United Cargo's Managing Director Strategic Accounts Helen Kristensen greeted us with a big smile and effusive welcome as we arrived at United Cargo in downtown Chicago, Illinois.
     United Cargo operates a cluster of offices inside Willis Tower, which houses all the top officials of the airline.
     Once upon a time the place was known as United Airlines ‘World Headquarters,’ but now in the culture of a new United the offices at Willis have been designated as the ‘Corporate Support Center.’
     With more than 4,500 flights each day to 339 destinations throughout the world, the message from management to the troops is, “we want our front-line employees to know we are here to provide the assistance they need to go the extra mile for our customers and keep our operation humming 24/7.”

All Smiles Friendly

     But one thing has not changed.
     The smile is the first thing you notice about Helen, and you have to remind yourself to pitch a few softball questions or tell a joke or two while talking to her, because she truly lights up the room.
     Helen Kristensen is down-to-earth friendly, but she looks like she can also handle any “chin music” air cargo dishes out—“chin music” being the air cargo version of the high, inside fastball a pitcher occasionally throws the batter at games in nearby Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs baseball club.
     Helen has been situate amongst a global group of accounts at United Cargo for about eight years now, and among the skills she brings to the table is speaking several languages—English, Spanish, Danish (her native tongue), plus Portuguese & French.
     Her enhanced ability (refined to high art) of working with people—gained, in part, from her start in key posts at the passenger side of UA in 2003—have contributed to her stature as a uniquely qualified global cargo executive.

Great Gettin' Up Morning

     For starters, Helen knows how to read the tealeaves:
     “I am not much of a morning person—not at least until I met Jan Krems.
     “I’m proud to say my boss measures among the best, most inspiring leaders anyone could imagine, let alone work for,” Helen said unabashedly.
     “So getting up early and being ready for whatever the day holds from the very early morning onward is my weakness now,” Helen Christensen assures.

Up To The Minute

     “At United Cargo we’re pleased to see a little pickup in the cargo business as 2016 progresses.
     “There may even be a peak (fingers crossed).
     “We had a very good August with increases in cargo ton miles and kilos that indicate positive momentum going into the fall, so we are excited about that,” Helen said.
     “I feel like our United Cargo team is so connected—with our customers and with each other.
     “We have great people all over the world.
     “Whether it’s operations, sales, or the support teams, our people are fired up.
     “As I mentioned, Jan is fun to work for, and he is totally engaged and connected. That attitude is infectious, and our team today is a group of people definitely following the leader.”

Building Momentum & Solutions

     “Today United Cargo is ready for prime time as we expand our great cargo offering all over the world.
     “When I look at how we relate to customers to learn what they need from us, we know the worst thing we could do is to wring our hands and say ‘Woe is us, the rates are so tough.’
     “Sure, the rate situation is tough, but so what? Move on!” Helen exclaims.
     “The market is what it is, so the question is what are we going to do with it?
     “The good thing is that at United Cargo our kilos continue to increase, so we talk to customers about ways to keep both their business and our business growing.
     “The goal is to find solutions that work for the customer, the forwarder, and the airline,” Helen Kristensen said.
     “When that happens, the result is a positive vibe where the sky has no limits.”

Bellies Up

     “There is no doubt that the general cargo will always be the baseline and bedrock of our business.
     “We have really solid base loads out there as a result of our long-term relationships with customers and keeping our commitments to them.
     “That situation has allowed us to build our other product lines.
     “TempControl is the big success and growth story, as Krisha Kucharski pointed out in a recent story in FlyingTypers.
     “Temp Control is in 62 stations now and growing in importance.
     “For example, our once-weekly Wednesday widebody between SJU and EWR is constantly full.
     “A lot of people worked very hard to make that happen. As a result, in December that flight goes six times weekly with a B777 replacing B767s on the run. This will give pharma shippers from SJU even more lift and opportunities to access the United network.”

