(San Francisco) The two Alaska Air Group (AAG) carriers Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are introducing a new management system promising to simplify cargo reservations and document handling.
     Most major shippers in the Pacific Northwest have been told that the system-wide implementation of CargoSPOT is set for October 22.
     According to airline spokesmen, CargoSPOT represents a significant upgrade.
     Agents can route and price shipments with a few mouse clicks and keep shippers informed on where goods are residing in the pipeline.
     “It is the kind of supply-chain intelligence shippers expect from integrated carriers,” said Lance Abet, an air cargo analyst in Redmond, Washington.
     “It is long overdue for airlines like Alaska,”
     Darbie Kirk, Alaska’s manager of cargo marketing, agrees:
     “CargoSPOT will show our customers that we are serious about cargo.
     “And because shippers will be required to book all reservations, the carriers can track more efficiently.”
     Shippers will receive immediate e-mail notification when shipments arrive at their destination, and real-time reports will be generated as a measurement and forecasting tool.
     Currently, shippers must rely on reports, which are several weeks old for booking trends.
     Alaska and Horizon hope that additional revenue will be captured after their sales force is armed with this new source of market intelligence.
     Other advantages of the new system are security-based.
     There is automated document generation for dangerous goods, for example.
     A central database will manage the airline’s “known shipper list.”
     With the scrapping of ISAAC an antiquated green-screen mainframe system, Alaska is opting for a more transparent and “user-friendly” interface.
     If there is a downside, however, it may be that shippers will be discouraged from simply dropping off cargo on site with the expectation that it will be moved in a timely manner.
     Lisa McCarroll, manager of Alaska’s cargo customer service training, stated that this will eventually be entirely eliminated:
     “CargoSPOT’s capacity planning functionality shows us exactly how much space we have on each flight, enabling us to accurately book shipments.”
     CargoSPOT is the technology piece of Alaska Airlines’ “Cargo Business Transformation Program.”
     Trade analysts said that if the airline succeeds with this launch, AAG’s bottom line may be plumped by as much as 15 % in its inaugural year.
     More importantly, though, is that this profit margin becomes sustainable.
     The goodwill behind such a move is also not to be dismissed.
     FT learned that AAG airline employees and customers have been requesting this kind of upgrade for many years.
     One Alaska Airline 737-400 will be converted into a freighter-only model as part of the cargo program with four others reconfigured to become “Combis” for more cargo payload.
     Meanwhile, every Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air location that handles cargo or ships comat including the Stores Warehouse, will be equipped with CargoSPOT.
     Currently, the carriers are conducting field tests in Seattle, Anchorage and Portland.
     The airline said results have been encouraging, noting that the initial investment should begin paying off as soon as the beta phase ends.
     Analysts noted that this is indeed plausible, given that when transaction times are reduced, productivity will be increased.
     More than 2,000 employees will participate in two days of CargoSPOT training at CompUSA centers nationwide that began Monday Oct. 2.
     The learning curve for shippers using the system should not be quite as steep, the airline said. Customer transaction terminals and new printers are being installed at all freight staging areas.
     These credit card “swipe-and-signature” capture devices long favored by retail vendors should be a familiar for most users.
(Patrick Burnson)