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Family Aid 2020
   Vol. 19 No. 72
Friday November 20, 2020
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Heide Enfield

     In less than two weeks the curtain will ring down on a career that has endured for nearly 46 years at an airline, or since Gerald Ford was U.S. President and Helmut Schmidt served as Chancellor of The Federal Republic of Germany.
     In Frankfurt when Heide Enfield packs it in and retires on November 30 and says her last farewell, she will also ring down the curtain on a family affiliation in the airline business that dates back almost as far as the creation and development of post 1950s modern commercial aviation in Germany.
     Along the way Heide has served in many roles with distinction at Lufthansa, but nothing grander or more cutting edge, than her role as Head of Marketing at Lufthansa Cargo Charter.
     One thing in all of this is for certain, we will not see the likes of this kind of excellence in many different roles and length of dedicated service in the airline business again.
     In her many and varied positions as a woman at Lufthansa, Heide Enfield was way ahead of her time and even can be seen as a pioneering key executive in a team led by Christian Fink that propelled Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency (LCCA) into global impact and fame as the 21st century began.


Brilliant Cargo Company

     Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency was a solid, profitable innovative company that keeps popping up in mind as some kind of short-sighted loss by parent Lufthansa Cargo that divested itself of LCCA in 2012. What is immediately apparent especially right now as cargo and specifically charters dominate the airline playing field, is that many of the people that made LCCA successful are off at various companies, guiding the fortunes of GSSA’s and others out to secure charter business around the world in COVID-19 2020.
     But that is another story.
     Here we talk a bit to Heide about her 46-year love affair with the German airline.


Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

     “I started working for Lufthansa on January 1, 1975, so almost 46 years ago, and now my last day will be November 30, 2020.
     “I guess I was Lufthansa property from birth, with a father who was a Lufthanseat from almost day one.
     “My first flight was when I was 5 years old. The flight was a surprise for my twin sister Uta and me; my father took us to Düsseldorf to pick up our first car, which he had bought from a friend.
     “Of course, it was a VW Beetle,” Heide smiled.

Heide Enfield, Klaus Gehnich, Ingrid Gehnich and Uta Gehnich


Recruited Right Out of School

     “When I left school in summer of 1974 I wanted to join Lufthansa right away, which I then did a few months later, 4 days before my 18th birthday.
      “My first years at Lufthansa were good but not really very exciting.
     “But when I was moved over to a job in the new tourist department, things really started to take off.”


Setting Up Tours

     “We made arrangements for travel into Germany, facilitating agent study tours for our offices abroad, or arranging travel for medical service for customers in the Middle East, who came to Germany rather than go elsewhere where it was much more expensive.
     “It was very interesting, even enthralling to get that traffic going, especially with the knowledge that we were building the world-class medical arts profession in Germany, and also helping people get well while saving money, and we were growing Lufthansa, all at the same time,” Heide declared.


The Move To Munich & Air Cargo

     “After about 10 years it was time to move on, so I applied for a job in Munich and got it. I moved to Munich in 1992, just before the opening of the new airport.
     “After a couple of years came Kurt Scholz, Head of Sales and Handling South Germany for LH Cargo.
     “Herr Scholz asked me to take over his accounting department.
     “He said that the word up was that I was a good team leader and ‘we need leaders with drive and imagination.’”


MUC Numbers Were Stuck

     “So, I took the job.
     “Well, the accounting department was sheer chaos as there had not been a top numbers guru for a couple of months.
     “So, while getting the numbers game sorted out with the help of a colleague from Cologne, we realized that an awful lot of dedicated and otherwise talented and well-meaning people were working in accounting.
     “But without formal training they were in motion with no control, like a windsock at an airport.”


Brought Training Forward

     “So together,” Heide said, “with the Lufthansa School and Central Revenue Accounting in Hamburg we set up courses and soon I was a trainer on the job in addition to my regular duties.
     “It is no secret that management follows the money, so before long I was tasked to take over as Head of Revenue in Hamburg, responsible for Lufthansa Cargo global revenue accounting.”


