Lux Deluxe

     Frank Reimen is extremely busy these days. From his airlines’ network and fleet policy, to future market priorities or feasible options for liaising with a partner, “Everything is under current review,” states the new CEO for Luxembourg’s air freight carrier.
     “We are in the middle of re-defining our main processes,” announces the 40-year-old manager, who started as chair of the carrier on January 1, 2011, following his predecessor Ulrich Ogiermann, who spent a long time at the helm of this top job.
     Reimen clearly emphasizes that nothing has been decided yet. All topics brought to the table and negotiated within his enterprise will be open-ended. Sustainable solutions revealing the carrier’s future strategy are scheduled for presentation in mid-May, he says.
     Looking at the ongoing task from a more fundamental standpoint, “We intend to change processes in a rather conservative mode; things that don’t need any repair won’t be repaired,” emphasizes the Luxembourg-born executive.
     The major issue on the agenda is evidently the question of whether Cargolux stays with their traditional stand-alone strategy or ties up with a partner. Only when this has been decided upon can subsequent topics be tackled, such as the carrier’s future network structure and fleet policy.
     With respect to the current discussion, Reimen doesn’t disclose any details concerning a possible partnership, but says that no major European competitor; neighboring Lufthansa Cargo or Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo, will get a foot into his carrier’s door.
     This leaves much room for speculation about who might be selected as a partner by Cargolux, assuming the capacity provider opts for liaising with another airline. Prerequisites undoubtedly for doing so are a seamless network fit and the additional market shares Cargolux would be able to gain. Considering this, only carriers headquartered in regions with fast growing economies such as Latin America, East and Southeast Asia or the Middle East will qualify. “At present, we have inquiries from a handful of airlines,” Reimen states, indicating the growing interest.
     He obviously doesn’t favor getting a financial investor on board, but wouldn’t completely exclude it either. The same goes for partnering with one of the big logistics players, namely the airline’s top client, Panalpina. This solution appears rather unlikely, too.
     “In order to continue our long and well-established working relation with Panalpina in future years, we’d better keep doing our core business and they, theirs,” Reimen states.
     Another topic to be reviewed is the fleet structure. By purchasing 13 Boeing mega freighters, B747-8F with a capacity of up to 140 tons per flight, Cargolux is limiting its operations to high-density routes. In times of crisis with dwindling volumes, this strategy could turn out to be highly risky. Therefore, the carrier is also considering converting some of the firm B-8F orders into contracts for the smaller B777 freighter, which can get upto 102 tons each flight, thus reducing the financial risk. A third option is to maintain a number of B747-400 freighters in the fleet to complement the new aircraft delivered by the U.S. plane maker.
     As the launch customer, Cargolux will receive the first two of the ordered B747-8Fs in mid-2011. With their arrival, two B747-400Fs that Boeing had afforded to Cargolux for compensatory reasons (the delivery of the B-8F had been postponed multiple times) will be returned to the Seattle-based manufacturer.
Heiner Siegmund/Sabiha

Brooks Named To Foster Award

     Air Forwarders Association named American Airlines President Dave Brooks winner of its prestigious Jim Foster Award of Excellence for 2011 last week in San Diego capping the AirCargo Conference.
     Mr. Brooks accepted the award, named for the founder of AfA, saying the main point of his visit to the group’s annual meeting was meant to bring forward “American Airlines Cargo’s thanks to the air forwarders for their support and business all year long”.

