“Summer 2014 will see Aer Lingus further expand its network into the U.S. with a new service to San Francisco,” said Peter O’Neill, Director Cargo at Aer Lingus.
     We like this guy immediately.
     Not only are the Irish bringing their grand St. Patrick’s Day Parade to New York today, but after a brutal 2013-14 winter, Peter says the right thing when he reminds us that summer is just around the corner.
     “Our service will operate five times a week and will bring the number of airports that we serve in the U.S. to five, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Orlando, and now San Francisco. “


Golden Gate To Emerald Isle

     “In addition we are very excited about the launch of a new daily service between Dublin and Toronto.
     “Flights from Shannon to Boston and New York will almost double in frequency and will return to an all-year-round service.
     “The new San Francisco route in particular represents a significant business opportunity for Aer Lingus Cargo, providing direct access between Ireland and the West Coast of the US.
     “So combined this all means more choice, more capacity, and greater flexibility for our customers.”

Uplifting Situation

     “We are anticipating an additional lift of up to 3 million kilos between Ireland and the U.S. & Canada this year.
     “With the addition of San Francisco, we can offer our shipper and freight forwarder partners direct access between Ireland and the U.S west coast, with road feeder connections to major U.S. cities from San Diego to Seattle via San Francisco.
     “Alongside our existing operations to Boston, New York, Chicago, and Orlando, we have the capacity in place for year-round, reliable air freight service between Ireland and the U.S.”

Clear Customer Focus

      “The Forwarders are key partners for Aer Lingus Cargo in each of the destinations, providing complementary services to those offered by Aer Lingus Cargo,” the manager declared.
     “Aer Lingus has built a solid reputation and trust among many of the world’s largest corporations and we are proud to partner with Freight Forwarders in providing services to them in Europe and the United States.
     “We can meet the specialised needs of our customers.
     “I am particularly proud of the team and how they have developed and maintained strong relationships with our key customers through good times and bad.
     “We benefit from being an airline that has a strong year round flight schedule to key passenger markets that overlap completely with key cargo markets in the U.S., and as a result we are able to offer an outstanding service to our customers.”

What Is Moving

      “Medical and Pharmaceutical products are the largest categories for air export.
     “Ireland is home to 15 of the top 20 medical technology companies in the world, 9 out of 10 top ten global pharmaceutical companies, and 7 out of 10 of the most popular pharmaceutical products are produced in Ireland.
     “With the year-round direct services to Boston, New York, Chicago, and Orlando, as well as the new markets opening up this year, Aer Lingus Cargo will be even better placed to service U.S.-based pharmaceutical customers.”

No Misunderstandings

      “There is a perception that Aer Lingus Cargo only serves to and from its Gateway destinations (BOS, ORD, JFK, MCO, and now SFO and YYZ).
     “In fact our advanced partnership with quality American Trucking companies allows us to service imports and exports throughout the United States.
     “Aer Lingus Cargo also offer extensive next day connections into Continental Europe at highly competitive rates.”

Keeping Aer Cool

      “Our advanced AerCool temperature-controlled solutions serving the aforementioned Medical and Pharmaceutical products are the largest categories for export and the majority of these exports require special handling. Aer Lingus Cargo is also at the forefront of GDP (Good Distribution Practice.)
     “All our staff are GDP trained and we expect to achieve the GDP Passport early in 2014.
     “Cold Chain for Medical and Pharmaceutical products is therefore a natural specialty for us.
     “We have regulatory approval for Envirotainer’s electric heating and compressor cooling containers (RAP e1 and e2) and C-Safe’s RKN.
     “We are also the only carrier operating directly between the U.S.A. and Ireland, approved to carry both manufacturers units, ensuring our customers have a choice.”

Been There Done That

     “Aer Lingus has a long, happy tradition of providing cargo services, right from our very first flight on the Iolar, which carried newspapers alongside those pioneering passengers.
     “There was a brief period in 2004 when cargo on European services came into question, but once it could be proven that it would not impact on turnaround times, we were back earning incremental revenue—and our customers were glad to have us back!
     “Today, cargo makes a significant contribution to the financial health of the airline and this is underscored by the investment made by Aer Lingus in GDP; in the last two years alone we have invested €3.5m in our main warehouse facility in Dublin and in our cargo equipment.”

