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What
kind of year was 2010?
What lies ahead for 2011?
Here begins our annual survey of the best
& brightest in air cargo, in order that they might share their thoughts,
hopes and dreams.
The series continues through January exclusively
in FlyingTypers.
 Dave
Brooks
President
American Airlines Cargo
 New
Service! Shanghai to LAX, JFK to Budapest, ORD to Helsinki, JFK to Haneda—all
will highlight 2011 at AA Cargo.
Recapping 2010, 100% screening was successfully
implemented.
Another highlight was a strong, early 2010
rebound from a lousy 2009 in all markets.
Looking ahead, we will announce new appointment
for Europe Sales later this month (January).
Trish Hollinrake took over as VP Cargo Operations
this year; she is a solid operator from the passenger side at AA and is
learning the Cargo biz quickly.
A big challenge in 2011 will be having to
deal with continued security knee-jerk reactions to the Yemen shipments,
paralyzing foreign mail flow.
The TSA is working with industry to rationalize
in 2011.”
Hope you’re not expecting any Christmas
gifts from cousin Franz in Frankfurt or Aunt Pauline in Paris.
AA Cargo domestic mail is dying a death by a thousand
cuts after a good run. The upside will come from products that truly need
air in 2011.
Pharma is getting a lot of attention, the
market needs more passive solutions as the active containers will be too
expensive for emerging products.
High tech will ebb and flow depending on
consumer demand and new product introductions.
Veg/flower guys will always be there if
the rate is right.
And the most neglected, underserved market
that we have spent quality time with this year: human  remains.
Great service, fair rates, appreciative
customers: what more could you ask?
 Stan
Wraight
President
Strategic Aircargo Solutions Int'l
If
ever there was a chance for the industry to embrace change, 2011 will
be it.
There is a crossroads coming and we will see
if the industry really has the leaders it needs in the way they handle
the politics of security and safety.
The knee-jerk reactions that occur, mostly for
expediency or political correctness, happen without thinking things through
or understanding the consequences.
If we have an incident again, we know what will
happen; it will be a lockdown. Can the industry be pro active for once?
That will be the test of management in air cargo in 2011.
There is only one way for safety and security
to be handled globally in a manner that will satisfy all governments and
politicians, and that is to create a database that is open and transparent
and available to all certified agencies on every shipment handled by air,
be it from an integrator or scheduled airline, and detailing every mandatory
field that may be required.
This can only be accomplished through E-Freight,
and by making this mandatory for international air cargo we will show
the world we can change, and will tackle problems as an industry, not
a fractured bunch of ostriches with our heads buried in the sand, hoping
someone else will solve our problems.
Looking back, for our company, Strategic Aviations
Solutions, we had a stellar year.
We are really pleased regarding the reaction
of our clients to the approach we have taken, which is in effect a transfer
of knowledge and experience versus traditional consultants who are great
with data, but very short on experience.
The new and emerging markets, especially in Russia
and the former republics, really stood out in 2010.
There is a pent up demand for a new way of doing
things, for modernization, and a willingness to accept change.
Our motto in the company is ‘without change
the mediocre catch up’ and we believe that.
Taking the industry view, I think that Des Vertannes
moving to IATA was a tremendous loss for Etihad, but a great thing for
air cargo worldwide.
I hope the new Director General takes cargo as
seriously as he did in Cathay, and that it becomes a core activity of
IATA again.
What a combination that would make, especially
when you see that TIACA and IATA can agree to work hand in hand as they
have done.
TIACA under Michael Steen, although Uli did a
superb job, can also make a real difference in moving TIACA away from
it's former self into a more aggressive force in the change process.
I hope Meta Ullings of Martinair and Uli Ogiermann
of Cargolux come back soon to their posts; we desperately need them to
remain active and involved, true professionals both.
The biggest challenge to business looking ahead
is apathy.
The heads of airlines and airports don't understand
what can hit them if air cargo is not protected against the threats that
are out there.
Cargo contribution is a much larger percentage
than many airlines really understand, and is going to be the difference
between profit and loss as passenger yields and the consolidation in the
industry marches on.
Places to be in 2011 in terms of trade shows
are Air Cargo Africa in Nairobi in February, and Freighters in London
for sure.
In terms of action right now in the air cargo
business, mail is actually slowing down and it does not take a rocket
scientist to see why: email, text, twitter, Facebook, etc…
When was the last time you mailed something?
Express integrators have taken over the small
package business and without government subsidies, most mail activities
are a loss for governments.
Airlines have been getting less and less income
from mail, but certain carriers still count on it for a lot of revenue,
buyer beware.
I see pharma, especially new technology drugs
which require constant temperature control, growing especially in emerging
markets.
Also I believe we could as an industry do more
if all airlines developed a true cargo strategy and business plan that
would analyze their USP's, and develop a product portfolio that can take
the individual strengths they have and build on them.
There is no cookie cutter solution to success,
what is good for one airline in a region or globally may be a complete
financial disaster for another.
If you do your marketing and strategy analysis plus business planning
and training correctly, there is money out there for airlines and airports.
