We all know that United and Lufthansa Cargo launched a Joint Venture (JV) earlier in 2018. Here once again is the overture:
      "We are excited about the customer benefits that will be generated as our aligned teams and processes deliver superior service quality on our combined capacities,” said Jan Krems, President of United Cargo; and "The Lufthansa-United Cargo joint venture will provide numerous benefits to our customers because our continental and transatlantic networks, our hubs and our fleet complement each other effectively,” declared Peter Gerber, Lufthansa Cargo CEO.
      So what else has happened?

Two Girls Two

      Well, stepping up to the plate charged with delivering on the promises, hopes and dreams are two smart, high-powered female cargo executives named Lori Lively, Cargo Alliances Manager from United Cargo and Claudia Steinke, Senior Manager Strategy & Airline Cooperations at Lufthansa Cargo.

Look for The Silver Lining

      Past the preamble, job one right now for both ladies is to see to it that this ambitious joint venture not only gets off the ground properly, but also continues its journey toward an inexorable rendezvous with greatness.
      There is something else.
      Both these ladies are enormously charming and seem willing to look for the silver lining in this joint venture.
      The way it ought to be, we say!

Travelling Down a Lonesome Road

      It’s no secret that many alliances and joint ventures have been less than stellar, in fact some (WOW comes to mind) with all the hope and hoopla take off into threatening skies and end up with a rude landing.
      But from all reports, initially at least, United and Lufthansa Cargo got it going.
      We gathered these comments recently in Chicago and Frankfurt.
      Sure, the positive nature of this report is here but there is also word up that some ground- breaking, possibly game-changing good is underway for air cargo at two great airlines.

Lori Lively & Ready to Roll

      “Engagement between the JV partners is solid, and operationally the cooperation is clearly benefitting our customers. There’s much more we plan to achieve, but we’re proud of where we are and excited about where we’re going,” declares Lori Lively.

Lands of Opportunities

      “United Cargo usually launches one or two new markets at a time, whenever the passenger side of our business develops a new opportunity,” Lori explains.
      “Our JV with LH generated numerous new destinations in Europe – we hadn’t opened this many cargo markets concurrently since UA took over Pan Am’s routes in the 1980s.
      “But it’s more than new destinations: the JV also creates new and more convenient connection options for our customers, and these expand geometrically with every new phase of the venture.

Getting to Know You

      “My biggest kick has been watching our two teams grow in their support of each other and their commitment to the JV.
      “UA and LH Operations, Sales, Technology, Revenue Management, Marketing and other groups came to respect each other’s insights and expertise. The breakthroughs came when we realized that doing things ‘our way’ was not the only way – maybe not even the best way!

Technology Makes It Possible

      “All aspects of the JV are equally important, but the shared technology developed for the JV is the platform that makes the customer benefits possible.
      “The IT set up that allows the UA and LH Cargo systems to ‘talk’ to each other is a major achievement – and something that didn’t exist until our two teams created it together.


Trust is Fundamental

      “The key to the cooperation is that we didn’t ignore or downplay our differences. Instead we agreed to make our cultural diversity an asset!
      “As trust, respect and friendship grew among the teams, we recognized this was the key to achieving what we were working toward: delivering the highest quality service to more customers around the world,” Lori Lively concludes.

Work in Progress That Actually Works

      Claudia Steinke, Lufthansa Cargo’s Senior Manager Strategy & Airline cooperation is quite assertive when she talks about the new Lufthansa-United Cargo Cooperation.
      “The cooperation,” she says, “actually works. I think the reason it is working is because we approach our partnership and the JV related topics like an open book,” she said.

Great in The Market

      While Claudia is keenly aware of the drawbacks and pitfalls that other cooperations experienced, she cannot say enough about the prospects of this latest attempt at cooperation – underscoring right away that the set-up of these two airlines together is “great in the market”.
      “That the combination of these two global and local networks simply works for both our customers and employees, including all our flights from the U.S. and the Europe, is very impressive,” she said.


New Markets

      “In some cases, we have been able to double our offered capacity for the LH customer whilst opening up exciting opportunities to sell new markets.
      “For us, Hawaii is an example of great destination that is brand new to our airline, expanding our thinking of future possibilities.

Expectations & Market Acceptance High

      “We are monitoring continued high market acceptance from the customer, but quite frankly I am still still impressed that the demand even outmatched our high expectations from day one.
      “What’s more, we are hopeful for full implementation of our alliance ahead.
      “We started with a few cities moving together into bigger markets on a measured pace.
      “Now we are expanding the United and Lufthansa Cargo offering into feeder markets,” Claudia added.

One Plus One + > Than Two

      “The thing about this cooperation is that not only are we different, but we are both great companies with great cultures.
      “I think it is entirely possible that two different companies with distinct mindsets and cultures can combine, learn from each other and create a new math such as one plus one adds up to much more than two.

Lessons Learned

      “One of the positives is that we can learn a lot from each other, bringing together two sets of best ideas.
      “The key is to stabilize what we have in place.
      “Looking ahead as we move forward into 2019, we hope to enhance our standard offering by adding other products, and more,” Claudia Steinke smiled.
Geoffrey