Toward Bettering Air Cargo Business

      Aside from their stellar program, Peter O’Neill has some ideas of ways to better the air cargo industry.
     “It’s a big ask,” he says,” but as an industry we need to do more to reduce the amount of time that our customers’ time sensitive cargo spends on the ground.
     “We are active in e-AWB initiatives to reduce some of the administrative burden, but more needs to be done collectively to ensure that air cargo retains its speed advantage over other modes.”
     As for what Peter wants you to remember about Aer Lingus, the answer is simple:
     “Our phone number! Ireland +353 1 886 6688 // USA +1 800 223 7660
     “We have the capacity, we have the route network, so call us. We are ready and waiting to hear from you.”
Geoffrey

     As EMO Trans readies its 13th Annual Meeting, which begins this week in the warmth of beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico, company CEO Joachim “Jo” Frigger reports that with a few days in a warmer climate his troops can gather themselves, compare notes, land on the same page, and get fit for what promises to be another banner year for the company.
     “Last month old man winter had the eastern and the midwestern USA firmly in his grip,” Mr. Frigger said.
     “Unusual amounts of snow and cold temperatures forced airports, seaports, and office closings from Charleston, SC, to Boston, MA.
     “Our dedicated teams did, however, keep working from home with the help of our IT system.
     “In the end, very little time was lost.
     “Right now as March begins, we are into one of those times when we are still trying to ascertain what the signals will tell us for 2014.
     “January was good; we matched our results of the previous year, which is always a positive sign, and we remain quite confident that 2014 will be a year of growth and expansion for us.

     “February for example was an unusually busy time as we set up our new European offices.
     “This month, we will begin operations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Brussels.
     “In addition to our existing Strasbourg office, we go operational in Paris and Lyon.
     “Our teams in those countries can’t wait to hit the ground running.
     “I’m happy to report that EMO Trans has completed the first stage of our development across the Atlantic with Warsaw & Gdynia, Poland, and Bucharest, Romania, soon to follow as our growth plan continues.
     “Globally, we continue to grow our vertical markets for Aviation and Automobile spare parts as well as Cool Chain.
     “Additional personnel are being hired, and departments for this traffic will be expanded and strengthened.
     “Here at home in the USA, our offices in Minneapolis and Raleigh are doing well, and Charleston, SC, shows strong development.
     “The resurrected Project Division PLI under the leadership of Michael Horn in Chicago is advancing as planned with some exciting prospects ahead.
     “Now this week as EMO Trans begins our 13th Annual Global Network meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with participation of 150 guests representing more than 50 countries, the constant growth of the network is a confirmation of our commitment to service and integrity.
     “The Global Network Meeting changes locations each year, moving from the Americas to Europe, and it is vital to the continued advancement of our offering.
     “Last year for example we met in Lisbon, Portugal.
     “Job one at these gatherings is to reinforce our commitment to achieving customer satisfaction.
     “EMO Trans carries any type of cargo, but we are not just commodity driven; we focus rather more on global markets with our reliable network partners.
     “Our yearly global network meetings also provide us with the opportunity to strengthen relationships, make new friends, and explore new opportunities.
     “The service industry, despite all the technical bells and whistles, is still a people business and companies don't form relationships—people do.
     “But it is not an easy ride in 2014, as many in air cargo and other modes of transport have experienced major challenges and changes in their business plan during the past several down years.
     “The major business challenges for us are in pricing and space.
     “The carriers sometimes still don't understand the combined power of a global alliance like ours, and we are gaining recognition by inviting a number of air and ocean carriers to our events.
     “Our size allows us to provide real personalized service to all our customers as held up by our continued growth even in markets that, for others, are heading downward.
     “In terms of our global view on industry issues, security compliance and other governmental and industry challenges will need to be further addressed with an eye toward global solutions and across the board cooperation between governments and industry, as da been described at last week’s meetings at IATA WCS in Los Angeles.
     “Our view is that true and continued cooperation across the board will drive transportation services to real growth in the future.
     “Open dialogue with the goal of better understanding and appreciation of each case as unique is a critical part of what has worked for EMO Trans," Jo Frigger said.
Geoffrey

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     At WCS in Los Angeles last week, IATA served up a ball for the air cargo industry to chase in that widely reported, “Call for Cut in Transit Times” ‘initiative.’
    Our thought is that using the theme of cutting transit times as an IATA rally at their biggest annual air cargo gathering raises even bigger questions as to other, current challenges in 2014, including the burning problem of having enough economic activity globally to resuscitate air cargo.

The Bigger Picture

    When you look at it, the sad truth is that IATA often treats the air cargo industry as little more than a side-show to the airline passenger business, and in that handling can be viewed as little more than a side show itself, albeit a disproportionate expense to air cargo.
    In a world that demands value for money, everybody needs to be held accountable.
    But for the moment that argument is for another day.