Takes A Bite Out Of Hamburg

     “I moved to Hamburg the beginning of 2000. I really had some very memorable and truly great times in Munich as well as in Hamburg.
     “Lots of nice colleagues, the job was fun and diversified and the Hamburg experience involved quite a bit of travelling to cargo station offices abroad to implement new ideas and ensure the Lufthansa quality proposition,” Heide recalled.


Back To The Future

     “In October 2002 I moved back to Frankfurt to join Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency, a newly formed subsidiary of LH Cargo.
     “First I worked as Senior Sales Manager, and in 2004 I became Head of Marketing and PR.
     “The years at charter were the most exciting ones in my whole career.”


Building Lufthansa Charter

     “LCCA was a small company, not a 9 to 5 job, and required quick decisions, but allowed for great freedom and possibilities to create and develop new strategies and procedures.
     “LCCA was also non-stop exciting projects, meeting a lot of people from all over the world, press work and engagement with the international air cargo publications, trade fairs, and a level of contact in every aspect of the adventure that was second to none.”


Happy Faces Going Places

Christian Fink, Heide Enfield and Geoffrey Arend     “We were pioneering, going places and setting a tone while delivering a solid, steadily growing business.
     “Christian Fink, our managing director was just terrific.
     “Christian, quite the renaissance man, made it possible for everybody to express their entrepreneurship in real time every day on the job.
     “He put a lot of trust in his team and the result was that together we made the company a success.”
     For many in air cargo, including yours truly, Lufthansa Cargo Charter was the “little company that could” as it continued along in an ever-profitable atmosphere for many seasons. It always held its own, and at times even bested bigger, more entrenched competitors.
     There was a cohesive, often high-spirited and uplifting feeling amongst many at Lufthansa Cargo Charter that was immediately apparent after the company opened its offices near Frankfurt Am Main in Kelsterbach.
     It was certainly all business, but you quickly learned that amongst Fink and company, there was always the ability to step back and enjoy the journey.
     Aside from being great business people, Lufthansa Cargo Charter was also known for its support of charitable causes such as Mothers’ Mercy Home, an orphanage in Kianjogu just outside Nairobi, which is part of the Lufthansa Cargo’s ‘Cargo Human Care’ (CHC) project.


The Unexplained

     “Then unfortunately in 2010, Christian was replaced and things changed a lot—and not for the better,” Heide says.
     “In 2013, the company was reintegrated into Lufthansa Cargo, which meant that it was closed down with only a handful of the staff remaining, doing charter for LH Cargo but on a lot smaller scale.
     “So, with heart and soul, I must say Lufthansa Charter was really not only the most exciting, but also the most painful experience during my 46 years here.”


As of Now


     “Since Charter, I have been working at LH Cargo Handling in Frankfurt on various projects.
     “The good news is that as always, here too I have met some wonderful people and we have been able through it all to connect for the positive good of our company.
     “I wouldn't say that 46 years passed in a hurry; it does feel like an awfully long time.
     “And now I am ready to say good bye,” Heide said wistfully.


The Sentimental Sap


     That’s me!
     I am able to accept things happening and report about a wonderful person like Heide with great regularity.
     But something she brought to the table in her marketing role that upon reading about her background at Lufthansa, you could not guess might happen.
     During the Lufthansa Charter years, Heide and the group would host a yearly customer event like no other.
Heide Enfield and Sabiha Arend     Heide went over to Darmstadt and found this lovely 1920s children’s petting zoo, where every summer the annual Lufthansa Charter Agency Summer Party would be held.
     Knocking around the zoo was always the same – a grand time filled with food, fun and merry entertainment.
     And always, there were the children.
     By count, fully a third or more of the attendees were kids, and their laughter and joy was heard just like the late summer cicadas, a mixture of voices and buzzing that created a din that rose and fell on the breeze all afternoon.
     “We tried and made this a relaxed, entertaining family day for all,” said Heide.
     “The idea was to create memories of this wonderful, soft time of year when everyone should be with family and friends.”
     Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency represented not just a company, but also a family of people. And Heide Enfield was an integral member of that family.
     We will miss Heide Enfield who is not only one of the smartest marketing and public relations talents, but is also truly an air cargo industry standard.
Geoffrey/Sabiha

Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency
Vivarium Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency
At Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency's summertime customer event, as four part harmony floated above the gathering, employees, customers and their families networked, got to know each other and enjoyed a great time. LCAA chief Christian Fink and marketing guru Heide Enfield set the tone and the bar for a day in the summer, encouraging all "to have a good time." Heide Enfield and friend

Peter Gerber, Dorothea von Boxberg and Jan Krems

  Peter Gerber says goodbye to Lufthansa Cargo and moves to the post of CEO of Brussels Airlines effective March 1, 2021. Meantime Dorothea von Boxberg becomes the first female top executive of Lufthansa Cargo in history as new Chief Executive Officer and Chairwoman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Cargo AG.
  Dorothea, pictured here with alliance partner Jan Krems, President United Airlines Cargo, assumes command on March 1, 2021.
  A successor for Dorothea von Boxberg as Chief Commercial Officer will be announced at a later date.


chuckles for November 20, 2020

Glyn Hughes


     The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), an organization that has been searching for a savior to lead it out of a long slow decline may have reached the promised land, as Glyn Hughes retiring IATA Head of Cargo picks up the sword, assuming day to day responsibility for the Florida-based industry group on February 1, 2021.
     The posting could not be more important for organized air cargo.
     TIACA’s very future rests on Glyn Hughes’ success in rallying this 30-year plus organization.
     The question is, with the airline business stalled and people racing around trying to save their failing companies, will Hughes be able to bring along enough people to put their money where its needed and support the TIACA proposition.
     In America the political campaign featured the slogan for President Trump, “Make America Great Again”.
     In Glyn Hughes' challenge at TIACA is the need to somehow figure out a way to make TIACA greater than it has been.
     Add transformation to the challenge of shut down business spending tied to COVID-19 as this all cargo pro gets into the weeds of bringing TIACA through its greatest challenge.


The Rest of The Story

     Hughes had barely said goodbye to IATA and in fact will not officially depart the IATA trade group until the end of January 2021.
     At that point (we presume) after taking a long deep breath, Mr. Hughes will say hello to maybe the major challenge of his professional career as Director General at TIACA.
     Unsure if Glyn plans to relocate to Florida, but reportedly with some comfy digs in Switzerland, and what should be a well-deserved parachute package from IATA where he served nobly for decades, one might imagine either a commute or in this COVID-19 world lots of ZOOM calls from Glyn somewhere situate to the Alps, at least in the beginning.


More Power to Him


Daniel Fernandez     Landing Hughes is the bright light, everyone who favors TIACA has been looking for to lead the way.
     Not since Daniel Fernandez, (right) it can be said, has TIACA corralled an individual with the potential to make major impact on the future fortunes of the organization. Whether Hughes can turn around the somewhat moribund TIACA, that appeared rather rudderless and in a spiral prior to COVID-19, is another matter.
     In an era where everybody is cutting and moving toward the unthinkable—a second shutdown as the pandemic spikes again almost everywhere, TIACA may need some kind of divine intervention just to survive.
     So, we equally are hoping that Glyn has the contract allowing some years and time to get the job done.
     We sure hope Hughes can work some magic.


Long Promised Road

     Looking back as part of the start-up of TIACA thirty years ago, we recall attending TIACA’s first Board Meeting (1990) as the only paid-up member from the press.
     That meeting in London at the Naval & Military Club (known informally as The In & Out because signs in each driveway directed traffic in and out of the place) was memorable on many levels.
     We have always favored the great potential for good always seemingly within reach of TIACA, but seldom realized.
     In attendance at that first meeting among others was Richard Jackson from Seaboard World Airways, Chris Foyle, Brown Wilder and TIACA’s first Secretary General, the late Garth Davies.

