United Cargo President Jan Krems looks to the past and future as 2017 takes wing, declaring:
      “[I’m] pleased to report that 2016 was a very successful year for United Cargo, and what is also noteworthy is a global industry trend that strengthened as 2016 progressed.
      “For the first time in several years, there were signs of widespread growth in the global freight market.
      “The demand boosts experienced in the past few months reminded those of us who’ve been around awhile of the traditional ‘holiday peak seasons’ of an earlier era.”
       
Reading The Tea Leaves

      “It was difficult to spot this positive direction early on in 2016, especially because we were being measured against 2015 Q1 numbers elevated by the U.S. West Coast port strike.
      “But business got better and better as the year wore on, with United Cargo volumes up 18.1 percent year-over-year in October and 15.5 percent in November.
      “Through November we’ve carried 6.5 percent more volume than the first 11 months of 2015. It’s gratifying that, in this period of expansion, United Cargo’s share of the business is increasing along with our overall volumes.
      “We’re thankful that our customers appreciate the effort we put into being a reliable and valuable business partner.”       
       
UA Cargo 2017 Plan

      “United Cargo has been executing a consistent strategy for the past few years. Briefly, our plan was to gain customer’s confidence and preference by being highly reliable and easy to do business with, then develop and expand the added-value segment of our business.
      “Reliability is essential, of course, which is why I never speak to customers or our team without referring to the concept of ‘quality.’ “Quality of service is the most important thing we provide, and it’s the foundational basis of durable customer loyalty.
      “Moving quality to a higher level is the key to our current and future success.”
       
Never Forgets

      “Being the kind of people, and the type of company, that customers want to do business with is the other key element of our long-term strategy.
      “Customers want a partner that’s available when needed and quick, agile, and creative enough to respond to their changing needs.
      “We never forget how important and valuable our customers are, and our team is focused on forging relationships that promote long-term benefits for us and our partners,” Jan Krems said.
       
Customer Designed Temp Control

      “The development of our TempControl product for pharmaceuticals and other temperature-sensitive commodities typifies our strategy for added-value products.
      “We want to be as knowledgeable about the pharma industry as we can, and we set out to learn from forwarders, manufacturers, regulatory agencies, and patients.
      “United Cargo utilizes that knowledge in both product development and execution.
      “All TempControl’s innovations have started with something we’ve heard from our customers or their customers.
       
More Of The Same

      “We see a valuable opportunity to enhance our other added-value products using the same development model we used for TempControl.
      “This is one of our team’s focus areas for 2017.
      “Of course, whatever the product, the region, or the business you’re after, the formula doesn’t change: you have to be better than your competition in the ways that mean the most to your customers.”

An impromptu team photo of the very dedicated and talented women of United Cargo at the TIACA Air Forum in Paris last October. In on the fun are (L to R)—Helen Kristensen, Managing Director Strategic Accounts United Cargo Sales; Peggy Guse, Managing Director, Marketing, Customer Service and Alliances; Cailey Lantz, Senior Staff Representative Events, Media and Budgeting Marketing; Lidia Dawid, Strategic Partner Manager (based in Frankfurt); Sharon Hogg, Manager Interline; Gina LeSeth, Manager, Cargo Business Transformation and Bozena Multack, Sr. Regional Performance Manager Cargo Operations, Europe, Middle East, India, Africa.

Number One & The World View

      “I believe United Cargo has the smartest, hardest-working, most energetic, and proactive global team in the air cargo business.
      “Every team member is committed to doing our best to promote the highest level of satisfaction for every participant in the transport supply chain.
      “That commitment to our customers, and to quality, has solidified United Cargo’s standing as the number one air cargo carrier in the Americas in 2016.
      “We’re happy with that, but we’re not satisfied.
      “We know we can grow more, enhance our services, and be a more valuable cargo resource for our customers.
      “Our goal is to be the best belly cargo carrier in the world.”
       
Works In Progress

      “One of the improvements we have been working on, and one we will advance further in 2017, is ensuring all our plans and actions acknowledge that, while we are U.S.-based, United Cargo is first and foremost a global carrier.
      “This ranges from producing country-specific training and training materials in the learner’s first language to ensuring we meet the same standards of timeliness and dependability in our worldwide locations that we do in our U.S. hubs.
      “Another focus for our team in the new year is an even greater spotlight on the enduring priority of safety.
      “Lithium battery shipments have generated the most attention in this area and, since devices powered by this source continue to grow in popularity, we need to remain vigilant to ensure we transport lithium batteries safely.
      “But batteries are only the most obvious of air cargo safety issues.
       “United, like other U.S. carriers, is in compliance with the FAA requirement that air carriers develop and implement the standardized Safety Management System.
      “While every responsible industry stakeholder operates from a safety mindset, all SMS carriers will share the same positive safety culture and will proactively manage risk in a consistent way, making our supply chain even safer.”