AirCargo San Diego Humdinger

(Exclusive)—Last week AirCargo held its annual event in San Diego, California.
     AirCargo is a combination show that has been put up during the past years for the Air and Expedited Motor Carriers Association (AEMCA), the Airforwarders Association (AfA), and the Express Delivery & Logistics Association.
     AirCargo was also put up almost at the same time as IATA World Cargo Symposium (WCS) held last week in Istanbul.
     So while conferees and media alike may have been wondering which way to turn to cover both conferences, some airline and other industry types managed to log in excess of about 10,000 miles last week doing cameo appearances at both.
     That heavy travel, according to a half dozen people we spoke to, post AirCargo was well worth the effort
     If you didn’t attend this year’s AirCargo Conference held last week in San Diego California (and that includes yours truly) what was missed, excluding the social networking, were informative panel sessions and spirited discussions with industry participants.
     According to several people we talked to, post conference conversations were at times heated, occasionally frustrated and somewhat challenging – but always driven at improving the industry.
     AirCargo opened fast and hit the ground running via a session with the TSA.
     Given the EA announcement TSA Friday Night Massacre, many attendees had questions about the EA meaning, scope and impact on industry.
     Unfortunately, Marc Rossi and Doug Foster from TSA had few answers to give.
     Several participants agreed that they were frustrated with TSA’s tone in the session, at times seeming to brush off concerns and instead lecturing industry on doing a better job in the voluntary CCSP. Ironically, those forwarders who attended are likely those who are invested in doing a good job with CCSP. Forwarders had questions about implementing and applying the rules, which TSA simply could not answer.
     Putting the rules into place starts with understanding them; and having them clearly articulated to the industry—this is where the TSA needs to improve.
     Overall, conferees were gratified that TSA has made its attendance an annual event at AirCargo, appreciating that even though some might take exception to their lack of answers, TSA’s willingness to directly engage with industry in an open Q & A setting holds promise of substantive progress moving ahead.
     Immediately following the TSA panel was the ‘Women in Air Cargo’ panel, an annual event, growing in size and scope, with over a 100 in attendance.

     Maybe the “Women” focus heated up things too much, as midway through the session a fire alarm went off and everybody evacuated the room.
     Happily, most returned, after a 10-minute hiatus and a trip up and down five flights of stairs as an “all clear” sounded.
     Somebody joked that the alarm served as an apt example of the tenacity of women in business!
     The ‘Women In Air Cargo’ three panelists, Marie Buetow, Delta Airlines; Michelle Mallin, Forward Air and Millie Takesue, ANA, all shared their interesting and unique experiences in the air cargo industry, with a particular focus on communication amongst varying cultures and within the genders.
     As the AirCargo conference continued, on Friday focused shifted on doing business in Asia, just as conferees learned of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
     Clearly, the aftermath of the disaster will impact the Asian markets and the large panel of experts were able to provide insight on opportunities, challenges and strategic advice in a particularly critical time.
     Again the theme of the session was strongly focused on communication across cultural boundaries.
     The trucker’s CSA initiative was also discussed in a trucker’s panel.
     While this is primarily a trucker’s issue, the liability implications for all industry stakeholders including the forwarders and others who use these truckers are significant.
     There appears to be an inherent threat to the independent contractor model in trucking, with the implication that all truckers as individuals become pseudo employees of the forwarders who hire them. Therefore if the driver has issues like a crash, the forwarders and brokers who choose them could subsequently become liable under due diligence guidelines.
     As always, the audience at AirCargo had a voice during the town hall event, with industry participants sharing insights, suggestions and opinions with one another on E-Freight and other matters.
     If the goal is to have industry conferences focused on producing insights for participants and ideas to lead the industry forward through frank discussions, AirCargo 2011 did exactly that.
     This 2011 AirCargo went a long way in establishing a strong program to move talk into action in the coming year!
     Stay tuned.
Geoffrey
Note: Further report on AirCargo 2011 appears next week in Air Cargo News Digital.

Lufthansa Alters Japan Services

     2011 is slowly becoming the year of the global community, with constant reminders that we are all downwind from each other and there are no safe corners from crises. Right now Japan is dealing with horrible aftershocks, tsunami, and fragile nuclear reactors; in the Middle East the advancing crisis is now centered at Bahrain where oil costs are rising. Amidst all this upheaval, air cargo is realizing the impact.
     In Europe, Lufthansa Cargo has cancelled all flights to and from Narita due to three reasons:
               • The ground handling capacities are totally depleted at Tokyo's major gateway.
               • Huge loads of relief goods are arriving there that have to be prioritized for humanitarian reasons in order to get them northbound as quickly as possible to the inhabitants at the quake and tsunami-hit regions.
               • To preserve the well being of LH Cargo's own Tokyo-based staff.
     Instead of serving Narita, the carrier has diverted all flights to Osaka (Kansai airport), upping the movements from five weekly to twelve.
     “Every shipment to be loaded on board of Lufthansa Cargo's MD-11Fs from Japan is being thoroughly checked with a geiger counter to monitor any radioactive contamination of people, goods and equipment,” assured Head of Corporate Communication, Nils Haupt.
     Herr Haupt added that, “Lufthansa pilots are laying over in Seoul, South Korea instead of resting overnight in Japan,” as is the case during normal times.
     "We land, unload and load our aircraft and get out right after, thus minimizing the threats caused by the nuclear disaster," Nils stated.
     Lufthansa's passenger flights circumvent Tokyo as well, landing in Nagoya (Munich flights) and Kansai (Frankfurt flights) for the time being.
     Like their cargo colleagues, the passenger flight crews are laying over in Seoul as well.
     Frankfurt-Hahn airport said that it moved a Boeing 767 flight chartered by the federal agency THW (Technisches Hilfswerk) on behalf of the German government.
     Last weekend the organization deployed a Special Forces team from the Rapid Deployment Unit Search and Rescue Abroad (SEEBA) to Japan.
     The 38 SEEBA members are experts in search and rescue operations in disaster areas. Loaded on board the aircraft were twelve tons of equipment and accessories as well as a number of search dogs to locate missing people.
     The B767 was chartered from British capacity provider, Titan Airways.
     German airports Frankfurt and Munich have begun checking all aircraft for radioactive contamination arriving from Japanese airports. Munich reports finding some minor contamination on the hull of an All Nippon Airways jetliner that came from Tokyo.
     Authorities say, dosimetric measurings within the cabin and lower deck cargo compartments have not indicated any abnormalities. Meanwhile the ANA aircraft was officially given a green light for its return to Japan.
Heiner Siegmund/Flossie

