“All is well” is word up from the House of McCool in Dublin this March. Air Cargo Pioneer and the father Sean McCool at 90, pictured in his St Patrick’s Day hat celebrating with family at home looks in fine fettle.
     The Too Cool McCool, son Ian is IAM Managing Director responsible for Ireland’s International Airline Marketing Ltd., the largest GSSA on the Emerald Isle moving a quarter of all freight from Ireland.
     Delivering for American Airlines, Etihad Airways, Air Canada and All Nippon Airways, IAM forms the core of an expanding group with dynamic Ian in the center of the action.
     Spoke to Ian in high spirits:
     “Sean approaches his 91st birthday next month,” Ian said proudly.
     “He says he still feels like he like he is in his twenties.
     “Sean is planning his next business venture and has a great interest in importing some rare breed meats such as Wagyu Beef or Manx Loaghtan Lamb.
     “Not long before Sean started in the air cargo business with Seaboard World Airlines, air cargo was at the top table.
     “The Pandemic has accelerated air cargo to the very top table once more.
     “COVID & Russia,” Ian said, trying hard not to spit the words out, “in the first case was the main topic of conversation over the last two years.
     “Now in the second we are experiencing substantial restrictions with air space closed down for many carriers over Russia.
     “Been some large-scale flight cancellations of flights between Europe and Japan as well as some other Asian destinations. All Japanese carriers ex-Europe have experienced substantial restrictions over the last two weeks. Some carriers are not flying on certain routes and others are re-starting via much longer routes to avoid over flying Russia. This has caused major supply chain disruptions on a major world trade lane.
     “The zero Covid policy in China is also starting to add additional restrictions with some ports and cities heading into another lock down.
     “Overall – the market is very volatile and there is very little sign of stabilization.”
     “Sean is, like most of us, in a state of disbelief, as to what has become of Ukraine over the last three weeks.
     “Sean was a young child during the final years of World War II,” Ian said, “and he cannot believe what we are now witnessing on the global news channels.”

Upside Hard to Come By

     “One positive result of war in Ukraine is the pressure on every economy in the western world looking to advance sustainability projects as we all look at the weekly increasing energy costs. Europe in particular is very reliant on Russian gas. This has changed and will change further over the next 12 months.      “Governments and big business know they must become more self-sufficient and there is a big drive to increase investments on major sustainability projects. Interest rates remain low and many of these projects are now being talked about as an investment rather than a cost.
“Big business is also pushing the transport sectors to hasten the move to sustainability and there is a move where some are now willing to pay for the extra costs.”

Further Q & A With Ian

FT:   What do you want to improve in 2022?
IM:   Peace on earth may not be too much to ask! We would love to see a bit more stability in the market. For the last two years is has been one upheaval after another. Covid; port and airport restrictions; inflation; sky rocketing fuel prices; Suez Canal blockage; and war in Ukraine.


FT:   What if you kept things the same and didn’t do anything?
IM:   We have the most amazing group of professionals at IAM. Everyone adapted so well to the changing world. I am so proud of all the team and how they battled through the last two years. As everything is still so uncertain, it is hard to access the good and bad of the last two years. There were many weeks where it was so manic, you did not come up for breath and you could not be sure what the following week would bring. As we went through the pandemic and now a war in Europe, I think we have learned to expect the unexpected and are more prepared for any curve ball that may come our way.
One of the girls I work with in Belfast said to me last week, “Tell God your plans and watch him laugh.”


FT:   What did you want air cargo, airlines, forwarders, other cargo resources and even truckers to know about IAM and moving ahead today?
IM:   IAM have been at the forefront of supplying quality air cargo services to the Irish Air Cargo Market for over 30 years. For the first time ever we achieved approximately 30% market share of the air cargo export market in 2021. A testament to the great level of work all the team at IAM put into their jobs every day and the quality provided by our principals and partners.


FT:   Will fly arounds impact freight or is it so in demand shippers will pay the extra?
IM:   At the moment, shippers are paying the very high costs to get freight into and out of some Asian markets ( Japan in particular). I cannot see shippers being able to pay the very high rates thus this should be short to medium term until extra capacity is introduced. The higher fuel cost is also adding additional price pressures on both airliners and shippers.


FT:   Is there concern Russia falls off the deep end and does not return leases?
IM:   The estimate is that more than 300 aircraft on lease in Russia are from Irish-based aviation leasing companies. Approximately a total of 500 aircraft are leased to Russian airlines by foreign companies. At this stage the exposure is enormous and there is no clear route for recovery of the assets. The longer the war and sanctions continue, the harder it may be to repossess the assets. This has wide ranging repercussion as many of the leasing deals are backed into global bonds to finance the purchase of the aircraft.
Geoffrey

     Second Week in March was Air Cargo Americas Show & Supply Chain Americas Conference Cargo Americas Miami . . . and then last week was INTERMODAL 2022 in Sao Paulo.
     Were you sitting on a shelf wondering what was happening at both events?
     Well, we offered some words from Miami, now here are some from Intermodal. The speaker is Mark Thiermann, Regional Director South America, ATC Aviation Services AG, who attended both.

FT:    What stands out in Brazil?
MT:   “Warmth of the face-to-face meetings, smiles (although masked) that show caring for each other; socializing (something so much missed in these 2 years); direct contact, brainstorming with airline clients and freight forwarders.

FT:   How is Business?
MT:   ATC is doing very well in South America. Most airlines have restarted their flights; plan to do so in the short term or have already increased their capacity. So the ATC Air Force team is gladly filling up the new additional capacity for Aeromexico, LAS Cargo and GOL Linhas Aéreas, plus additional off-line sale for Saudia Cargo and EL AL Israel Airlines.
     May I say it feels just great to be back up where we all belong.
     ATC continues to take advantage of our South America regional reach whilst expanding our cooperation with GOL Linhas Aereas.
     Just signed a new GSSA contract with GOL for Argentina.
     This will allow ATC Argentina to sell twice daily flights from AEP to GRU and GIG, connecting to the rest of GOL’s network and worldwide interline destinations.
     This operation will be increased during the year with flights from EZE, MDZ, COR and ROS, which will also go to Brazil and beyond.

FT:   Do you see a mixed future for live and online meetings ?
MT:   Online meetings will definitely continue.
     That is an efficient way of business interaction. But after seeing the reaction from our clients, competition and friends at Air Cargo Americas MIA and now at Intermodal in SAO, we will definitely want to see more onsite face-to-face meetings and trade shows.
     The stuff of life is face-to-face contact and Latin Spirit, and passion in Brazil is on fire in Sao Paulo.
     Intermodal Sao Paulo has been very busy. Apart from the vaccine certificate revision at the entrance and (mandatory) face masks, it really looks like it’s business as usual due to the large amount of people attending the show.
     Great crowds, with thanks to the stream of wonderful partners and new friends we have been making all during the show at the ATC Stand.