This fine looking group travelled all the way from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (HJIA) to Paris, France, for the TIACA ACF. The group included (from left) Elliott Paige, HJIA Head of Cargo; Linda Eshiwani-Nate, HJIA International Management Analyst; Jonathan Lance, HJIA Director of Properties and Airline Affairs and Troels Adrian, Director of Supply Chain Ecosystem Expansion of the Metro Atlanta Chamber
     “The Atlanta team spent quality time this week in meetings and encounters with our service partners, and also some prospective new [partners] as well,” said Elliott.
     “We wondered about the challenges connected to each service provider, and what we as an airport can add to the mix to help move things along in an easier and more efficient manner.
     “We heard some good, kind words, but also that our customers want more.
     “So we are looking at what we can do, including training ground handlers, possibly with TIACA coordinating with some of our efforts in Atlanta.
     “The great thing about the TIACA event is that almost everybody realizes that they need good partnerships and no one can do everything alone. TIACA provides a working neutral ground for all the stakeholders to gather and talk things out as well as plan ahead,” Elliott Paige said.
     “We see the growth of air cargo as a key economic driver critical to serving almost six million people,” said Troels Adrian.
     “One of the great logistics hubs of North America is centered at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
     “Air cargo has our complete attention as the primary engine of commerce to which we have linked our future,” Troels added.
     While he spoke, we could not help but think back a couple of ACFs ago, when TIACA met in Atlanta and enjoyed its greatest event in history.
     Here in Paris, that Atlanta group was up for the challenge whilst piercing new horizons.
     “We have approval to spend six billion dollars in capital improvements at our airport,” Elliott said.
     “We need to keep ahead of growth in our passenger business that doubles every 15 years (105 million by the end of 2016).
     “We are constructing two new air cargo warehouses with third party investors that will add approximately 275,000 square feet.
     “During October, we will debut 100,000 square feet of handling space suitable for e-commerce, perishables, dry cargo, or a mixture of both.
     ““HJIA by any measure is building for the future,” Elliott Paige declared.
Geoffrey

     “We’re striving to ensure that we are engaged with our customers as we work on continuously improving our performance and optimizing their experience,” said Roger Samways, American Airlines Cargo Managing Director Global Accounts and Sales Strategy to FlyingTypers in a past interview.
      Now, in October 2016, we wonder what has changed.
      “It’s still, and always will be, about building out our processes and finding more modernized ways to enhance the customer experience.
      “We want to engage our customers and offer a continuous feedback loop, leaving the line of communication open.
      “During the first half of the year, and throughout the rest of 2016, we’ve distributed customer surveys, held meetings with customers around the world, and participated in various industry tradeshows.
      “With the information and thoughts we received digitally and in face-to-face meetings, we’ve started making positive changes to benefit our customers now and in the long run.
      “This includes more facility upgrades, enhanced online tracking capabilities, a Customer Experience team that’s directly assisting customers when needed, and more innovative solutions to streamline the shipping process from start to finish.
      “Just as an example, in Miami we just completed the reorganization of staging terminating cargo to expedite the customer pick-up service at our dock, and opened five new receiving doors to help speed up the delivery process for customers.”

The New American Airlines

      “Overall, the integration has been a great success, making us the largest airline in the world, which is a huge benefit for our customers.
      “For our cargo organization specifically, we successfully completed our integration in late 2014, bringing together two lucrative cargo operations.
      “We co-located 154 stations and can now offer service to about 350 destinations in 50 counties, plus an extensive trucking and interline network.
      “But, most importantly, the support and feedback we received from our customers during the integration was truly key to our success.
      “We continue to evolve as an organization. We’ll keep looking for more ways to reward our employees for great work, promote engagement, and ensure constant participation and feedback.
      “A part of that is ensuring our people have the tools they need to do their jobs extremely well.
      “Overall, a successful culture relies on employee morale and the pride they have in their company, which, in turn, will lead to an enhanced experience for customers.
      “American Airlines continue to focus on operational reliability and finding ways to better enhance our products based on customers’ needs.
      “We’ll also continue to adopt technologies to make the interaction with customers better and more seamless.”

Product TC

      “Our ExpediteTC product has proven valuable and crucial to the shipment of pharmaceuticals, and we’ll continue to support that growth by investing in our infrastructure and training.
      “Recently, we’ve invested in coolers at major perishable transit locations in San Juan (SJU) and Dallas (DFW), and became the first U.S.-based passenger carrier to offer the large and modern Envirotainer RAP e2 unit systemwide.
      “Plus, with our growing network and fleet, we are able to offer our customers more connection options than ever before.”
       