      “Since collaboration is a key to our logistics model, I believe all of us participating in the supply chain can do a better job innovating our processes to serve a changing marketplace.
      “The rapid implementation of e-commerce is an example of the type of opportunity that challenges our ability to adapt.
      “Buyers’ preferred retail channels are changing, so the question is how quickly can we deliver shipping solutions to these customers and those who are selling to them.
      “Turning the evolution of the market into a positive for our industry will require higher levels of creativity, flexibility, and cooperation among shippers, forwarders, and carriers,” Jan Krems said, adding:
       “We know that forwarders and carriers have the route structure, capacity, operations, and expertise to link manufacturing centers and consumers in both established and developing regions.
      “But we need to use our assets in new ways to better connect, and connect with, e-commerce shippers and customers.”       
       
Cuba Si! What's New & Next?

      “Recent expansion of widebody service in the Americas is providing a real boost to our TempControl service.
      “On December 16, United increased widebody service between Newark and San Juan, Puerto Rico, from once-weekly 767 service to six times weekly 777 service.
      “There are 49 FDA-approved pharmaceutical plants in Puerto Rico, and temperature-managed containers designed for widebodies are the preferred shipment method for many pharma shippers, so this upgauge gives TempControl customers in SJU a level of widebody connectivity they haven’t enjoyed before.”
       
Heart To Heart With Xi'an

      “We were also pleased by the business generated in the first year of our pioneering service between SFO and Xi’an, China.
      “This seasonal nonstop service, which ran from early May through late October, was the first trans-Pacific flight to Xi'an operated by any airline, and United was the first U.S. airline to serve XIY. We’re looking forward to supporting the region’s import/export trade to an even greater degree when we resume the route early in May 2017.”
       
Even More

      “In April 2017, United will add a second daily widebody nonstop between our Los Angeles hub and London Heathrow.
      “Most of the other new routes announced to begin in 2017 are domestic routes, although our APAC customers will continue to benefit from fleet adjustments that are bringing more cargo-friendly passenger aircraft into the region.
      “More APAC routes are now flown with Boeing 787s, which provide up to a 30 percent increase in volume and tonnage over the equipment previously used.”
Geoffrey

   Ethiopian Airlines continues celebrating its 70th birthday in 2017, having been founded with partner Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1946. The carrier operates one of the youngest modern air fleets in the world (averaging 5.5 years) with 82 aircraft including A350s, B777s, and B787 Dreamliners.
   Ethiopian’s new $150 million cargo handling facility has systems by Unitechnik and is currently being built at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. It is expected to be partially operational this April 2017, and will be the biggest facility in Africa.  Fully realized, the facility will be capable of moving 1.2 million tons annually, offering capacity to handle eight B747-800 freighters at a time.
Geoffrey

