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Family Aid 2020
   Vol. 19 No. 73
Tuesday December 1, 2020
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If you have any words you’d like to share, any of your own playlists you’d like us to help distribute, or other content that has helped you navigate this difficult time, please share them with us. Air Cargo News FlyingTypers hopes to be like an online hearth for our cargo family. #AirCargoCoronaContent

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Hema Tanna


     The dynamic industry leading lady profiled here is our very own Keshav (FIATA Board) Tanna's wife.
     Hema Tanna runs her own cargo business along with her brother.
     Although Keshav has mentioned, “funnily we are competitors,” for India Logistics, the Tanna family is a powerful force for good up and down the line.


Here Comes Hema

     Mumbai-based Hema Tanna, Director, Manilal Patel Clearing Forwarding Pvt. Ltd., could have ‘strayed’ to the travel industry but something about cargo attracted her so much that she joined a logistics company that had been established by her grandfather.
     That was way back in 1998.
     Today, with two decades in the air freight and ocean freight forwarding industry, Hema is considered a ‘hands on’ person, with complete knowledge of the industry processes.
     The 70-year-old family-owned logistics company is carried forward by her elder brother and herself. The duo has set up nine regional offices in India and have also moved to set up offices in France – Paris and Lille – and in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
     Hema Tanna’s guiding spirit has been her father, who unfortunately passed away at a very young age. She remembers his words to keep on focusing on the business and the people who work with her.


In 2020 Cargo In A Place of Pride

     “Cargo has,” Hema Tanna declares, “perhaps, never seen such importance in its entire life, as it is witnessing at present!
     “Carriers have hopefully realized, that in these difficult times when thousands of jobs have been lost, along with billions of dollars in revenues, the only help line came from air cargo!
     “As Governments closed down their borders, passenger traffic disappeared overnight, and along with that, so did belly capacities.
     “That same piece of cargo which had no voice, now sat on the same passenger seat and was a virtual Godsend in these difficult times.
     “Not so long ago, when it went in the belly of the aircraft, it was perhaps ruthlessly removed to accommodate a piece of passenger baggage – how times change!
     “Being involved in the business of air transportation, I can only hope that carriers do not forget this and remember what an important role cargo plays in airline revenues.”


Lest We Forget


     “I would like to see that this continues for future – rates of course are questionable currently, but I guess demand versus supply would take care of that in future.
     “Of course, one must also remember, that had it not been for air transportation, movement of even essential commodities would have come to a grinding halt and I applaud the carriers for standing by in these difficult times; the industry fully acknowledges that the carriers are seeing some unprecedented times, but have stood by in support of the trade in moving medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, vaccines and other life-saving equipment, be it PPEs, masks, etc.”


Been Ready For The Antidote


     “As and when a vaccine is developed there is no doubt that it would move by air and the quicker the industry prepares for this, the better.
     “A lot of pharmaceuticals already move by airfreight currently and hence the industry does have the basic infrastructure like temperature control facilities, GPS-monitored transportation, etc in place; however one must remember that this movement is not going to be only from airport of origin to airport of destination; there is a huge hinterland movement to be expected and that is where logisticians like us will have to be prepared to move the same swiftly and under sterile conditions.”

The Keshav Tanna Family

Expects Competition

     “There is no doubt,” Hema declared, “that Governments will be hawk-eyeing these movements, with possible monitoring of rates and hence competitiveness will be the key.
     “For a short period of time then, demand might overshoot supply and air cargo space could be an issue; but this is inevitable as the vaccine will need to find its’ way into the global markets swiftly and only air cargo can achieve that mobility.”
     “Be that as it may and all said and done, currently in commercial terms, air cargo itself has proven to be a vaccine for the airlines!”


2020 Has Been A Real Adventure

     “I must concede,” Hema Tanna admits,” that nothing and absolutely nothing, comes even close in my 20 years in this industry, which can be compared as a parallel to 2020!!
     “Many years ago when I joined the cargo business I had a choice of joining the more glamorous travel industry and as a woman that would, perhaps, have been the choice of any other female.
     “The cargo business is looked at perhaps to be more male-dominant.
     “Nevertheless,” Hema assures, “I chose to join the family business – which is cargo and I am glad I did that, as otherwise today perhaps I would have no work to do with passenger flights virtually at a standstill.”


The Woman Stands Up For Cargo

     “So as a woman, I feel reassured that I did take the right decision because had it not been for cargo, I have no idea how the aviation industry would have survived.
     “It has been devastating and only reminds me of how my Dad spoke about the War during my younger days – human and commercial devastation at its worst!
     “How long it would take for global trade to be back on track is anyone’s guess, but for family run businesses like ours, daylight still seems a distant future.”


