Jan Krems (center) President, United Cargo with members of the “best team in cargo” and a couple of friends, including “Wild Thing” Jan Meurer (back row, third from left) and Jacques Heeremans (back row, extreme left) of GSSA Inter Aviation Services B.V., ready for another opening, another show on Monday at World Cargo Symposium, Dallas.

     “I’m very pleased and proud to be a part of the large United Cargo contingent in Dallas for the World Cargo Symposium this week.
     “Of course, we’re always eager for any opportunity to meet with our customers face-to-face to learn how we can better support their current business and what kind of creative strategies we need to develop for the new business they’re anticipating.”

Covering Tracks

     “But equally important is the United Cargo team’s participation in the various WCS tracks, workshop,s and forums. We have a knowledgeable and innovative team committed to advancing the future of our industry. To elevate air cargo’s value to customers and meet the challenge of competing modes, it’s key that we collaborate as an industry on issues like security, border management, and regulatory compliance.”

What We Can Do Better

     “Also, to continue to grow, our industry also must ensure and enhance the speed, safet,y and quality of our transport of e-commerce, pharma, and other life science material, live animals, perishables, dangerous goods—the list goes on. So I’m looking forward to what our team learns from and what they contribute to these sessions.”

2018 Could Be A Very Good Year

     “2018 is shaping up to be an interesting year, and we’re encouraged by the way it’s unfolding thus far. At the turn of the year the trends looked positive, but other than knowing that demand would slacken from the impressive seasonal peaks, no one was certain which way and at which rate volumes would move.
     “For the first two months of the year, United Cargo volumes are up a favorable 9.4 percent, continuing to outpace the industry and our U.S. belly carrier competitors. A strong factor in these volume increases is United Cargo TempControl—the demand for our service for pharmaceuticals and other health care/life science material has continued its steady rise in 2018.”

TempControl Heats Up

     “A noteworthy example of this growth is the use of personalized or precision medicine, with products tailored to an individual patient’s characteristics and health factors. Our global TempControl experts report a rapid rise in the need for quick and immediate transport of these patient-specific solutions. With their brief shelf-life, these medicines need the kind the speed that only air freight can deliver.”

The Joint Is Jumping

     “One of this year’s highlights was the February 6 launch of the second phase of our cargo joint venture with All Nippon Airways. With this phase, we added westbound transpacific routes to the successful eastbound phase of the venture.
     “So customers with shipments from the U.S. or Canada to Japan are now utilizing the same benefits customers with eastbound transpacific shipments have enjoyed since July of 2016. We’re looking forward to providing the same kind and level of benefits to transatlantic customers when we launch the joint venture with Lufthansa Cargo later this year.”

Houston Calls Sydney

     “Looking at network growth, a notable expansion happened on January 18, when United launched daily service between our Houston hub and Sydney. United operates this route with Boeing 787-9 equipment, and it’s our second longest flight after LAX-SIN. We’re also strengthening our 2018 trans-Atlantic summer service by making flights available earlier in the year and continuing to operate these routes later into October.”

The Beat Goes On

     “Especially pertinent to United Cargo customers are three seasonal routes we’ll operate daily with Boeing 787s: service between DEN and London Heathrow from March 24 to October 26, service between SFO and Munich from May 4 to October 26, and service between SFO and Zurich from June 7 to October 26.”

Taking The Bull By The Horns

     “But there’s always a strong possibility our plans will divert into uncharted territory. I expect that our team will see or hear something this week that will spark a new concept or a fresh approach to solving an old issue. Generating fresh ideas and enthusiasm is one of the reasons we bring our team to events like WCS!”
Geoffrey