Happy Daze At Calgary Cargo Forum

     The TIACA 2006 Forum continued Wednesday in Calgary, Canada under rainswept skies that reminded attendees of this organization’s last encounter with foul weather two years ago in Bilbao, Spain.
     By the end of the first full day of sessions and the trade show, the skies had cleared somewhat giving rise to hope that Calgary would deliver some of the pristine, brisk early autumn weather that has drawn people to this western part of Canada in recent decades.
     But of bigger concern to people we talked to was the thin turnout of foot traffic at the show.
     Here are the best and brightest trade show exhibits that air cargo has to offer.
     With time, fleet and many places to go before nightfall, many show goers passed up the snack bars and luncheon menu to grab a bit of petit déjeuner at the WFS stand that featured salmon and other finger foods and later liberal varieties of adult beverages that dented, if not dumped the notion that with no shippers the show might not go on.
     It did and they did after the trade show part of the day, out from the Stampede Center, herding past sleeping vagrants in the train station to board local transit back to the Hyatt Hotel for more finger food and an extended buffet music fest advertorial put up by Malaysian Airlines Cargo.
     “Stop complaining and just have a good time,” the beautiful lady insisted.
     Lots of heavy business conversation as the night began and the band played on.

Big Noise From American

     Dave Brooks is standing in the back of a big banquet room in Calgary as the Malaysian Airlines Cargo evening kicked off a TIACA fest with some dancers, buffet dinner and lots of music.
     Surveying the scene, the President of the world’s largest airline’s cargo division deflected the notion that nothing can be done with the current on again, off again rules and regulations put up by the U.S. TSA.
     “We have formed a group from various factions of air cargo with the purpose of drawing up some papers that will help TSA get a better handle on the air cargo business.
     “A big problem is that the TSA people change all the time.
     “One day you are dealing with one set of people, the next the staff changes.
     “Continuity under these circumstances is a challenge.
     Business, Mr. Brooks says, is good.
     “AA Cargo is about to ink a five year pact with the USPS that will add up to 100 million annually in revenue to the cargo division.
     “We are especially proud of this contract because we had to win in a competitive bid and also be competent to get it.
     “Others did not make the grade.”

DNATA Ground Handling Pioneer

     Ismail Ali Albanna is executive vice president of Dnata.
     In fact, he has been an integral part of the Dnata management team for more than 36 years.
     “We are in Calgary to show our worldview and explain that our handling expertise in both cargo and passenger operations extends beyond our gateway in Dubai to the major cities and airports in Pakistan, Singapore, Manila, Sudan and elsewhere.
     Mr. Albanna admits his motivation for a life at the airport began when he was quite young and yearned to be a fighter pilot.
     His family talked him out of that career but he still pursued getting his pilot’s license.
     He also passed his Air Traffic Control Training in London.
     Obviously seeing nothing as impossible, Mr. Albanna who rightfully occupies a very special place among the airport pioneers of the Middle East, thinks that some airport handling contracts are in the offing for Dnata in North American, maybe even quite soon.
     “We are the superior service provider in the world right now.
     “Our team is second to none”

Crafting An Air Cargo Enterprise

     Etihad Cargo vice president Ingo Roessler knows about air cargo because he has been educated all his life in transportation.
     Lessons learned from 22 years at Lufthansa “doing all the jobs,” and later at the German railroad, and also as a GSA have turned this still young executive world-wise and also into a tough no-nonsense individual who is a first rate negotiator and a systems manager par excellence.
     We are sitting in Etihad Cargo’s brand new air cargo display stand in Calgary.
     The sweeping upturned lines of this block long opus are accented with buff and stark white counterpoint table, chairs and wall spaces.
A floor to ceiling corner space of a small clean sitting room is executed in translucent panels with Arabic motifs allowing the outside light to liven up the interior spaces.
     It is all quite enthusiastic and uplifting.
     It is no stretch to say that without several booths from UAE, TIACA Calgary would be much the worse for excitement and interest.
     With only 70 employees, Eithad Cargo barely in its third year of business is turning more than 200 million annually in cargo revenues.
     Some might think Ingo’s manner a bit brash even overly self- confident, but he makes no apology when he says his most important mission is to be hands on and take nothing for granted.
     “I talk to my managers all the time and get out to the problem before it gets out of hand.
     “Eithad is going daily into New York City with A345 service next month.
     “We will get our service right.
     “Crystal Cargo (Brand name for the EY product) is upgrading our cargo handling facility at Abu Dhabi with systems and IT enhancements aimed at providing even better service.
     “Air cargo is an inclusive business.
     “A closer look at UAE reveals that there are dynamics in Abu Dhabi that we are building a world class airline upon.
     Certainly adding a new destination every month and making these routes work speaks for itself.
     “Etihad operates three regional freighters and carries cargo aboard our A340’s and B777’s in our long haul fleet.
     “We are looking at the next generation freighter and will be making some further announcements soon.

View From The Bridge

     Upstairs inside the big double deck Emirates SkyCargo display is too cool for school.
     We are in the nose loading area of a freighter looking up at the sky through a transparent tube.
     It feels like an opening night too because dancing spotlights bathe areas outside the room in bright klieg lights as the words Emirates SkyCargo come into focus on various surfaces around the stand.
     We keep looking for a spot to reveal that what is actually going on here is the bat signal calling for another super hero entrance.
     Maybe that hero is Ram Menen?
     No doubt the announcement of an advanced “next generation Sky Chain IT solution qualifies as the next big thing in air cargo.
     In any event, whatever Pradeep Kumar, EK guru of these kind of things and the rest of the Emirates team have come up that was launched earlier this month obviously works, else everybody would be back in Dubai on 24 hour systems watch.
     “It’s an innovative tool allowing users to move past the constraints of legacy technology,” Ram says.
     Works for us.