Richard Jackson, Brown Wilder, Chris Foyle and Garth Davies


Beating Retreat Lifted Spirits

     On our first evening there, Chris Foyle arranged to have the Queens Guard drop by and they assembled in the Court Yard at dusk as we gathered, cocktails in hand, up on the balcony.
     Below us resplendent in full regalia the assemblage performed Beating Retreat (changing of the guard).
     Across many decades I recall how hopeful, uplifting and thrilling our meetings were after that first evening.
     I also recall the vintage spirits, a full library of Vanity Fair Magazines from 70 years prior and late in the evening some difficulty engaging my room door with the skeleton key, the In & Out provided.
     Come to think of it that was the last time I locked or unlocked any door in that manner.
     What fond memories!


Another In & Out

     We have always believed and still do that TIACA is the only truly neutral ground in air cargo.
     For what it’s worth we also were “In & Out” of TIACA membership for one major reason.
     We joined, but then decided our publication Air Cargo News could best serve TIACA as a non-member.
     That happened after almost every other publication in the world joined TIACA and spent USD $10,000 to achieve the status of Trustee.
     We determined that we would better serve the industry and TIACA as disinterested observers.
     When you think about it, our decision taken over four decades ago, to be fair and balanced reporters, in today’s world where “fake news” is a common phrase, was the right thing to do.
     It has not always been easy but our hearts and our best wishes and hopes for the future is that TIACA not only survives, but also thrives.
     Good Luck Glyn!
Geoffrey


Michael Webber

     We reached back out to our old friend Mike Webber, who predicted Glyn's ascent to the job in FlyingTypers several weeks ago. In that piece, Webber noted that he had applied for the position but was already dismissing the possibility. Webber laughed saying, "a day after that interview ran, I received a form email advising that the selection committee had moved on with other candidates. I'm sure it was coincidental but the timing did amuse me. Once that the TIACA selection committee extended the application period until just after Glyn announced he would be available, I was ready to place my bet on him. Having the eminently qualified Mike White also become available was about all that remained of drama."
     So how does Webber see the choice of Hughes for the position? "Oh, I think Glyn was the obvious choice. Nobody in their right mind will criticize TIACA for hiring Glyn. Not for fear of reprisals but because Glyn has the network and experience that one only gets through working in this industry as long as he has. Remarkably, he has done so without cultivating any antagonists. I have known Glyn through my own past on-call work with IATA and my participation in chairing tracks at the early IATA World Cargo Symposiums and I have nothing bad to say.
     "Had I been chosen, I could readily name twenty people who'd have howled their disapproval, but Glyn is a thoroughly safe choice. If you looked at the LinkedIn announcement about Glyn's retirement from IATA, some of our industry's smartest people - David Hoppin comes to mind - were bemoaning Glyn's departure at such a critical time. Now TIACA will be lauded for keeping him in the game, while getting the benefit of hiring somebody who ran the cargo efforts of a trade association exponentially more influential than TIACA. This is like a CFL Team signing Tom Brady. I'm happy for him and I'm happy for them."
     So do you think that he can save TIACA? "I don't even know what "save TIACA" means and I applied for the job. To what degree is the ACF theirs anymore? That's not a rhetorical question, by the way, but that was their calling card for many years. If you're an airline or an airport operator or a forwarder, there are consequences to not being involved with your trade association. Entities like IATA, ACI and the Airforwarders Association never have to worry about relevance and while relationships between their leaderships have been strained at times, the "worker bees" quietly cooperate well. So claiming to bridge the gap between mostly cooperating sectors isn't as compelling as it may sound on letterhead."
     You applied for the job, so regrets about not getting it? "No, I was just gratified by the surprising number of people who contacted me to encourage me to apply. People who I respectfully consider my peers and who seemingly wanted me to test the process to at least see what TIACA may have had in mind. I submitted similar materials to what I use in project proposals, so my investment was about five minutes. I'm afraid that I can't tell you much about the process though because all I ever received were a couple of form emails thanking me for applying and asking if I was still interested, followed by the one about their going with other candidates. I believe they interviewed five people, so kudos for following the script even if we all knew the ending already."
     You really don't seem at all dejected? "No, not even disappointed. My application wasn't a joke - I wouldn't have wasted my five minutes writing a cover letter or their time reading it but I have consulting clients and other projects that made me conflicted about this. I don't believe that TIACA should be in the consulting business competing against its members, so I would have closed my firm after satisfying any existing commitments. I had some ideas about cooperative efforts - particularly in developing countries - and I thought TIACA might be an interesting vehicle for such efforts. I will pursue such ideas on my own or possibly with one of the development banks. Having the resources of a trade association would have been a luxury, not a necessity. As for being dejected, I live in the coolest city in America and hang out with artists, so nobody needs to send me condolences."
Geoffrey Arend

