FT120213

Vol. 12 No. 102 Monday December 2, 2013

#INTHEAIREVERYWHERE
THE AIR CARGO NEWS THOUGHT LEADER

air cargo news for December 2, 2013

     Cargolux, which was in limbo all year after QR said it wanted to be released from its 35 percent stake of the carrier, finds a new partner to join the dance in China, as Luxembourg bestows blessings for Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment group (HNCA) to acquire a stake in the carrier.
     HNCA reportedly paid USD $231mil for 35 percent of Cargolux.
     But a big part of the deal will see HNCA hold majority board voting power, with ability to veto.
     CV will reportedly set up a second hub in Zhengzhou, China, with initial 4x weekly service to Europe, and will base 1/3 of its fleet in Zhengzhou.
     The deal will also allow "relocation" of various Cargolux business activities to China, notably without the job security provisions CV unions had wanted.

r. Andreas Otto, who has been a member of the Lufthansa Cargo Board for as long as anyone can remember, maintains his youthful good looks and positive perspective right into middle age.
“On the one hand, the year remained far behind our expectations.
“Demand in the air cargo markets worldwide was still very modest.
     “That didn't change until the end of the year, and now we can at last see some signs of improvement.
     “The fact that we are one of the few cargo airlines operating at a profit in this environment is a sign of our strength.”

     “Our real highlight came just recently at year’s end, when our first Triple Seven arrived in Frankfurt.
     “The maiden flight on the legendary route to New York/JFK is a very special symbol.
     “We keep on investing in our product and improving our offerings to our customers in many different ways.
     “Firstly, we invest in our route network. Guadalajara, Lima, and Chongqing are just three of the new destinations we have added to our flight plan.
     “Secondly, we are actively pursuing our quest for technical innovations.
     “As an example, we now have a new GSM transponder, which offers our customers maximum transparency for their shipments.
     “The important thing for us is that these innovations are easy to use – we don't want technical gadgets.
     “You simply return the transponder to the manufacturer after utilization and only pay for what you really use.
     “New products or intelligent product combinations are the third example.
     “By combining dangerous goods shipments with our express product we offer our customers completely new possibilities for the fast and reliable transport of DGR.

     “Our market image is absolutely clear: we, Lufthansa Cargo, stand for top quality, reliability and innovations.
     “Lufthansa Cargo will never be the cheapest airline, but we will and must deliver the best quality.
     “We are making huge investments for this—for example in new IT, modern aircraft, and by creating a highly efficient logistics center.
     “For me the digitalization of our common processes is a very important point.
     “At Lufthansa Cargo we are making progress in this area.
     “But we can only ensure our long-term success if all partners in the value chain accompany us on this path.

     “Happy to report that we did our homework in 2013 and made a lot of progress with our future program ‘Lufthansa Cargo 2020.’
     “The most conspicuous examples of this are our brand-new Boeing 777 freighters.
     “But we want to continue on this path next year and I am convinced that we will succeed thanks to our excellent team and the support of our customers and of course also by our various service partners.
     “One thing is clear: the market was much weaker than expected this year.
     “That was very disappointing, as we wanted to achieve more.
     “Furthermore the image of the air cargo industry in general is in many countries worse than we expected and worse than we deserve.
     “We are working on this.”

     “There is nothing new in the forecasts; to many the future looks to be rather dismal for our industry.
     “Nevertheless, 2013 once again showed us quite brutally how difficult it is to plan for cargo airlines.
     “I am more certain than ever that flexibility is the top priority. Only this will enable us to react speedily to changing markets.
     “I think that many legacy carriers have to become more customer oriented.”

     “Having spent the past decade as Lufthansa Cargo board member for Product & Sales I can only say: this is the most fascinating business in the world.
     “Where else can you be so closely in touch with what is happening on global markets? There are so many great people in our industry, and over the years many of them have become close friends.
     “Lufthansa Cargo will surprise many and is a great company overall!
     “In a nutshell: in a challenging environment, when some carriers exit the market and some other carriers can afford to buy fleets of new aircraft, Lufthansa Cargo is launching the greatest investment program in the company's history. The result is going to be really big.
     “This is what the 4,500 staff members of Cargo Lufthansa are working on every single day for our customers.”
Geoffrey/Flossie

