It may not seem like a very big deal but American Airlines Cargo selecting Unilode ULD Management to partner with to manage the entire American Airlines Cargo ULD fleet for 999 aircraft (August 28) puts a whole lot of cans on the line for Unilode to deliver on time with all manner of repair, maintenance, and digitization solutions.
     Unilode hit the ground running to deliver seamlessly to AA Cargo; visiting American Airlines Centers across the United States and globally, offering hands-on training and information sessions to ensure that top to bottom, AA's Cargo team felt comfortable and confident in the partnership.
     Unilode also has created a dedicated American Airlines Cargo Customer Success Team based in Dallas-Fort Worth.
     Sam 'socks' Mendenhall, (above right) Vice President American Airlines Cargo Operations. who knows something about “kicking the cans”, and has been seen wearing some snazzy socks, (above pictured earlier this year at Airforwarders Association AirCargo 2025 confab) smiled and put it this way:
     “Unilode’s expertise in ULD management, repair, and digital tracking technology play a crucial role in ensuring the highest level of reliability and service for our customers.”
      We like this combination in the spirit of what goes around, comes around!
American Airlines, in case you missed it, introduced the ULD worldwide in 1958.
     Today the ULD pioneer hooking up with the largest provider of ULD services in the world in 2025, feels like a natural thing to do.
     The First ULD from American Cargo was branded The Paul Bunyan Box when it appeared in 1958. This innovative container was groundbreaking, allowing for the efficient loading and unloading of cargo on aircraft, significantly reducing the time and effort required for each flight. The design and branding of the ULD were inspired by the legendary fictional lumberjack, Paul Bunyan, symbolizing strength and resilience.
     The Paul Bunyan Box revolutionized air cargo logistics, streamlining operations and enhancing the efficiency of air freight.
     To underscore the excitement that the Paul Bunyan Box brought to shipping air cargo, in 1958 seventy-seven years ago by Richard Malkin wrote a story titled “The Paul Bunyan Box Proves a Point.” The feature article included pictures of a shipment of fresh peaches flown from  Bakersfield, Calif., to a fruit auction in New York City with nary a peach pinched along the way in that pioneering ULD.
GDA/SSA

     “The impact has been sudden and disruptive,” said Dinesh Kumar Krishnan, Managing Director of United Shipping Services. His company had expanded to the U.S. recently to serve American importers sourcing from India. “The tariffs are stressing out our business plans. U.S. buyers are frustrated with elevated costs, and volumes are drying up week by week.”
     Krishnan was speaking about the plummeting India-U.S. export figures. The India-U.S. air cargo corridor, long a backbone for high-value shipments, is shuddering under the weight of Washington’s new trade barriers. The Trump administration’s decision to double tariffs on Indian exports to 50% from August 27 has not only dented exporter confidence but also dragged down volumes and spot rates on this once-lucrative lane.
     WorldACD data painted a stark picture. India-U.S. air cargo volumes dropped 12% in the week ending August 31 and plunged another 14% in the first week of September. This steep reversal came immediately after the tariff hike, which followed a brief surge of shipments in mid-August as shippers raced to beat the new duty deadline. Week 34 saw a 28% leap in volumes, 35% higher year-on-year, as forwarders scrambled to move consignments. That rush has now given way to the quiet of idle capacity.
     Mirroring demand, spot air freight rates slumped below the psychological $4/kg mark for the first time in several months, touching $3.99/kg. This represented a 22% decline against the same period last year, when rates were buoyed by strong trans-Pacific and China substitution demand. For forwarders and carriers alike, this rate erosion is squeezing margins on what was until recently one of the most profitable corridors out of South Asia.
     “Rates are stable for Europe for now, but volatility in the U.S. trade lane is creating uncertainty,” Krishnan added. The unpredictability of tariff policy has become as damaging as the tariffs themselves, complicating carrier planning and shipper commitments.
     The tariff shock has hit labor-intensive cargo segments hardest. Textiles and apparel—long the volume leaders in bellyhold freight—fell 2.7% in August to $2.9 billion, down from $3.1 billion in July. Gems and jewellery, shrimp, leather products, and auto parts are also scaling back shipments as landed costs soar beyond acceptable thresholds. According to freight forwarders, importers in the U.S. are beginning to seek heavy discounts, further eroding yields for exporters.
     “Pharma continues to move, since it’s largely exempt from tariff hikes, but that cargo alone cannot fill airline bellies,” said Afzal Malbarwala of Galaxy Freight. “The broader loss in textiles, perishables, and auto parts is where carriers are feeling the emptiness.”
     The Global Trade Research Initiative forecasts India’s exports to the U.S. could fall to $49.6 billion in FY26, down from $87 billion in FY25. “Most exporters can barely accommodate a 10-15% cost escalation. A structural 50% tariff wipes out competitiveness,” Malbarwala added.
     While the India-U.S. air bridge weakens, alternative corridors are strengthening. WorldACD figures show Indian exports to Europe grew 8% year-on-year in early September, a sharp contrast to the decline across the Atlantic. Carriers are already redeploying capacity westward.
     For the air cargo market, the India-U.S. corridor remains mired in contraction: falling tonnages, sinking rates, edgy customers, and carriers in tactical retreat. Meanwhile, Europe is gaining altitude as a stabilizing destination, with South Asian neighbors like Sri Lanka carving out opportunistic gains.
     For airlines, the tariff shock on Indian exports is accelerating a wider pattern: redeployment of freighter capacity from uncertain U.S.-bound markets to steadier Europe and intra-Asia demand. Operators are now weighing capacity rationalization on India-U.S. routes as forward bookings thin out. Passenger belly capacity, buoyed by resilient India-U.S. traffic, may cushion some losses, but freighters are feeling the pinch.
     Although the government response is policy-heavy rather than cargo-centric, mitigation efforts will affect forwarder liquidity. Measures under consideration include reinstating the Interest Equalization Scheme (IES) to offset high Indian borrowing costs, along with subsidized loans and credit guarantees for exporters. “The government’s priority is preventing irreversible loss of market share,” a commerce ministry official told FT. Industry groups like the Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) are lobbying to ensure relief measures translate into direct competitiveness, not just financial breathing room.
     C. K. Govil, ACAAI Immediate Past President, argued that the industry must treat this disruption as both risk and opportunity. “We cannot afford corridor concentration. The answer lies in diversified lanes, digital integration, and greener, more reliable supply chains. The downturn, though painful, is a chance to innovate ahead of the next upcycle.”
     Others underscore the long-term credibility challenge. “India is being promoted as a China alternative,” Malbarwala warned. “If these tariffs linger and volumes bleed, buyers will not wait—they will shift permanently to Vietnam and Bangladesh. Air cargo viability depends on shippers retaining confidence.”
     For Indian forwarders and airlines, the immediate play is survival—cash-flow management, capacity reshuffling, and lobbying for relief. Long-term resilience will hinge on building diversified corridors and efficient, tech-enabled logistics.
     “The slowdown is temporary, but the lessons are permanent,” Govil concluded. “Air cargo has always been the lifeline of trade. Our adaptability now will decide how strong India emerges as a logistics hub once the storm passes.”
Tirthankar Ghosh

