Cargo between 2002 and 2012. Here, he brings an enlightened, objective view for today and tomorrow.

Isaac Nijankin will always be recalled as “Mr. Air Cargo” for his legendary run at pioneering Varig Brazilian Airlines. Founded in 1927, it ended just short of 80 years of leadership in 2006.
Later, Isaac served at Cargo Air Lines. During a distinguished thirty-plus year air cargo career, he guided the fortunes of Varig Cargo and initiated and supported various efforts to advance the industry.
Isaac was a key pro-industry source who was very instrumental at the start-up of TIACA and CNS.
Now retired, he is still thinking about these things . . .

A great man of the logistics business, both in Atlanta and worldwide, Harold Hagans, died September 10. He was 82 years old.
Harold and Gail Hagans created Atlanta Customs Brokers (ACB) in the early 1980’s and grew it from a small customs brokerage operations to a legendary international freight forwarder and customs brokerage firm that is today, as their slogan says “locally grown, internationally known”.

Vol. 19 No. 61 SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

Vol. 19 No. 60 MONDAY AUGUST 31, 2020

True Confessions of a Freight Forwarder
Marco Leonardo Sorgetti was a practicing freight forwarder in Turin, Ital,y before he pivoted to organized air cargo. He sold his company in 2000, worked for the Italian federation (FEDESPEDI) and then joined CLECAT, the European Freight Forwarder Federation as Director. In 2012 Marco became Director General of FIATA, the international association of 40,000 Freight Forwarder member organizations. He retired in 2017, but has remained active in the logistics field.
Marco is always soft spoken, smart and steadfast. What we like most about Marco is that he is a good listener with a wealth of ideas and he is always willing to share with everyone. Here he answers our questions and shares his thoughts.

Vol. 19 No. 59 MONDAY AUGUST 24, 2020

Days of Futures Past: What to Do Now
     Forty-five years ago we endeavored to create a publication unlike any other in the air cargo industry. I learned something important early on in our effort:
     In order to have a clearer vision of what lies ahead, we must deal with what happened before.
     So, the first order of business at FlyingTypers has always been to cast a clear line to the history of air cargo.

Pandemic Pulled Blanket Off World Economy
"If ever there is a perfect storm, this is it! The Covid-19 pandemic makes every other crisis that we called a perfect storm during that time (e.g. 2008/09 market crash etc.), look like a walk in the park.
Having gone thru our own share of wars, market crashes, epidemics and pandemics, even though this time around the air cargo industry came into its own to support the world, I am quite happy to sit this one out and watch it all playing out from a gallery seat."

Dave Brooks Look for Opportunities
Dave Brooks assumed command of American Airlines Cargo in 1996 and continued at that post for one month short of 16 years retiring in 2016. Dave, out of the gate, let the charge for innovation at American Airlines Cargo, making AA Cargo the first U.S. flag airline to offer e-freight internationally.
Today Dave serves as a non executive director at Saudia Cargo
Ask Dave Brooks what he would like to see happen in cargo 2020 and the answer is immediate.

Cargo 1000 Goes American
American Airlines said the carrier will operate 1,000 cargo only flights in September serving 32 cities; a plan that began as an experiment has now grown exponentially over the last 6 months.
“We didn’t have a playbook. We’d never done this before,” the carrier said.
“We began to explore how much cargo we could take if we couldn’t transport passengers.”

United Krems, a Cargo Superstar
United Airlines Cargo has flown than 5,000 cargo-only flights since March 19.
Amidst all the bad news of layoffs and forced early retirement, Jan Krems President, United Cargo has demonstrated in vivid results what a dedicated, inventive and no limits, all out air cargo professional can do, given a broad canvas.
There are passenger freighters at UA today that have moved mountains, not just boxes, transporting more than 170 million pounds of cargo, including medical supplies and other cargo around the world.

Vol. 19 No. 58 TUESDAY AUGUST 18, 2020

Chuckles for August 18, 2020

Why, Peter?
Up pops cargo pro Peter Scholten, now serving as CCO for London-based Air One that serves as sales agent for Aerotranscargo, an all-cargo outfit based in Sharjah, fielding four B7474Fs.

Vol. 19 No. 57 MONDAY AUGUST 10, 2020

Chuckles for August 10, 2020

Hamill, Prince of the City
     Pete Hamill has died.
     The reporter covered everything from boxing to politics and once wrote, “I don't ask for the meaning of the song of a bird or the rising of the sun on a misty morning.” In 2020 the City that he loved as much as he could weeps for the loss.
     To my mind, Pete was the greatest and most heartfelt chronicler of New York City life. He talked about and wrote the most revealing yet romantic tales during an era that gave us Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, and Norman Mailer.

Summer Cooler
We take a break as Summer 2020 is really in full bloom.
In Frankfurt, ATC CEO Ingo Zimmer and his team of Dog Days bosses including (L) Tobi, the wonder dog and Aretha (r) are moving supplies as business is slowly winding itself back up to some kind off new normal.

Vol. 19 No. 56 MONDAY AUGUST 3, 2020

Vaccines Can Get it on American
American Airlines Cargo is opened wide and declaring it is “ready to deliver” vaccine and therapies to combat the global pandemic.
“While the production of a COVID-19 vaccine remains unclear, we are inspired that experts and scientists around the world are working together to beat COVID-19,” Jessica Tyler, President of American Cargo told FlyingTypers in an exclusive interview.

Letters to the Editor for August 3, 2020

India China Boycott Takes Hold
In the beginning of July, when FedEx and DHL stopped picking up cargo from China for India, it was not surprising. If the Corona Virus pandemic made transportation difficult, the situation with the bloody conflict in the Galwan Valley (bordering the Indian state of Ladakh and China) on June 15, 2020 that saw the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers, made India’s relations with China even worse.

Good Guy Retires in a Minute
Good guy Richard “Dick” Dougherty, Project Manager – EDI American Airlines Cargo eBusiness Strategy, has stepped down from his post at American Airlines Cargo.
Aside from his responsibilities at AA Cargo, Dick was heavily involved with C2K in a very fundamental fashion; he was both a participant and a big thinker, as well as being the guy who meticulously took the minutes of each meeting.

DON'T BE CONFUSED
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MISLED

   We are the original Air Cargo News founded 45 years ago in 1975 in New York City, USA.
    Edited by Geoffrey Arend, the acknowledged dean of air cargo publishers, we are the go to source for the air cargo industry worldwide.
    In-depth and knowledgeable coverage of the air cargo market.    No advertorials, no press releases, no dubious awards. Just market savvy.
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