The Company Line

     “We are situated in India with branches in major metro cities; we also have our own office in Paris and the biggest challenge has been how to deal with order cancellations.
     “Customers have simply abandoned shipments and we as nominated forwarders have been lumped with not only the cargo, but also ancillary charges attached to it, such as storage, freight etc.”


Lessons Learned

     “The biggest lesson the forwarding industry should have got from this pandemic is how to control credit, as businesses have vanished overnight and many others have taken refuge under the force majeure clause.
     “Digitalization has played a big role during these trying times and those who were not in sync with the need of the hour suffered badly, as virtually all businesses were being conducted online; physical intervention being impossible, one saw the industry in a rapid ramp up mode to trade digitally.”


Custom Situations


     “Indian Customs went through a huge faceless/paperless exercise which is now in place; air cargo requires various mandatory and or voluntary trainings – most of these modules are now available online as classroom training became impossible.
     “This is going to be the new normal going ahead and those who have not ramped up their systems will already be finding themselves in very difficult times.
     “Like they say, there is always something good in everything, but honestly I can’t wait for good times to be back soon – wish I had a crystal ball!”
Tirthankar Ghosh


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Southwest Cargo

     If you count up the years Wally Devereaux, Southwest Airlines Managing Director Cargo and Charters, and a 28-year veteran of the carrier has been a force in air cargo, it is for half that tenure, fourteen years. But to look at him you might think he is a new kid on the block. Wally is a youthful and energetic "Mohair Sam" which is language from the 1940s that was often used to describe someone who is smart, easy going and always comfortable in his clothes. Here the Texas-born and bred native talks about Southwest Cargo at full strength the way it ought to be, and he speaks with some spirit and élan telling us the way it is right now.
     “I started with Southwest in 1992 as a Customer Service Agent at Dallas Love Field.      Over the years I’ve held a number of positions in Ground Operations, Public Relations, and Marketing, before joining the Cargo Team in 1999.
     “Today I’m honored to serve as the Managing Director of our Cargo and Charters business. I work with a great team of people to ensure that we provide excellent and reliable Cargo and Charters services to our Customers, and that we contribute to the overall success of Southwest Airlines.”


Daily Engagements

     “Every day tends to be different, with different opportunities and challenges. One constant however is regular engagement with our department leaders to ensure we’re focused on the right things and making progress towards our goals as a department. I also regularly check in with some of our customers to make sure we’re providing the service they expect from us. I’ve found there’s nothing more important in this business than the people-to-people relationships.”

Wally Devereaux

The Leadership Role

     “I think good leaders are able to develop and articulate a vision for what could be, why it’s important, and what’s required to get there. They’re also able to help folks understand why each person’s role is important to the success of the team, and they’re good at working with the team to ensure progress is made.”


The True Customer Experience

     “The most important experience we want our customers to have is that we met or exceeded their expectations, especially ensuring their cargo arrives as planned. The majority of our cargo facilities and ramp agents around our system are Southwest Airlines employees that do an exceptional job at this. Additionally, we continue to pursue self-service automation that allows our customers to more efficiently engage with Southwest Cargo.
     “Finally, something that I firmly believe is that our customers continue to place a high value on having access to our people to resolve issues. Whether that means calling our Customer Care Center, our cargo facility directly, or someone on our leadership team, including myself, we’re all here to help. This tends to be a bit of an old school approach in this day and age, but it has always been something I think our customers have appreciated.”


What You Don’t Know About Southwest Cargo

     “I don’t think folks often realize (normally) how much capacity Southwest Airlines has available for air cargo on a daily basis. We operate more than 4,000 flights a day (during normal times), on an all-Boeing 737 fleet to more than 100 destinations. And, with about 750 aircraft, we have a tremendous amount of capacity to offer.
     “We have a very unique high frequency, point to point flight schedule that offers significant capacity, countless routing options, and unmatched redundancy.
     “Our schedule and operational style is highly effective at moving cargo.
     “However, the primary reason why folks should use Southwest Airlines Cargo is our people.
     “We are fortunate to have outstanding folks that have a passion for the cargo business.
     “The vast majority of our facilities and ramp staff are Southwest employees who do a wonderful job moving cargo and providing hospitality to our customers 'below the wing', and we have terrific vendor partners in many of our small markets as well. Gary Kelly often shares that operating an airline is the ultimate team sport and I truly think our culture of teamwork on the cargo team is exceptional.”