Where Was Tony Tyler?

     While nearly everybody loves good-guy, glad-hander and ever so soft-spoken Des Vertannes, IATA Head of Cargo, we were amazed that whilst IATA Cargo claims WCS as the most important industry event of 2014, they could not convince their own Director General Tony Tyler to attend or participate in any way last week in Los Angeles.
    An ex-air cargo man, Tyler has been present and accounted for at almost every rubber chicken event on the planet during his tenure, but apparently decided to pass WCS without a word.
    By contrast, the IATA DG everybody loved to hate, Giovanni Bisignani, when he was not front and center at WCS, would send a “live” video message and pep talk via flat screen TV from Montreal to WCS delegates, clearly outlining his often controversial thoughts.
    But as least Giovanni stood up and was counted.
    While it is welcome news that Tyler will apparently be present at the IATA CNS Partnership in the U.S.A. this May, the global air cargo village that met last week in Los Angeles and went back to office with the usual banquet awards got no Tony from IATA.

An Ocean of Milque Toast

     Air cargo can thank IATA for providing a place to come and showcase ourselves, our thoughts and ideas, and also our products.
    The idea that under the WCS umbrella, so many global leaders and potential business partners can interact for a couple of days is quite useful.
    But at WCS at least, IATA in many cases failed miserably in its mandated role to provide thought leadership at a critical time in air cargo history.
    There may have been a thought-up central core of topics at these WCS sessions last week, but the coordination, pacing and even vetting of presenters was at best uneven, albeit with flashes of brilliance, and at worst filled with long droughts of who cares blah-blah, providing time for texting or reading the WCS Daily News for the tenth time.
    The sessions had a kind of numbing affect; at times somewhat engaging and at other moments the attendees were left bobbing in an ocean of milquetoast as they moved from session to session laced with little more than company spiels endlessly repeated in what eventually became a blur of power point presentations.

Back To Basics

    For a moment, let’s focus on what started our story here and what IATA apparently can't address, much less solve.
    The 6-7 day transit time issue has had a long run; it was thought up first around 1994 by Unisys and hammered at every opportunity by Hugh Doyle [ex-Aer Lingus] after they employed industrial engineers to measure it.
    “Transit time” has been beaten like a call to arms drum ever since, unquestioned, to rally the industry into some action.
    While cutting transit times may well be a goal worth pursuing, how high does that issue rank on the list of priorities in the 2014 world of Fred Smith or Robbie Anderson (United) or the moving up Karl Ulrich Garnadt? (Lufthansa recently named Karl as top passenger executive at the airline as of May 1).
    The “key objectives for 2014” IATA described in their own press release are instructive in and by themselves and presented in our own “self generated” Q&A here.
    1)  How exactly would a 22 percent e-AWB global penetration accomplish a cut in transit times or in any way support that objective?
    2)  The “Facilities Matrix” deals with ground handling—that's something the airlines have long outsourced, and now they nickel and dime their respective handler to deliver more for less and expect performance they seldom could have met themselves.
    While ground handling companies are meeting under the IATA umbrella at IGHC (IATA Ground Handling Council), it appears they would have to “…iron out inconsistencies in the provision of cargo handling infrastructure worldwide.”
    Next IATA will come up with a methodology to measure their progress and report on it.
    3)  The Cargo2000 MOP (Master Operating Plan) has been around for more than 15 years; BT (British Telecom) operates the “Cargo2000 compliant CDMP” (common data management platform) that airlines and forwarders can use.
    It is a commercial endeavor yet IATA proposes to extend the MOP “…over the entire cargo supply chain.”
    Maybe IATA found a way for BT to give it away "to the entire supply chain" or otherwise subsidize it?
Measuring performance definitely helps, but again, how would that specifically contribute to reducing transit times by 4-5 days?
    4)  As of July 1, 2014, in order to attain the EU mandated ACC3 stamp of approval, air carriers must undergo security validation by “an independent EU certified” entity.
    It is a measure mandated by the EU, so again IATA is inserting itself into a matter not of its own making or jurisdiction.
    While it helps to advocate for pushing out screening up the chain to the manufacturers and away from the airport, it's a strenuous link at best with the stated objective of cutting transit times.
    Here again is another case of IATA talking about something to help perpetuate its legitimacy and self-importance, and illustrate how indispensable it is.
    Your move.
Ted

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