     Lufthansa Cargo’s B777F inaugural flight LH8170/19 operated FRA/JFK/ATL on October 21; the local Atlanta team hosted “Novemberfest” to celebrate its arrival with customers and city officials.
     In a white tent set up just outside the Lufthansa Cargo building at ATL, an Oom-pah-pah band warmed up the crowd while executive chef Nils Stein oversaw the typical fare of sauerbraten, sauerkraut, Bavarian pretzels, and a variety of bratwurst and potato salad, accompanied by free-flowing Krombacher beer. Party atmosphere all around!
     Outbound flight LH8171/20 carried cargo from Lufthansa Cargo “big time consolidators” (in the words of Carl Unger, Lufthansa Cargo director USA south)— global partners and local forwarders who are being recognized with a personalized plaque for having shipments booked and flown in this first flight on D-ALFA.
     The LH8171 manifest reads like a who’s who of diverse commodities—6 tons of Coach handbags, pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods, machine parts, auto parts, aircraft parts, biomass samples, non-ferrous metal castings, titanium rods, laminates, personal effects, industrial equipment, and commercial cooking equipment.
     Lufthansa Cargo’s Carl Unger, Charles (Chas) Petty, district sales manager, the City of Atlanta COO Duriya Farooqui, and Aviation Deputy General Manager Atlanta Airport, Miguel Southwell, handled the formalities with short speeches.
     Carl said the new freighter will call in ATL four times a week, adding 20 percent more capacity than the MD11F it will eventually replace and offers 27 main deck and 10 lower deck positions.
The new B777 aircraft are equipped with the world’s most powerful engine, each generating 110,000lbs of thrust (GE90-110B1).
     Lufthansa has a total of 5 on order and options on another 5.
     Duriya Farooqui mentioned that Lufthansa has been operating in ATL since 1988 and this day marked a new milestone. Mr. Southwell talked about the overall developments and importance of the ATL airport, through which 7 billion dollars worth of goods pass every year, and which supports 31,000 jobs.
     A new cargo facility is being created that will be coming online in 2014.
     Not the same old Oom-pah-pah, we say.
Ted/Flossie

     We’re saddened to report that the well respected and much loved John Sinaguglia—who shepherded Lufthansa Cargo USA through its formative years on the West Coast—died November 19, 2013, at his home in Palm Desert, California.
     Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, John graduated from Hartford High and was immediately drafted into WW II service.
     His tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Germany during the early 1950’s whetted his appetite for travel; he embraced travel as an education comparable to none and rejoiced when family and friends participated in its wonders.
     After his honorable discharge, John moved to California, where he secured an entry-level position with Lufthansa. There he transformed his love of travel into a distinguished career.
     As Lufthansa Regional Air Cargo Manager, he oversaw the successful completion and subsequent development of Lufthansa’s Cargo Bay at Los Angeles International Airport.
     A man who lived life exuberantly and experienced it deeply, John called Hollywood his home for many years. After retiring in 1993 from Lufthansa, he moved to Connecticut, re-experienced its chilly winters, and soon thereafter returned to California.
     Despite the miles that separated him from family and friends, John visited often and always phoned to share their joys, celebrations, and sorrows.
     In accord with John’s wishes, his family arranged for him to be sent on his final earthly flight from LAX airport to Bradley International to be buried alongside his parents in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
     His family and friends recall John for his quiet sense of honor, enduring elegance, dedication to those he loved, lively sense of humor, well-guarded sensitivity, and enormous heart.
     He is mourned by his extended family of friends; his brother Joseph’s widow, Cheryl McNaughtan and niece, Carolyne (husband, Larry) Griffin of CA; nieces Catherine (husband, Michael) Gentile and Joan (husband, Christopher) Erickson of Maine; nephew David C. (wife, Laura) Sinaguglia of CT; and great nieces, Jessica (husband, Chris) Halpin of MA; Sarah (husband, Todd) Gentilcore of FL; Cynthia (husband, David) White and Mary (husband, Aaron) McMorrow of Maine; Rachael Beth Sinaguglia of CT; and great nephew, David M. Sinaguglia, also of CT.
     John’s viewing will be held on Tuesday, December 3, 2013, 4:00-7:00 at D’Esopo’s Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Blvd, Wethersfield, CT.
     A funeral Mass will be offered on Wednesday, December 4, 2013, at 10:00 am at the Church of the Incarnation, 544 Prospect St, Wethersfield. Interment will follow immediately after in Mount St. Benedict’s Cemetery, One Cottage Grove Road, Bloomfield, CT.
     A memorial service for John’s West Coast family and friends will be held in January 2014, date and details to be announced.
     Many Happy landings, dear John.
Geoffrey

Kunming Lights up The Night—February 9, 2013
A new airport in China is spotlighted, recalling the American AVG, The Flying Tigers of WWII, and also the China India Burma Hump service that moved air cargo over the Himalayan Mountains, when air cargo was born and transport cargo pilots called reporters covering the story “The Flying Typers.”