Belly Up For Cargo

     “Generally speaking, the point to point, high flight frequency nature of our network allows us to excel in highly time critical items, especially in the medical space as well as other perishable commodities. We offer a significant amount of schedule redundancy and creative routing options that aren’t typical with other carriers. This has always been something that has differentiated us from others and that tends to attract some cargo that might otherwise wind up in an integrated network.”


Teamwork Is The Key


     “The success of our cargo and charters businesses relies heavily on many different departments at Southwest Airlines. None more so than our ground operations team, which does a marvelous job of moving cargo and managing charter flights. Thus, it’s incredibly important to be engaged and partner with our ground operations teammates throughout our organization to ensure we’re on the same page and working towards the same goals.
     “It’s also critically important we understand what challenges they face on a daily basis managing the fast moving, complex, and dynamic airport operation and how we can best partner with them to provide for a high opportunity for success. We’ve developed an excellent reputation for our cargo and charters businesses over time and that simply would not have happened without the excellent departmental partners, including ground operations, we have helping us.”


On the COVID-19 Pandemic


What do cargo operations look like for the next months?
     “Folks may have a little different experience in our cargo facility lobbies as we work to make our employees and customers feel as comfortable as possible. Our flight schedule has been reduced some as well, but all of our cargo facilities remain open for business and we still have a significant amount of capacity available to move air cargo.”


What Lies Ahead


     “Going forward, we’ll continue to focus on reliable and hospitable service, we’ll continue to focus on improving our automation to make our shipping customers experience with us as efficient as possible, and we’ll continue to look for niche opportunities to expand our reach. At the end of the day, it’s about customers and offering products and services they want from us.”


What has surprised you in 2020?


     “The amount and pace of change related to the corona virus pandemic has been surprising and even breathtaking. However, I have not been surprised by the response of our team in working through the challenge. Despite everyone’s world professionally and personally being turned upside down in a matter of days, our team has risen to the challenge and performed exceptionally and I simply could not be more proud and thankful.”
Geoffrey


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What Became Small in 2020

The Front Paige


Elliott Paige

     Elliott Paige is Airport Director, Air Service Development for Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia,
     Always smart with good ideas, engaging and outspoken, here Elliott offers the lowdown on living and prospering during the pandemic.
     “ATL is not doing too horrible. Passenger numbers moved from 453,362 in
April to 3,124,231 in September and growing. As a comparison, in September,
pre-COVID, we had 8,733,259 passengers. However, the capacity for pax is not the problem. The problem is that with every spike in COVID cases, 2-3 weeks later, there are cancellations as more people are infected, and others are afraid to travel. International numbers are also picking up but expected to remain stagnant or even slow as more European countries remain in lockdown.
     Cargo is doing much better. Our peak day of Thursdays sees as much as 75 all-freighter flights. E-Commerce is still booming, and the GHAs, namely Swissport, had to go on a hiring campaign twice in October to get extra staff to handle all the extra flights coming in.
     We announced that DHL would take 50% of the building leased by WFS, and they are operational since early-November.They are gearing up, like Delta, to handle COVID-vaccines through ATL.
     We are working internally to get COVID ready by engaging with stakeholders and looking at all the areas, we may have bottlenecks to prioritize COVID vaccine transport. We want to be as helpful as possible to save lives.
     For the future, we were advertising our modern air cargo terminal RFP,
in November but had some administrative delays. We are still pressing ahead, and this RFP should be advertised within the next few weeks. Interested parties should stay tuned to this link. This is our big vision and showcases our ambitions to make ATL one of the U.S.’s best.


Outstanding in a Year of Challenge

     What has stood out for me the most is the airport's partners' resiliency, especially in cargo. We have been struck with waves of COVID, yet we never give up. We continue to add technology on both the cargo and passenger side to protect staff and passengers. It's been a challenge in cargo, as some stakeholders prefer to continue doing things the old way. Part of it may be how divided the country is on the impact of the virus. Yet we continue to push for common-sense approaches:
          •  Touchless directories for passengers in the terminal;
          •  Building awareness for the cargo community system;
          •  Helping with expedited badging for the hundreds of new staff being hired               to work in cargo;
          •  Information and data sharing with stakeholders;
          •  The countless Webinars showcasing what we are doing to keep business               going for the community.


A Day In The Life


     It’s Yoga, first thing early in the morning to help me wake up. I then catch up on the news (regular, then industry). I review a few emails, maybe get a call or two in, before our daily team meeting. Usually, there is a stakeholder meeting after that.
     Then it’s lunchtime but usually I forget to have lunch either because of a meeting or trying to finish an email like this one, so end up getting a late lunch.
     Afternoons are spent doing more reading, writing, preparing presentations, or strategizing with a team member.
     I may pause to catch up with a family member, colleague, or friend - something I think we all need during this time.
     I usually don't notice it's 5:00 PM and I should stop work until 6:00 PM. Then I try to write something for my blog or pause to check the mail or go outside a bit for a walk and some fresh air.