Oliver Evans
Chief Cargo Officer
Swiss WorldCargo
Swiss
International Airlines is completing one of its best years and is once
again the world’s most profitable airlines. For Swiss WorldCargo,
this means that we can look forward to benefiting from a continued, measured,
but significant growth in 2011 and beyond. New destinations and capacity
will be added gradually over the coming years, while remaining clearly
focused on the specialized, care-intensive product markets in which we
have become a global leader.
We have secured our position as an autonomous
yet integral and closely linked member of the Lufthansa Cargo Group, setting
high standards for performance and making a very significant contribution
to the profit of the airline and of the cargo group besides our usual
financial, quality and customer satisfaction goals.
We will strive to remain a leading adopter of
e-freight, we will continue to lobby with industry bodies and governments
to establish sensible, effective and fair regulations for customs and
security measures, and use our voice and energy to ensure that the recently
announced global air cargo advisory group hits the ground running and
helps transform our industry into a revitalized and progressive community.
In short, we won’t be bored.
In terms of 2010, the word recovery says it all.
We achieved healthy numbers once again, easily outperforming targets that
were naturally conservative as they were set in the still gloomy days
of early winter 2009.
Remember Eyjafjallajokull (a name that deserves
immortal recognition): Despite being a nasty experience, it was salutary
to have air freight and its vital importance to globalization and world
trade brought to the headlines of newspapers and public awareness. Conversely,
the industry’s need to constantly upgrade security was highlighted
by another incident: the sad effort of some to disrupt the welfare of
the many by attempting to plant a bomb in an airplane a few weeks ago.
For me, all these events are just confirmation (as if any were required)
that this industry still has mountains to climb to deliver consistently
reliable quality to our customers at competitive costs. Therefore, a welcome
change has been IATA remaining an important voice in the industry and
realizing that its voice must be in unison with that of FIATA, TIACA,
and the GSF in order to be effective.
Swiss WorldCargo is a global player and we embrace
diversity in our team, whether management of staff. I had a superb team,
which included Dieter Vranckx and Bernd Maresch, who thoroughly deserved
the new challenges they have taken on, within or outside of our group.
But I am proud and happy that we had have a smooth
transition to an equally superb team, in which diversity is present in
all its forms: diversity of culture, of experience and of gender. I am
specifically looking forward to Lalin Sabuncuoglu-Janseen, our new managing
director Europe, featured in your great ‘Women in Air Cargo’
column. We need new talent, and half the world consists of talented women
who deserve their opportunities in top positions. Urs Stulz has therefore
been very wise in assembling his new team as Managing Director Central
Services, including two bright women, Christine Barden (Senior Manager
Processes) and Annette Kreuziger (Senior Manager Marketing) amongst his
direct reports. I have the greatest respect for my male colleagues, but
they and I will be challenged all the way!!!
For 2011 our biggest challenge will be ensuring
sustainable profitability to fund investments – in people, processes
and new aircraft – so that we make full use of new technology, crush
costs, reduce the impact of our industry on the environment, and look
after this beautiful planet we inhabit for the sake of our children and
our childrens’ children.
In terms of ‘must attend air cargo trade
shows’ IATA's world cargo symposium is unmissable, while CNS (for
meeting and discussing vital issues with top U.S. customers) and air cargo
Europe (for doing the same with European customers) are on our (rather
selective) radar.
Mail is actually a problematic sector (and has
been for a while). Integrators bit off a big chunk out of the market,
and the air cargo industry has not done itself any favors with some of
the outdated processes it has allowed to survive. The latest blow to the
mail business are the recent regulations hastily imposed by the TSA, which
have hardly been discussed with the industry despite the lessons from
the introduction of air cargo security measures.
We are a disproportionately big player in this
market, but I call upon the UPU, our customers and ourselves to speed
up the discussion and resolution of all procedural issues hampering this
vital sector.
Pharma also is a hot performer; our challenge
will be staying ahead of the game as we face new competition, of both
high and low quality.
However, hottest of all in 2010 was express, and we will invest energy
and time in remaining a global industry leader in all our chosen product
markets in 2011.
 Nalin
Rodrigo
COO
MCH Holdings Australia
I
am looking forward to being back in the driving seat of a air cargo carrier.
Recapping 2010, the greatest joy came from
helping Air Niugini to re-draw its cargo strategy and the engagement with
their board.
The team was a great bunch to work with
who were eager to bring their airline to the world air cargo stage.
Their dedication from top to bottom was
impressive.
In my current role as COO of MCH Holdings
Australia, the second largest Airline GSSA company in Australia, is to
build on the teams strengths and to ensure consistent flow of business.
Australian air freight is heavily influenced
by its produce exports. MCH Holdings Group is the GSSA for Delta Airlines
Cargo, MASKargo, Vietnam Airlines, Jet Airways, Air Astana and Czech Airlines.
All
segments are doing well; we will focus on the charter business in 2011,
both in and out of Australia.”
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Annette
Kreuziger had just been named Swiss WorldCargo Global Head of Marketing,
capping a year of change and growth as reported here in the article above
with Oliver Evans.