FlyingTalkers podcastFlyingTalkers

What Became Small in 2020

The Front Paige


     2020 is a year of big challenges.
     As we talk to air cargo industry people, here comes a thoughtful perspective of life.
Lionel van der WaltWhat Became Small

As an eternal optimist I am always looking for the positive and good in life, and at the same time I never take anything for granted. With that said, here are some thoughts on what I believe has become small in 2020:

“Many of the issues and challenges we faced prior to COVID seem to be small now when compared to what we have lived through the past few months, both from a professional and personal perspective.”
“Many of our current challenges seem “small” when compared to the hardships and suffering others have to face…..feeling blessed!”
“Many of the obstacles, challenges and justifications that held our industry back for so many years are becoming “smaller” and less relevant by the day . . . there is a new tangible spirit of collaboration and a strong drive to transform the industry.”

Lionel van der Walt
President & CEO -The Americas, PayCargo
Coral Gables, USA
Jessica TylerAA To The Max

“Returning the 737Max to service was our biggest challenge over a year ago as we had to take planes out of service until we could ensure the safety of our teams and customers.
“As it’s coming back, I’m reminded that it should be an incredibly exciting development when it goes back into service soon, but with our current focus on the pandemic – both from a health and economic perspective – the good news is a bit overshadowed.
Nonetheless, returning the MAX to service is great news for our team!

Jessica Tyler
President, American Airlines Cargo
Dallas, USA
Small Inconvenience

Wally Devereaux     Being inconvenienced by the changes we all must make to keep others safe and healthy has become “small”.

Wally Devereaux
Managing Director Cargo and Charters, Southwest Airlines
Dallas, USA

COVID-19 Not Small

Ram Menen     "Paying attention to one's health at times no big thing, turns out in COVID-19 to be no small thing, although maybe we all think we might live forever.
     "The age of COVID teaches us that little things mean a lot.
     "Now for one of the biggest logistical challenges to move the vaccines . . . the efforts can be akin to the Berlin Airlift on a larger scale . . . this should be real interesting."

Ram Menen
Emirates Airlines (retired)
Luxembourg

Smaller in 2020?

The House!

Peter Scholten
CCO, Air One
Dubai, UAE
Embracing Digitalization Challenge

Stan Wraight     Not many big challenges have become small, for example convincing CEO and CFO that cargo deserves a core business status in the airline and a seat on the board.
     But one challenge that is now smaller is the task of convincing airports of the necessity to embrace with urgency digitization.
     COVID of course is a real reason for paperless, but also in environmental sustainability targets due to less truck congestion as an example is also important.
      But the economic impact of this crisis is deep and far reaching for all in air logistics, so allowing businesses to do more with less by embracing technology, such as cargo community systems, is easier now and less challenging, and it’s being widely accepted as a consequence.

Stan Wraight
President and CEO, SASI
Hong Kong

For Part One of this series, click here.

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Publisher-Geoffrey Arend • Managing Editor-Flossie Arend • Editor Emeritus-Richard Malkin
Film Editor-Ralph Arend • Special Assignments-Sabiha Arend, Emily Arend

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