What Stands Out?

     It's all interesting.
     But I am pretty excited about the RFP for the Modern Air Cargo Terminal. I really want that to be successful and like I envision it. I have the whole facility in my head, but my task is to get others to see it as profitable.


First Moves Post Pandemic


     I desperately need to travel, more personally than professionally. That's priority #1—a real vacation.
     Another priority will also be coordinating with the staff of how we work from now on, sometimes in the office and other times at home.
     Travel will be necessary for work to continue to build a business. This won't go away. The challenge is this: How do we build business through traveling when our budgets have been slashed because of shortfalls in revenue due to the COVID impact? The big task is now convincing our finance people that to return to success, we need to make revenue, and to make revenue, we need to be out there marketing the business we have. To be out there, we need a budget to travel and engage with interested parties and market to them. COVID has made finance people skittish, so that will take some convincing.


Inspiration & Revelations During The Lockdown?

     My partner first, absolutely.
      My conviction that we cannot survive without trade and logistics sector and finally, my belief in supporting "everything trade" to make sure the system works as best it can.
     I probably don't really need a car. We have survived on one household car for months. I would probably also trade an outdoor space for less indoor space.      Otherwise, that's a tough question. Maybe, it's just the season, but I could do without hearing any more about politics and politicians.
Geoffrey


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Eastern Airllines

Hi Geoffrey,

  I have heard a lot of great things about you from my father over the years.
  I grew up reading your paper Air Cargo News.
  Every time my dad brought your paper home I would steal it from him so I could look at the pictures of the airplanes and read the articles.
  I think Marty tried to get in touch with you recently but had an old email for you.
  I just told him I have been following the FlyingTypers and he knew it was you right away.
  Great use of words, I love that!
  I have been working in the business since the mid-nineties and have had my first furlough.
  I was looking to get into some cargo flying.
  I have been reading your work for years and I am so happy I can continue that on here.
  I always remember the articles you put my father in.
  My Mom would make fun of him because it was always Marty Ladimer said . . .
  Now it is my turn after having a few of my own in the Air Line Pilot Association's monthly magazine.
  My mom and dad are well and live in Orlando.
  I told my Dad I was going to write to you and he sends his warmest regards and best wishes.
  I hope to be back on my feet flying again soon.
  It takes a lot to keep us Ladimers down.
  If you have any suggestions about some of these cargo airlines that are hiring pilots, always looking for some help from the great generation of the industry like you and my dad. I do my best to keep the traditions alive these days!
  Thank you for your wonderful publications. I was able to read them as a kid and am still following your great work!
  Hope you have a great rest of the weekend and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Kindest Regards,
Brad Ladimer
Brad.ladimer@yahoo.com

Marty Ladimer and Brad Ladimer

  Thanks for the words, Brad and heads up to our readers to get this fine next-gen pilot into the left seat soon.
  Marty, his dad was a dynamo during the final days of Eastern Airlines, and cargo as usual was one of the few bright spots. Marty along with his team, including Pete DeBenigno, who we still see occasionally around JFK, were out to get every kilo.
  In 2012, Marty recalled his time at Eastern Airlines:

  “During my 30 years with Eastern Airlines I was based at New York’s JFK International Airport.
  “Those were exciting and fantastic times that cannot ever be diminished or forgotten.
  “I had started when Eastern and the industry looked at air cargo as an important part of their revenue that had not been developed.
  “The years that followed were full of growth, advancement, travel, training, new projects, promotion, and great people.
  “I went from school to the U.S. Army with a thirteen-month tour of duty in Korea.
  “But less than one month after discharge, I was working at Eastern Airlines.
  “For me it was unbelievable and I loved every minute, except for the last year, 1991, when we went out of business.”

  Fond memories, great people from head to heart forever!
Geoffrey

Hasta la Raiz

If You Missed Any Of The Previous 3 Issues Of FlyingTypers
Access complete issue by clicking on issue icon or
Access specific articles by clicking on article title
FT110220
Vol. 19 No. 70
Bubbling Up After Everything Changed
Chuckles for November 2, 2020
Autumn Serenade 2020
Simple Pleasure Returns
James Bond Forever

FT101020
Vol. 19 No. 71
What Became Small In 2020?
Chuckles for November 10, 2020
Are You Having Any Fun?

FT112020
Vol. 19 No. 72
Easy to Remember
Chuckles for November 20, 2020
Brush up your Flemish
Hughes & TIACA
And Now for Something Completely Different
More What Became Small


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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