PHL Cold Chain Facility Report Card

      “The facility is doing really well.
      “I was actually there recently and it was full!
      “We’re very happy with it and have seen huge growth for our cold-chain program this year and last—and have received a lot of positive customer feedback so far.
      “For example, recently, at the Global Life Sciences & Healthcare Conference, we were extremely proud to accept the DHL Carrier Award for Reliability and Excellence.
      “Philadelphia really has a state-of-the-art facility with multiple temperature-controlled spaces to meet different needs.
      “The facility, specifically, brought in a broad mix of customers and we’ll continue making strategic investments elsewhere, such as our Controlled Room Temperature (CRT) room at JFK, to continue building out our cold-chain business.
      “These types of facilities are crucial, as they help mitigate risk when handling sensitive products, along with streamlined processes which minimize the amount of time ExpediteTC shipments spend on the tarmac.”

     “Right now, we’re determining the next steps for our program, including how to continue improving our training, processes, and infrastructure to stay ahead of new regulations and industry standards, and enhancing the flow of information back to customers.”
       
Happy In Challenging Market

     “The market environment is challenging,” Roger said, “but we’re still very happy with how things are going.
      “We’ve added a variety of new opportunities within our Asia network, with the addition of new Pacific routes, including Auckland (AKL), Sydney (SYD), and Haneda (HND), which helped strengthen the Asian market. “Thanks (partly) to the number of markets we serve in Europe the outward performance there has been pretty encouraging.”
       
Perishables Up

      “North out of Latin America, we’ve had a solid year for perishables—especially through to Asia.
      “Our Latin-Asia perishable business makes up a pretty significant portion of our overall business between the two regions and our network is well positioned to deliver this business quickly.”
       
Even More

      “New aircraft have been added to our fleet and we’re already seeing the benefits.
      “We recently rounded out our Boeing 777-300ER fleet at 20 and will begin to take delivery of new 787-9s in the second half of the year.
      “We are continuing to take delivery of 787-8s, which are typically replacing 767s, offering twice the capacity on the respective routes and, perhaps more importantly, allowing us to enter new markets we couldn’t serve before.
      “Some other specific enhancements include the 787 arrival into the UK and use of a new 777-300 for our London (LHR)-Chicago (ORD) route.
      “All in all, we expect to take delivery of around one widebody per month for the next several years.
      “Our efforts are focused on how we can better leverage our new, reliable, fuel-efficient aircraft and utilize our expansive global network.
      “We’re developing more strategic partnerships with our trucking and interline partners as well to really enhance our footprint and create even more valuable connections for global trade.
      “We continue to enhance our product offering to customers on nearly every continent.
      “I think AA offers one of the best, if not the best, partner networks in the business.
      “But I could be biased!” Roger smiles. “Thanks to our great partner network, we do more interline business than many other carriers, thus can offer our customers the best options possible.”

     “Our forwarders are incredibly important and we’re reliant on those relationships. These relationships are priceless and our investment in new ground service equipment, facilities, and modernized processes will help continue to transform the way we do business to meet the evolving needs of both shippers and our forwarders.”
       
An Industry Changes

      “I’d like us to be less reliant on manual processes.
      “Luckily, there’s a great industrywide push for eAWB growth.
      “For American, we were one of four carriers to exceed our eAWB growth numbers last year and are focused on continued progress regarding this initiative, as we’re committed to streamlining the way we do business to better serve our customers.
      “And there are loads of ways to do that, whether it’s finding more efficient processes or enhancing the way we interact with customers at each point of the shipping process.”

      “There are loads of people who have shaped how we live today, or pushed the boundaries of what we know and understand.
      “People like Winston Churchill, Emmeline Pankhurst, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther King Jr., and T.E. Lawrence (of “Lawrence of Arabia” fame—we went to the same school… although not at the same time!).
      “If I had to pick one (this is going to be a little unusual!), I’d probably go for Douglas Jardine—although many people haven’t heard of him, he was single-handedly responsible for a huge international crisis in the 1930s—search for Bodyline Series on Wikipedia for a really interesting read!”

      “What I’d like to be doing and what I’d actually be doing are probably very different!
      “If I weren’t in air cargo, which is actually very hard to imagine, I think I’d want to be involved in professional sports in some way, or presenting on ‘Top Gear’ (I understand they have a vacancy at the moment…), but in reality, I’d probably be doing something in a commercial environment.”