     The Global Air Cargo Advisory Group (GACAG) newly-formed last November at TIACA Amsterdam, signed on the dotted line, last week at World Cargo Symposium in Istanbul, a manifesto laying down the basic principles of GACAG.
     Pictured (l to r) are Jean-Claude Delen, President of FIATA, Michael Steen, Chairman of TIACA, Des Vertannes, Global Head of Cargo of IATA, and Chris Welsh, General Manager, Campaigns, FTA for GSF.
     “The high level of cooperation and commitment from all members has ensured a faster formation of the Global Air Cargo Advisory Group than was originally anticipated.
     “We believe this reflects the need for such a strong industry-wide voice to address the challenges and opportunities facing everyone in the air cargo supply chain and, ultimately, businesses across the globe that rely on the speed, safety and efficiency of air cargo for their own growth and development.
     “We are now ‘ready to go to work’ with a clear agreement on the prime areas we must focus on and the supporting structure to achieve our goals.”
     To that we add with hope and anticipation:
     The sooner the better!
Geoffrey

Up The Irish 2011

     Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with these words as you lift your glass to friends and family:
               May the road rise up to meet you
               And may the wind always be at your back
               May the sun shine warm upon your face
               And the raindrops fall soft upon your fields
               And until we meet again
               May God hold you in the small of his hand

     
A GREAT DAY FOR THE IRISH
     There may be always an Ireland, and beyond that lovely prospect, always 100 parades around the world to celebrate March 17th.
     But from 11:00 a.m. until about 3:00 p.m. on an island called Manhattan, where a green stripe runs down the middle of Fifth Avenue from 44th to 86th Street, The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of New York City’s greatest traditions.
     On St. Patrick’s Day a kind of wonderful delirium takes over in Gotham.
     Everyone is Irish!
     The annual procession marches up Fifth Avenue, past St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 50th Street, all the way up past the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 83rd Street.
     The St. Patrick’s Day parade in NYC began even before there was a United States of America in 1766, when Irishmen from Ireland’s Revolutionary War brought the tradition here.
     Military units continued to march each year until after the War of 1812, when local Irish fraternal and beneficial societies began sponsoring the event.
     In those days, the parade was quite small, marching from local Irish meeting halls to Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Lower Manhattan on Mott & Prince Streets.
     By 1851, the groups had banded together, nominating a Grand Marshall and increasing the size of the parade.
     This was when the Irish 69th Regiment (now the 165th Infantry) became the lead marchers, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians became the official sponsor.
     We love St. Patrick’s Day.
     It’s when the “Irishrey” of New York come out in full celebration. Look into the faces of the uniformed services, especially the NYC Firefighters and you will get it right away.
     We also like that St. Patrick’s Day Parade remains true to its roots by not allowing floats, automobiles and other commercial overkill.
     Marching, great bands, bagpipes fill the air as more than 150,000 people from all over the country and the world celebrates here in New York.
     We slipped over to Tommy Maloney’s in Long Island City, New York (www.tommymaloneys.com) that has the best real Irish corned beef and also boiling bacon (our most favorite) and puddings. We will gather the clan this Sunday and eat the traditional dinner, loving every bit until our hands get tired.
     Then we'll pull out the family album—laugh until we choke a couple of times—and eat some more!
HAPPY SAINT PATRICKS DAY 2011!
Geoffrey

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