The first 38 days under President Trump have made it obvious that this President will do everything possible to maintain his campaign promises, which are basically increasing the security of the U.S., growing the U.S. economy (and hence jobs), and rebuilding the U.S. infrastructure.
      In this article, I will continue focusing on what I see President Trump doing to grow the U.S. economy and jobs and how that will affect the airline industry. In the past year, China’s economy has surpassed the U.S., and many economists predict India will surpass the U.S. by 2040. That may look like a long time off, but when you are attempting to restructure the U.S. to prevent this, it is tomorrow.
     President Trump has committed to favor products produced in the U.S. and help grow businesses in the U.S. He is looking at reducing cumbersome U.S. government regulations, reduce taxes on companies, reeducate U.S. workers, give jobs to people legally in the U.S., and negotiate fairer trade agreements among other countries. The U.S. stock market obviously believes he can do this.
      To U.S. airlines, the question is whether these policies support their growth. Obviously, U.S. combination carriers will benefit, but what about the carriers dependent on the movement of cargo? The one bright spot I have seen over the past few weeks is that this new administration understands the positive value of trade on the U.S. economy. While they appear to be against multilateral trade agreements, they appear to be embracing bilateral trade agreements. Bilateral agreements are nothing new to the airline industry and in fact they can be extremely beneficial.
     What company wants to deal with, say, 10 vendors under one agreement? As business people we all know the downside of these multilateral agreements. So will these bilateral trade agreements increase the movement of air cargo to and from the U.S. and beneficially increase the movement of air cargo?
     We have already seen discussions with England, Japan, and Canada and there is confusion on what his “One China” policy means. But the big question is whether President Trump can get the cost of U.S. goods low enough, with his incentive plans, to be competitively priced globally within these agreements. If he can do that while improving the U.S. economy—providing more good paying jobs for U.S. workers and increasing the value of the U.S. dollar—then everyone is a winner.
Bill Boesch

Mr. Boesch started his career in global transportation and logistics in 1965 working for Seaboard World Airlines. He later joined Flying Tiger Airlines and Emery Worldwide. Mr. Boesch then left Emery to become Pan American World Airways’ Senior Vice President where he headed both Passenger and Cargo Sales and Operations. He left Pan Am to lead American Airlines’ Cargo operation and retired from AA in 1998. Under his direction American became a world leader in the air cargo and logistics business.      Mr. Boesch was involved in projects for the U.S. Government throughout his airline career and became more active after retiring from AA by serving as Director of U.S. Aviation Policy for the White House Commission on Aviation Security. He also has worked for the U.S Government in high level logistics and security projects which included terrorist attack planning and analysis. Mr. Boesch was part of the extensive on site planning and support of the Iraq drawdown, involvement with the Afghanistan operations, and has worked on all aspects of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) from both an airline and government standpoint.      Mr. Boesch has also served as Chairman of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Cargo Executive Subcommittee in 1996 and 1997, Vice Chairman of IATA’s Cargo Committee. Mr. Boesch served on the Board of Directors of Air Cargo Incorporated, Air Cargo International, The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), Envirotainer, Cargo Logistics Solutions, Deutsche Post/DHL Global Mail, al Seqir and consulted for major U.S. companies including Flight Safety.      Mr. Boesch is the recipient of numerous awards including the Lifetime Air Cargo Achievement Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and various awards from the U.S. Department of Defense.      Mr. Boesch is presently continuing his work for the U.S. Government and heads up The Council For Logistics Research.

To Read Part 1 of This Series, Click Here .
To Read Trump Effect—India Walks Softly Carries Big Stick, Click Here
To Read Trump Effect—Implications Of A Trump Trade War, Click Here