On Thursday, January 28, Ray Curtis was the guest speaker at JFK Air Cargo Association. He told a packed house of 200 people that Delta is dedicated to maintaining its position as “New York’s hometown airline.”
     “I asked, ‘what do you need Delta Cargo to do?’
     “My view is that we must continually work to earn our business partners’ trust.
     This means remembering to ask: what can we do?
     “And what can we do better?”
     We asked Ray if he had a chance to take advantage of the snow that fell here last weekend and he just smiled, saying:
     “I have been a ski instructor for many years and still try to get up to the mountains on weekends when I can.
     “Skiing and snowboarding in the winter and surfing in the summer; growing up in New York I used to ride the bus with my surfboard to the beach.
     “My daughter is also a ski instructor,” Ray said.
     Out in customer country after a busy Delta Cargo Annual Meeting in Atlanta last week, we wondered, of all the people he has met in air cargo during a 35-year career, who Ray thinks about every once in a while.
     Without pause, Ray said:
Peter J. Rose, in his office vacuuming the place.

     “Lots of great people made this a dream career and way of life for me, and really the list is too long for one story.
     “But two people immediately come to mind: Peter Rose of Expeditors, because of his vision and approach to business and how focused he is on execution.
     “He has been successful in taking the Expeditors’ branding and consistency to the entire organization, whether you are in one of their offices in Asia or in the U.S.
     “Another person is Bob Kmiotek, as VP Route Management Transatlantic at DHL Global Forwarding, from whom I learned not to forget the people you work with—in the end, cargo is a people business.” 
Geoffrey

   It was a big day in Switzerland as SWISS International just received the first of nine B777-300ERs on January 29, 2015. Harry Hohmeister, Chief Executive Officer of SWISS, shook hands with Boeing’s Bob Whittington when the deal was made in 2013. Also pictured are (r) Marcel Klaus, Chief SWISS Financial Officer and Rainer Hiltebrand, Chief Operation Officer.

Dear Geoffrey,

     It may seem crazy out-of-the-blue to be receiving this note, but then again, not really since it will be 10 years today that my dad left us.
     Today I have two sons, one almost 10 who he never got to meet him, and a 17 year old. I find myself wishing almost everyday my older guy Ryan could have his grandfather around him now, because my Dad was truly a very cool guy that would have been a perfect compadre in shenanigans for a teenage boy.
     I was going through some old photos and articles of Dad, and came across the piece you wrote about him right after he passed.
     You described Dad so well, in a way and dimension I never could, and today thinking about it, your thoughts and words just help complete the picture of the awesome guy he was.
     I will be sharing it with Ryan, and I know it will help fill in a few blanks and support what I've been trying to impart in these years without him. Dad was one very special man and a heck of a lot of fun to be around. :)
     So, thank you for your words.
     They were written years ago—but the heartfelt candidness and spot on descriptions mean so much.

Best regards,
Renne Spaulding-Looney

Dear Renne,

     Loved your letter. For many of us, Pete still lives in our hearts.
     Pete left us way too soon and I share your thoughts, so thanks for writing. Today we rerun the original piece we did on Peter Spaulding ten years ago (below). Our hope is that another generation might learn something about an extraordinary and really quite wonderful air cargo guy.
     We often met at Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn (Peter & Peter), had adult beverages at the bar, and spent hours enjoying each other's company whilst talking about all sorts of things (including family).
     Pete was a real human being—smart, funny, and fun—and way ahead of his time.
     The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) has had other top cargo managers, but Pete Spaulding was among the half dozen best airport cargo men the world has ever seen.
     And Pete was the first to ever carry that title, so the word “pioneer” is all his.
     I have covered cargo for 40 years and Pete still passes through my mind every once in a while.
     He was a very great man. Thanks for the reminder.

Every good wish,
Geoffrey

Dateline—March 10, 2006

Remembering Peter Spaulding

         We learned that our friend Pete Spaulding died on February 1, 2006.
         The old line goes:
         “Dead? I didn’t even know he was sick.”
         But we knew for a long time that Pete was not well, especially after he cut his air cargo career short in the early 1990s after suffering a terrible incident with some dental work that caused permanent impairment.
         Peter J. Spaulding was the first Director of Air Cargo Marketing for The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.
         Although he was the first, and in many ways defined the post for airport cargo types elsewhere in the world, he was also an air cargo guy, a dreamer and doer of the form. He began as a Pan Am cargo handler at JFK in 1965 and later was a cargo rep for Braniff. Later he moved on to Trans Mediterranean Airways (TMA) as traffic manager USA, before taking a post as cargo sales manager at Summit, a company based in Philadelphia that delivered small packages out of Sky Vans.
         He joined The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey in 1981 as cargo development manager after Aviation Director Robert Aaronson brainstormed the idea of adding cargo to the NY & NJ airports marketing effort.
         Pete once told me of his amusement during the interview process, when a PANYNJ screener looked at Pete and said:
         “Why do we need you?”
         Pete was medium-sized, but otherwise always larger than life.
         He spoke off the shoulder in terms that were always clear and easy to understand and directed his efforts the same way.
         There was just no pretense about the guy.
         He never searched for big words.
         He said what he meant and that was his bond.
         After his Port Authority career, which ended in 1988, when he decided he had had enough of The Port Authority, Pete jumped entrepreneurial, setting up a pioneering and revolutionary perishables center (US Perishables) at JFK.
         He then had bad luck with his health, although he would occasionally reemerge.
         But now the book on Pete is closed, and we are damn sorry to hear that.
         He was a fighter in every way. He lived on through nearly two decades after almost everyone else—except Pete and those close to him—thought he was finished.
         He was a New York street air cargo guy, not unlike his successor at PANYNJ, Jim Larsen.
         Both loved air cargo and brought experience, wisdom, humor, passion, and willingness to share to every endeavor.
         Pete used to live in downtown Brooklyn on Stuyvesant, right near the landmark steak house, Peter Luger’s.
         Luger’s for dinner is an impossible table and has been for 30 years.
         But some people know that the place is easy and much less expensive at lunch, with daily specials that include a fabulous egg-topped corned beef hash cooked under the steak broiler and served up every Friday.
         I used to meet Pete at Luger’s on Fridays and drink martinis and smoke cigarettes and eat corned beef at the bar while talking for hours about air cargo.
         Pete and I have not done that for 15 years.
         Now nobody smokes inside restaurants anymore or drinks around mid-day.
         Maybe I will go back there and lift a glass to Pete and wish his lovely wife Ann. Godspeed.
         It’s only right.
Geoffrey

Vol. 15 No. 8
EMO Trans Looks Good Down Under
Here Comes Cargo Hub Chennai
Chuckles for January 27, 2016
SkyCargo Stems From Valentines