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    Vol. 13 No. 25                      THE AIR CARGO NEWS THOUGHT LEADER                              Wednesday March 12, 2014

 

Delta Lobster Loading
Ray Curtis     Ray Curtis (right) gets excited about attending air cargo industry events, but when it comes to choices he really gets worked up about show venues that also offer an opportunity to do some good, lasting business.
     So while the big thoughts this week are being sprung and sung in Los Angeles, Delta Cargo’s vice-president of sales muses about the gigantic Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America.
     Scheduled for Boston Convention Center March 16-18, it is the largest seafood trade event in North America.
     By the numbers, the event attracts over 19,000 buyers and suppliers of fresh, frozen, packaged, and value-added seafood products, equipment, and services.
     Attendees travel from more than 100 countries to do business at the exposition.
     No other event in North America provides seafood professionals with direct access to qualified buyers and suppliers representing all areas of the seafood industry.
     So as bags are packed and an all-star Delta Cargo team wings its way to Boston, we ask the boss to survey the landscape, or in nautical terms to weigh anchor and offer air cargo an overview of what attendees and others can expect.
     “Delta Cargo is of course well-known throughout the industry as a major shipper of perishables such as fresh and frozen seafood around the world,” Ray said.
     “The annual Boston Seafood Expo is a prime opportunity for us to meet face-to-face with our customers from around the industry.
     “The show provides an unequalled venue to promote our worldwide network and global reach, which is expanded even further by our North American joint venture partners Air France, KLM, and Alitalia.”

Seafood Big Business At Delta

Ray Curtis and Christine Waggett     “Shipping perishables such as seafood is major business for Delta, and we are focused on growing our high-value product lines, like perishables.
     “Our company continues to invest in the cargo business; last year we invested in a new 3,000-square foot cooler facility in Detroit that opened in September.
     “The cooler expands connecting opportunities between the West Coast and Europe and Latin America for perishable shipments.
     “The cooler can store up to 4 built pallets and 12 LD2 containers at any time, with drive thru access.
“We also expanded our hours in Detroit and are now available for our customers 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
     “Delta is up-gauging our domestic fleet, which provides additional cargo capacity and greater capabilities for dangerous goods as we retire 50-seat regional aircraft and add Boeing 737-900ERs, Boeing 717s, and CRJ-900s.
     “These are cargo friendly aircraft that we know will benefit our seafood customers as well.”

Continued Investment

     “We are investing in Seattle and have already announced significant capacity increases to multiple domestic and international destinations which underscore our commitment not only to the Pacific Northwest but to the seafood industry.
     “Delta Cargo is also focused on building our organization and we now have the optimal team in place that will allow us to accomplish our key objectives.
     “Last year, Sharon Poindexter joined our team as Director of eCommerce and Technology.
     “Sharon and her team are focused on removing paper from our business and providing efficient options for our customers to do business with us from booking to eAWB submission and tracking shipments.
     “We are making investments in deltacargo.com to improve the user experience and provide enhanced functionality that is valued by our customers.
     “Lisa Wallace (right) joined the team as director of revenue management and alliances. Lisa and her team are focused on building our existing partnership with Air France-KLM, where we have anti-trust immunity for our transatlantic flights, and on developing our new joint venture with Virgin Atlantic, where we have anti-trust immunity between the U.S. and the U.K.
     “Alex Clayton is our new General Manager of Premium Products.
     “This was another investment the company made in our cargo business, illustrating the importance we are placing on building our premium product portfolio.
     “Alex and her team have been busy certifying stations to handle our Pharma business and we now have 45 stations that are ready to handle Pharma shipments.”

Beyond Expectations

     “We know that our customers expect operational reliability for their shipments.
     “Even standard air-freight shipments are considered premium as compared to other modes of transportation (ocean, trucking).
     “Scott Barkley is continuing to lead the team to build processes and standard operations procedures and measure and report progress on a daily basis.
     “The entire leadership of Delta Cargo is working together to achieve our objectives, which are shared across the entire division.”

Delta Listens

     “Feedback from our employees is essential to our success – our third annual employee survey just opened.
     “Employee feedback is very important to our company and is taken into account in decisions that are made.
     “Delta Air Lines is a great company and remains focused on the cargo business.
     “It’s an exciting time for the team and we look forward to the opportunities ahead.”

How Seafood Moves At DL

     “We have defined clear operational procedures for our teams that outline the handling of seafood and other perishable items.
     “Shipments are accepted and set to ride as booked.
     “We assign perishables a higher boarding priority because of the nature of the product.
     “If the shipment doesn’t ride as booked for any reason, we bring it back to the warehouse for storage in coolers whenever possible, depending on the city, or we hold it in the warehouse protected from the elements until it is able to ride on next available flight.
     “We also measure our performance daily and make adjustments when necessary so that we can serve our customers well.”

Christine Waggett The Big Show Is In Boston S/H
     “The Delta Cargo team will be well represented in Boston.
     “For that event we have sales account managers whose main focus is on perishable products.
     “We will be in a booth with our joint venture partners AF and KLM.
     “Christine Waggett will be leading the Delta team.
     “She recently celebrated her 30th anniversary with Delta and has been in Boston for the majority of her career.
     “Christine has worked closely with her customers to ensure the optimal container is utilized when seafood is shipped on different aircraft types around the world to ensure the products are fresh when they arrive at destination.
     “She was recently promoted to the East Coast Perishable Manager because of her knowledge and expertise in the perishable market.
     “I can tell you that it was great to be on the same team as Christine when I came to Delta Cargo six years ago.
     “She is Delta Cargo in Boston!”
Geoffrey

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