     China's Changshui International Airport debuted, revealing the fourth largest airport building in China following the transfer of operations from the city’s Wujiaba Airport.
     The new airport terminal at Kunming serves as a strategic hub for airlines serving Southeast Asia from China, and will process about 24 million passengers in 2012. That number is expected to rise to 38 million passengers by 2020.
     The airport has a design capacity of close to 70 million passengers per annum, served by four runways. The airport was constructed with an investment of CNY23 billion (USD3.6 billion).
     Kunming can be recalled as the major base for General Claire Chennault’s American Volunteer Group (AVG) during World War Two, which became famous all over the world as The Flying Tigers, after a 1942 movie of the same name was made starring John Wayne.
     Lesser known is the epoch tale of intrepid transport pilots operating their C-46 Curtiss Commandos above the treacherous Himalaya Mountains after the Japanese closed The Burma Road between Assam India and Kunming.

Claire Booth Luce snapped this early color photograph in Kunming for Life Magazine during the early 1940s as the legend of the exploits of the Flying Tigers was born. John Wayne (pictured with co-star Anna Lee) starred in the movie The Flying Tigers
Now from what was once little more than a grass fighter strip a great modern airport debuted last month.

     These pilots and their fragile early transport aircraft operating at max ceiling kept the AVG supplied with av–gas, tires, ammunition, and other supplies.
     Conditions were so dangerous with those mountain updrafts that wreckage of those early all-cargo airplanes reported lost during the early 1940s is still being discovered, as recently as a few years ago.
     Although the heroics of the transport pilots who supported and were rightfully called “Flying Tigers” is often overlooked, their contributions left a worldwide, lasting legacy and introduced the world to the prospects of air cargo, including the “can-do” attitude that launched “The Berlin Airlift” and The Flying Tiger Line air cargo company, which operated freighters all over Asia before being bought by FedEx.
     Today, many FedEx Asian flights travel aerial trade lanes pioneered by Flying Tigers air cargo pilots and crew.
     It is also worth mentioning that the publication that you are reading worldwide today called “Flying Typers” can trace its name back to the days of the AVG.

    Often people inquire as to our name FlyingTypers. “Don’t you mean Flying Tigers,” is a comment we have heard.
    Actually during WW II Flying Tigers were both fighter pilots (P40) and air transport pilots (C46 & C47) as well.
    Our publication title is genuine. It dates back to the days of the AVG, when during the long trek over the mountains, the pilots got to know another determined group of people, the first air cargo journalists who worked for Time & Life and Yank Magazine, The New York Herald Tribune, Stars and Stripes and others.
    Along with their regular kit, these reporters brought along the essential tool of their trade, a small portable typewriter in a black case—the 1940's version of the laptop computer of today.
    Our Contributing Editor, Ed "Ansel " Talbert, who served as top aviation editor of The New York Herald Tribune, and a founder of The Wings Club recalled:
    “Preparing for a flight, a pilot looking out the left seat window at some reporters as they trudged their way toward his aircraft to cover the story said to the co-pilot:
    “Here come those flying typers.”
    We are proud to carry the name FlyingTypers as we pioneer this 21st Century Ezine worldwide thrice weekly.
    We are also dedicated to never forget the people and events that shaped our great industry.

Geoffrey

AA Mega Merger—February 14, 2013
The announcement came on like a thunderclap, although with the devil in the details, the final merger dragged on until completion a few weeks ago.

ight on the heels of the Valentine’s Day blockbuster announcement that American Airlines and US Airways have formed the world's biggest airline comes promising news from Kenji Hashimoto, President of AA Cargo, of new horizons in the air and on the ground.
     “The combined company will retain the iconic, globally recognized American Airlines brand and will have a robust global network, a strong financial foundation, and one of the most modern and efficient fleets among U.S. network carriers.
     “Over the past few months, we conducted an objective and thorough review of scenarios for the future of American and determined that this combination delivers the most value for our stakeholders and the best outcome for our customers and people.
     “Maintaining all the hubs currently served by both airlines, we will offer more than 6,700 daily flights to 336 destinations in 56 countries.
     “We are committed to working as efficiently as possible to merge the carriers. At this time, American Airlines and US Airways will remain separate companies, and will continue normal business operations.
     “All of us on the American Airlines Cargo team appreciate your ongoing support and we look forward to continuing our relationship well into the future.”
Geoffrey/Flossie

Alas John Vittas—February 14, 2013
Who we are is very much in our ability to recognize and honor our own. Vittas was a big loss to his friends earlier this year, but this kind, giving man impacted air cargo everywhere.

