Back
in 2012, Carmen Taylor, Managing Director of AA Cargo’s
Latin America sales division, which includes South America,
Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, and the southeast
region of the United States, was recognized by Miami
World Trade Center for “exceptional leadership
in promoting and enhancing free trade and international
business.”
The three-decades-plus
veteran of American says simply:
“I love my job.”
When it comes to exceeding
expectations and taking things further, Carmen makes
business as usual unusual.
“My philosophy
is make the customer successful, and they will also
make you successful,” she said.
“At American Airlines
Cargo our top priority continues to be our unique focus
on delivering an enhanced service, including offering
an expansive, incomparable network and a diverse selection
of flights to choose from, all while exceeding our customers’
expectations.
Fresh
For Easter
“Our fresh flower business continues to grow as
we add new routes, improve our perishable network, and
add on more service options this year.
“In 2015, we saw
a significant increase of flowers worldwide from last
year.
We expect to continue
to see growth with the addition of new and bigger coolers,
which are being added at our hubs that see the largest
amount of flowers.
“The bulk of our
traffic comes out of Latin America and Europe, including
Costa Rica and Amsterdam—some of the top floral
producers in the world.
“The U.S. is also
one of our top flower export locations, thanks to the
consistently mild climates and resources on the west
coast. The speed and temperature-control capabilities
we can offer as an air carrier give our customers more
global options for shipping perishable products with
shorter shelf lives to more locations around the world.
Plus, with the consistently high demand over all 12
months, even in climates not equipped for flower production,
we can maintain an influx of this popular commodity,
especially around major holidays, including the upcoming
Easter.”
Play
Me Hearts & Flowers
“During
the Valentine’s Day season, which we define as the
two weeks leading up to the 2016 holiday, we saw a pretty
significant boost in the fresh flower volume through our
hubs.
“During this time
of year, we transport a variety of different fresh cut
flowers, including roses and carnations, [which are] some
of the most common types we ship throughout the calendar
year.”
Perishables
Top Priority
“Moving
perishables by way of air gives you the added benefit
of speed and transparency. With modern technology, we
have the ability to track our cargo at each connection
point, and we have cooler facilities strategically placed
across our network. These cooler facilities were designed
to maintain a refrigerated temperature of 5 degrees
Celsius, perfect for perishable shipments such as fish,
produce, and flowers that need to arrive fresh at their
final destination.”
O&D
by Priorities
“In
general, the types of flowers we move vary greatly,
but as mentioned earlier we see a fairly large amount
of carnations, roses, tropical flowers, ornamentals,
and foliage—just to name a few.
“The majority of
our flower shipments are destined for the United States
(New York JFK and Miami, primarily), Europe, and Asia.
With an expansive network and efficient flight schedule,
we’re able to transport flowers into the U.S.
from nearly anywhere on the map, connecting through
to the international destinations with the highest demand
for this popular perishable.
“For example, flowers
out of Bogota can make it into the hand of a distributor
in the U.S. within four hours (or connect elsewhere,
as needed).
“Out of the U.S.,
some top perishable commodities, aside from flowers,
include berries and asparagus to the MCLA region and
seafood and produce to Europe.”
Why
We Love Carmen
Born
in Lyon, France, Carmen says of being a woman in air
cargo:
“The demands are
there—no matter who you are—to deliver all
around.”
“We are very proud
of the role we play in facilitating international trade
and helping consumers worldwide gain access to a large
variety of goods available in the market.”
On
The Mark
“In
July 2004, (our) good friend Mark Najarian, who was
at the time our VP Cargo Sales, gave me an incredible
opportunity to run our Cargo Sales business in Miami.
“Although I was a little nervous at the beginning—since
I knew very, very little about the cargo industry—I
very quickly learned that the cargo business is a ‘people-to-people’
business.”
“The experience
of being ‘real’ with people had an immediate
impact:
“Once you have
built credibility within your customer base, they will
support you. “Working in cargo for the last nine
years has truly been a very rewarding experience.
“I feel extremely
fortunate that my work with American Airlines has given
me the opportunity to travel across the globe,”
Carmen Taylor said.
A
Matter of Heavylift
“As a passenger
carrier, we receive a lot of questions around the benefits
of utilizing commercial aircraft verses freighters for
the movement of cargo.
“The key benefit
is daily, nonstop service across our expansive global
network.
“When you combine
our schedule with our trucking and interline partners,
we can reach nearly every major (and minor) trade market
in the world in a very short period of time.”
Priorities
Right Now
“Right now, it’s
all about finding more effective and seamless ways to
interact with our partners and customers.
“From online tracking
to customer surveys and enhanced facility layouts, we’re
using our talented employees and valuable industry partnerships
to enhance the products and services we can offer.
“We want, and highly
value, feedback from the organizations and individuals
we work with all over the world and find those conversations
are the ones that keep us evolving at an exceptional
rate.”
Forwarders
Straight To The Heart
“Like many of our
air cargo counterparts, we rely on the support and resources
of our forwarders on a day-to-day basis. The relationship
we have with our forwarders allows us to share the benefit
of offering our customers more connection opportunities
across the globe. This includes more direct services
between the origin and destination points, thus minimal
handling throughout the process. Especially for the
transport of temperature-sensitive or highly-valuable
commodities, enhanced tracking and security measures
are crucial features for every member of the supply
chain.”
Geoffrey |
100%
Green