     The artist Paul Simon wrote, “The mother and child reunion, is only a motion away.”
     As we get older that meaning extends to include friends who once were front and center in our everyday life, but somehow have melted away in the swirl of creeping years and geography.
     Another truism you may have heard: “When you are old and it's cold and nobody cares much if you live or die, the one consolation is a bit of money that may get you by.”
     So with a touch of pleasure tinged with sadness, we celebrate when somebody works their way through an airline career and manages to retire in one piece—not as the result of downsizing or ill-health, but with a parachute package and the ability to still enjoy a couple of shooters.
     That brings us to Jan Meurer.
     There has never been an airline guy we have liked better than Jan Meurer.
     Although today he has moved into service as Chairman of IHAB (International Hospitality Advisory Board) Hoge Hotelschool in Maastricht, Jan can still be seen at various air cargo functions with good friends like United Cargo President Jan Krems and Jacques Heerman, MD of Netherlands-based GSSA IAS Services.
     As long as we've known him in the business, he operated faithfully and with great determination and élan through a series of assignments at KLM.
     Although his KLM days are long gone and he is close to home in the Netherlands surrounded by friends and family, we recall some of the truly thankless jobs Jan accomplished during a stellar airline career.
     Jan began with Nedlloyd, moved onto Martinair, and after that to Pandair before joining KLM.
     You could say that for almost all his life Jan has been part of the team that held up the pillars of Dutch transportation heritage.
     The Dutch have always been great traders.
     In Amsterdam you can stand below Rembrandt's massive Night Watch painting, which anchors an entire floor of the Rijks Museum.
     Look into the expressions and body language of Dutch traders 350 years ago when the Netherlands ruled world commerce.
     Then go outside and take a walk along the Keisergracht.
     The same people appear as familiar faces in different clothes.
     Today, Nedlloyd to Maersk, Martinair to KLM with Maersk, Pandair into DHL and of course, most recently, KLM into Air France have all benefited from the steady, sure hand of Jan Meurer.
     Jan has always been involved with change, personally and professionally.
     New companies and challenges, new places to live and bring up his boys with his wife Annatine have resulted in an expansion of the character of the man, with knowledge of new languages and cultures and the global village. Professionally, change has been driven by business imperatives like growth, mergers, or reality.
     I guess Jan Meurer can best be described as a facilitator of change. He is a person who recognizes the human dimension of change and one who will work with people to understand, accept, and implement the inevitable.
     But what elevates this guy above the din has always lived inside of the man himself.
     Jan Meurer is tall, maybe 6-foot-five, so when you meet him he is bigger than you are.
     He is also very down to earth and warm hearted, often speaking in what sounds like a hoarse whisper.
     Jan gets lots of ideas and shares them all around.
     Something else is his downright refusal to think any task—no matter what the challenge—cannot be realized.
     When he was running the air cargo operation here in America (and later handling all of the U.S. for KLM) we described him as “Wild Thing” for his ability to enter a room full of people and make everybody think his visit was a personal, one-on-one encounter.

From left: Geoffrey & Sabiha Arend with Jacques Ancher and “Wild Thing” Jan Meurer, together for the first time in Istanbul last Friday as Jacques joined the air cargo immortals in the TIACA Hall of Fame on April 28, 2014. For More on Jacques Ancher, please click here.

     But if you ask him, Jan Meurer will say the ultimate highlight of his career was being intimately involved in the KLM/Northwest relationship.
     Much has been written about the success of this pioneering aviation partnership.
     By any measure, KLM/NWA has certainly stood the test of time, serving as a model for others. “KLM/Northwest was built by people, visionaries who became my mentors and who continuously challenged me to adapt and grow with the opportunities that were created.
     “On the flip side, however, if there were lows in my career, the people impact of the KLM/Northwest relationship was the most difficult.
     “My last assignment in the U.S. meant handing over responsibility for the North American market to Northwest, strategically necessary but eminently painful.
     “I was the agent of change that had a high cost for wonderful, loyal people of both companies, either in the U.S. or in Europe where the process was reversed.
     “I'm sure that the strategy was successful but it was not without sacrifice.”
     We recall those days quite clearly.
     Jan Meurer, a giving and passionate human being by nature, was handed an unnatural and awful task to terminate legions of people.
     During that time we would see him attending retirement parties at places such as Russo's in Howard Beach near JFK International in New York, in the tough Italian neighborhood.
     Often we would kid with Jan, wondering when one of those “retirement parties” might net the big guy his own pair of cement shoes.
     Jan would always wince, not because of any threat or fear, but because he was genuinely bearing the pain and disappointment of others while attempting to reach out to them.
     “People have been pretty important to me.
     “I have been privileged to work with Martin Schröder, Ad Scheepbouwer, Jacques Ancher, Pieter Bouw, Mike Levine, and Leo van Wijk, all top management.
     “But at the same time, I have learned much and benefited from my friendships and association with secretaries, warehousemen, truck drivers, longshoremen, in-flight crews and my peers.
      “In this world it is all about what we can achieve together.
      “I am happiest when surrounded by people who are believers, implementers, and service deliverers—the core of any success, including my own.”
      At the end of his career as boss of the KLM cabin attendants, Jan's work was apparently quite a bit less strenuous, but as always Jan Meurer was up to the job and aced the assignment easily.
      Faithful, smart, effective, a real human being, down to earth and decent—those are just a few words to describe this guy.
      Now, in my 42nd year on this beat covering air cargo, if you asked me why I love this business, the name I think of right away is Jan Meurer.

Geoffrey

Vol. 16 No. 5
Goods Go Deep As Oceans Rebound
Chuckles for January 13, 2016
Smack Dab In Supply Chain Middle Mile