ohn Vittas, born in Astoria, New York, in 1944, died February 11 at home in Colleyville, Texas, with his loving and devoted wife Wendy, his daughters Jennifer, Melissa, and Amy, and his brother George at his side.
John was 68 years old.
John joined American Airlines in 1968 as a passenger service agent at LaGuardia Airport. Thus began an illustrious career of 43 years with American.
     During the American years, the most value John derived was from the relationships he shared with people he respected, admired, and loved. From LGA passenger services he moved successively through higher management positions, ultimately landing in Freight Services and becoming American’s Manager of Freight Services at NY JFK International.
     During John’s time at JFK, he was appointed to a select Cargo Planning Task Force to determine American’s future in the air cargo business.
     Later he was promoted to Manager of Freight Sales and Services at Los Angeles International Airport as the key player in bringing about the success of the air cargo plan.

A favorite picture of John (in photo right) with his friend and colleague, AA Cargo’s Vice President, Cargo Sales and Marketing Joe Reedy was taken at CNS in 2008.

     Later,he became Cargo Standards Director at American’s parent AMR Headquarters in Fort Worth.
     During that time, he successfully undertook temporary assignment to London’s Heathrow Airport, where he managed the integration of TWA’s cargo terminals and employees into American Airlines’ operations.
     When AMR formed a subsidiary entity to provide contract airport ground services, John joined the new AMR Services and subsequently became responsible for sales and services at New York’s JFK and LGA airports, where he formed a management team supported by 1,300 employees and led AMR Services to the top in excellence among its peers in the New York area.
     When AMR decided to divest itself of subsidiaries, including AMR Services, John remained with the new global company, which became Worldwide Flight Services, becoming its Senior Vice President before retiring in 2011.
     We met and lunched with John a couple of times along the way.
     John was a nice, gentle man who carried a dignity and decency that you could not forget.
     Two giants of this air cargo industry who worked with and knew John well, and were also at the very top of American Airlines Cargo for more than three decades, share their feelings.

Dave Brooks, President American Airlines Cargo (Retired):
You probably never met or heard of John Vittas. And you're probably wondering what all the fuss is about a guy you've never heard of.
     Here's why:
     John was a career AAer who spent his early days in AA's cargo sales group.
     John would say this was pretty easy living since American led the industry with all sorts of innovations; there was no FEDEX, and cargo sales was a three martini affair in the 60s and 70s.
     But things changed pretty quickly when interstate trucking was deregulated and there was no longer any room for domestic freighters.
     John stuck with Cargo at AA through the 80s and was in charge of integrating TWA's cargo group into AA's.
     In the 90s, John had the opportunity to move to AMR Services, a subsidiary of AMR at the time, which today is WFS, perhaps the largest handling company in the world, at least for cargo.
     That's when I came to work with John Vittas. I ran the division of AMR that provided services to commercial aviation. My first nightmare (and there were many) came two days after New Year’s in 1994 when I learned that no one showed up for work at our JFK operation, and no less than five B747 freighters had been sitting on the ramp for 3 days with no one to work them.
     The only—and I mean the only—guy I knew that I could dispatch up there and right the ship was John Vittas. And he saved our franchise.
     A lot will be said about how fine a gentleman John was. And all that is true. But for me, John saved my ass. The fact that he was a gentleman just made the pleasure of working with him that much more of a delight.
     In his later years, God tested John and his wife Wendy with the loss of their granddaughter, Emily, who I believe was 3 years old, and now has a warm lap to sit on.
     So, who is this guy John Vittas? He was a man who was a proud supporter of our industry. He was a man who you would seek out to work for because he was fair minded and compassionate. He was a man whose handshake you could take to the bank. And he was a guy you could share a yuck with over a beer after a hard day.
     And so I will stand in line to bid him peaceful adieu, salute him, and pray his DNA is somewhere catching a current in our industry.”

Bill Boesch, President American Airlines Cargo (Retired):
I can only second what Dave has said. John was one of the rocks in the organization.
AA had a very strong middle management group that kept all of us who were moving in the top slots out of trouble.
     John was one of those in that prestigious group and he also saved my tail many times. He always backed away from honors when he was alive, but now his family should know how truly great he was.
He deserves to be recognized.
     I plan to mention his name in my TIACA acceptance speech as one of our industry’s finest.

      Day to day, across all the years first at American and later as an ongoing pal, friend Gregg Mavico poignantly recalls John.
I always said that in my 40 years at AA, John was the best boss I ever had and certainly one of the best friends that I have ever met.
He will be deeply missed and his passing just reminds us all of how quickly our lives can change and why we should enjoy every day we have and how important the little things are.
Geoffrey

If You Missed Any Of The Previous 3 Issues Of FlyingTypers
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FT112013

FT112213

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