      “American Airlines offers one of the largest, most reliable networks in the cargo industry. Since we are the world’s largest passenger carrier, and can connect Asia, Europe, and Latin America to and through the United States with a young and modern fleet, we can offer customers some of the quickest and most effective service possible.
      “We’re committed to leading positive change within the industry and we’ll continue relying on customer feedback, as well as those close relationships we value so highly, to ensure we’re exceeding expectations on a daily basis.
      “And we know where it all starts—from within our team, so we’re promoting a sense of caring throughout the organization, focusing strongly on training our employees to be the best in their fields and regularly rewarding great performance and loyalty to an enhanced customer experience.”
Geoffrey

In This Issue:

FIATA Yesterday Today And Tomorrow

IATA And FIATA Sign Historic Accord

The FIATA Logistics Academy

Jean-Claude A FIATA Force Field

Oh What Antonella Can Do!

Babar Of Pakistan

Krems: "Forwarders Are Sexy"

And More

For the fourteenth year, on Friday, November 18, in Atlanta, Georgia, a grand airport tradition occurs as Atlanta Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders throw open their doors for a couple of hours starting at high noon to share the love. It’s an open house where everybody is invited for a free, old-fashioned turkey dinner.
     This annual party reaches out far and wide to host several hundred people to a homemade turkey dinner with all the trimmings, as the United States looks forward to celebrating the wonderful American holiday Thanksgiving.
     Thanksgiving is a great day in the United States —the only thing that matters is family and the meal.
     No gifts or presents needed; just show up and eat.
     Families openly invite friends and other guests, many believing that no one should dine alone on Thanksgiving.
     Perhaps the best thing is that, carrying forward a tradition begun by the Pilgrims who landed on these shores in 1620, you can greet any American with the words “Happy Thanksgiving” and not fear offending anyone, much less evoking the common holiday retort, “that is not my holiday!”
     In this land made up of so many different people from all over the world, Thanksgiving represents a day that everybody can celebrate simply, as Americans.
     For many years in Atlanta, Georgia, ACB founder and military veteran Harold Hagans (an absolute stalwart of the air cargo community for decades, now happily retired) continued this annual holiday party for his friends and colleagues at the airport.
     As a true Southern Gentleman, Harold knew all about hosting and preparing a meal out of turkey. But even more, Harold cherished the values of community spirit and sharing, and folks simply trying to good for one another.

     Happily, in 2016 his daughter Deborah, who today serves as President of Atlanta Customs Brokers, has taken the baton to continue the grand tradition.
     One look at the happy group atop this story attests to the great spirit and joy of being in business at Atlanta Customs Brokers.

Fry Baby Fry

     While nearly everybody else puts the bird into an oven, ACB digs back into the past and sets up a unique and imaginative deep-frying operation for turkey right inside the ATL air cargo facility.
     “We love to do this, to show our appreciation and share our good fortune with others at Thanksgiving,” Deborah said.
      “It’s a real open house and everyone should drop in, eat until your hands get tired, and have some fun.”

About Atlanta Customs Brokers

     We asked Deborah how it happened that so many women work at ACB, and she replied, tongue firmly in cheek:
     “A few changes have happened since the photo [at the top here].
     “We now employ a male,” she laughed.
     “We actually work very well together. We are like a family.
     “It has always been that way, even when Harold was here. Since he retired the only change is that I have added Freight Forwarding to the mix and we now move freight all over the world import and export for our customers.”
     As for how Deborah came into the air freight industry, she laughs and says, “I was born into this business. Harold Hagans married my mother when I was 7 years old. I have twin daughters myself and hope to have them on board after their college is completed.
     “At ACB we are actively involved in this community, following in Harold’s footsteps. We hold important positions in the Atlanta Air Cargo Association. Our Vice President Adriana Trueba is the Chairwoman of the Board of the AACA and our Senior Import Specialist Hope Chavez serves as Vice President.

Time & Place

     Deborah and her crew will be opening up the facilities at Atlanta Customs Brokers on November 18, from 12:00-14:00 hrs. Atlanta Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Tel: 404-762-0953.
www.atlantacustomsbrokers.com
Geoffrey

Vol. 15 No. 85
A Death Report Greatly Exaggerated
Did USACIA Work?
Chuckles for November 2, 2016The Beauty Of Jenni