     March 30th 2025 marked the hundredth anniversary of the creation of Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong.
     It was back in 1925 when two businessmen, Sir Kai Ho Kai and Mr. Au Tak with incredible foresight created Hong Kong's first-land based airport.
     Actually, at that time the primary means of air transport was by the flying boats, both east and west, with BOAC running flights to London and Pan-American across the Pacific.
      The last long-distance flying boat service departed Hong Kong in 1958 though Cathay Pacific continued to run Grumman Mallards across the Pearl River to Macau which had no land-based airport for some years after that.
     I never witnessed these operations but I do recall, when sitting for my HK Marine Dept pleasure vessel skippers license in 1975, some of the vessel lighting configurations I had to memorize were for flying boats.

     By the time I arrived in Hong Kong in 1975, Kai Tak had already arrived in the jet age, with even a smattering of widebody aircraft to be seen. And despite the cramped nature of the airport, sandwiched between the harbor, the Nullah and the densely populated neighborhoods, Kai Tak was becoming a significant aviation hub.
     The Nullah, a creek that ran alongside the runway was made famous in James Clavell’s “Taipan” novel, wherein an arriving passenger turns to a seat mate asking about the source of the smell that has just invaded the cabin after landing and is told:
      “That’s the smell of money!”
     By any measure The Nullah certainly had a distinct aroma especially during the long hot summer.
     In my more, crazy youthful days I enjoyed “skydiving” and Hong Kong actually had in those days a small flying club located right beside the airport with a couple of Cessna aircraft.
     On any Saturday morning, we would assemble at the club with our gear, load up into the aircraft with the door off.
     As the airport opened at 7:00 am, lifting the flight curfew, we would taxi out onto the runway, quite often right behind a Cathay Pacific Tristrar or Convair, take off and fly north over the new territories jumping above the Shek Kong military airfield (now a PLA airfield).
     We could generally pack in a couple of jumps, and after the last one, the aircraft would fly back to Kai Tak empty to land there before 10:30 when we had to deliver the aircraft for other duties.
     Kai Tak always was an airport where too much was never enough; a scene of constant construction, including a road tunnel that ran directly under the runway; the enormous Hactl cargo terminals over on the eastern side, and the long row of Haeco Hangars,
     The action was everywhere, including on the parking apron that squeezed every inch of space for operations. One could drive around the perimeter road so close to the action with 747s parked just on the other side of a fence.
     And of course, one cannot ignore the waters around the unique runway which jutted out into the harbor.
     Any kind of waterborne activity at the eastern end of the harbor was accompanied by the thunder of 747’s taking off right overhead.
     One of the more memorable experiences was the visit of Concorde to Hong Kong.
     But perhaps my very best memories of Hong Kong were jump seat landings and takeoffs.
     During those days it was not unusual for one to know the captain on a Cathay flight and all it took was a word to the flight staff onboard and one would be strapping in on a cockpit jump seat for  take offs or landings.
     My last ever landing into Kai Tak was on a Cathay 747 from Tokyo one evening.
     As it happened, it was also the first officers last ever landing into Kai Tak and he savored every moment of it as did I.
     Nighttime arrivals were particularly spectacular tracking the row of strobes across Kowloon before turning at the chequer board.
     A few days later Kai Tak closed its doors for the last time, and the steady stream of aircraft descending into the airport across Kowloon, which I could view from my office window was no more.
     Today Kai Tak is home to a huge Cruise Terminal, some massive housing, and the amazing new 60,000 seat Kai Tak stadium, as once again Hong Kong repurposes itself, and of course the current airport out at Chep Lap Kok is a marvel in itself.
     But for those of us who were around during those Kai Tak days will always have very fond memories of a place in history created by Mr. Kai and Mr. Tak.
Bob Rogers