Schussboom To Cargo Triumphant

     The great German/English word combination ‘schussboom’ (skiing very fast downhill) describes Helen’s life before air cargo.
     She grew up in Canada, the daughter of Danish immigrants.
     “I went off to university wanting to be a lawyer, thinking that a first- generation Canadian might excel in the diplomatic ranks.
     “That master plan lasted until my first school break when I went down to Vermont on a ski trip.
     “I loved it there. I had not started skiing until I was sixteen, but once in Vermont I decided what I should really be doing was living in Vermont and skiing.
     “So I found out that I could get a work permit to live in Vermont if I was a ski instructor.
     “Back in university in Canada, I finished up my studies and graduated, then got myself certified as a ski instructor.
     “Four months later, while working in Vermont, my boss got a wonderful offer to be the director at Portillo (The Portillo Ski Resort in Chile is renowned as among best in the world).
     “So from Sugarbush, almost unbelievably, I landed in Portillo, where I was working year round in ski instruction,” Helen said.
     “In Chile I taught kids (the women’s lot) how to ski and picked up both the Spanish and Portuguese language. Living it is the best way of learning it.
     “It was great, but you do get hurt skiing 300 days a year.
     “So I decided to go back to university and study marketing. I got involved with a case study about British Airways, and I was surprised to learn of the number of jobs I could perform at an airline.
     “I had known some airline people that were skiers, so I tapped into that. Armed with my MBA and speaking five languages, I landed my first job at United in passenger sales.
     “After some years I thought I’d try cargo for a short time and then go back, but I quickly discovered that cargo clicks for me because it is so logical and rational.
     “The passenger side of the airline feels more emotional.
     “I like cargo because the focus is on how goods move and maximizing the potential of the supply chain. It just fits my personality better.”

Post CNS in Nashville in April, Helen with the United Cargo team—(back row from left) Rich Haus, Global Strategic Partner Manager; Marco Vezjak, Global Strategic Partner Manager (based in Netherlands); Jim Bellinder, Vice President Cargo Sales-Americas; Jan Krems, President Cargo; Helen Kristensen, Managing Director, Strategic Accounts; (front row from left) Vivian Cervantes, National Account Manager; Bess Roces, Strategic Partner Manager; Lidia Dawid, Strategic Partner Manager (based in Frankfurt); and Sharon Hogg, Manager Interline.

The Great Dane Dame

     “At United Cargo, our differentiators start with the best network.
     “We add to that our ever-improving operations, mix in the attitude and experience of our Sales team, and the result is our CTMs continuing to out-perform our peers.
     “Our wide body offering excels compared to others, and we’re the leading airline between Asia and the U.S.
     “United services to China are unrivalled, even compared to Chinese carriers when you factor in the connections we can make within the U.S. and to other countries.
     “United already operates more nonstop U.S.-China flights and flies to more cities in China than any other U.S. airline, and we are adding new services to China, including double SFO/PVG dailies coming in October.
     “In Europe, our positioning in Frankfurt—with daily wide bodies from five U.S. hubs and our connections with Lufthansa—has resulted in FRA as a prime destination for United.
     “Frankfurt is the center of the European universe for freight and no one (to say it again) has a better wide body network than United.”

Keeping Book

     Finally, we catch yet another facet of this most interesting modern air cargo executive as she reveals what she’s been reading lately.
     “The Martian movie was great, but the book is absolutely amazing.
     “Andrew Weir is a true geek (in the best sense of the word) and while the book has a lot of detailed science for a work of fiction, all but one thing has proven to be accurate.
     “I’ve already read that book twice—it’s that fascinating,” Helen said.
     “Another book that is wonderfully entertaining is by author J. Martin Troost, who at age 26 wrote The Sex Life of Cannibals. It has nothing to do with either sex or cannibals, but rather is about life in Kiribati, a tiny island nation in the South Pacific the Brits left in 1979.
     “Whenever I encounter challenges in my travels, I think about what this guy endured in Kiribati and realize I’ve got it easy!” Helen Kristensen said.
Geoffrey

Vol. 15 No. 71
Hanjin Debacle Pain Into Gain
American Rates September
Chuckles For September 15, 2016