 Ray
Curtis (right) gets excited about attending air cargo industry events,
but when it comes to choices he really gets worked up about show venues
that also offer an opportunity to do some good, lasting business.
So while the big thoughts this week are
being sprung and sung in Los Angeles, Delta Cargo’s vice-president
of sales muses about the gigantic Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing
North America.
Scheduled for Boston Convention Center March
16-18, it is the largest seafood trade event in North America.
By the numbers, the event attracts over
19,000 buyers and suppliers of fresh, frozen, packaged, and value-added
seafood products, equipment, and services.
Attendees travel from more than 100 countries
to do business at the exposition.
No other event in North America provides
seafood professionals with direct access to qualified buyers and suppliers
representing all areas of the seafood industry.
So as bags are packed and an all-star Delta
Cargo team wings its way to Boston, we ask the boss to survey the landscape,
or in nautical terms to weigh anchor and offer air cargo an overview of
what attendees and others can expect.
“Delta Cargo is of course well-known
throughout the industry as a major shipper of perishables such as fresh
and frozen seafood around the world,” Ray said.
“The annual Boston Seafood Expo is
a prime opportunity for us to meet face-to-face with our customers from
around the industry.
“The show provides an unequalled venue
to promote our worldwide network and global reach, which is expanded even
further by our North American joint venture partners Air France, KLM,
and Alitalia.”
| Seafood Big
Business At Delta |
 “Shipping
perishables such as seafood is major business for Delta, and we are focused
on growing our high-value product lines, like perishables.
“Our company continues to invest in
the cargo business; last year we invested in a new 3,000-square foot cooler
facility in Detroit that opened in September.
“The cooler expands connecting opportunities
between the West Coast and Europe and Latin America for perishable shipments.
“The cooler can store up to 4 built
pallets and 12 LD2 containers at any time, with drive thru access.
“We also expanded our hours in Detroit and are now available for
our customers 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
“Delta is up-gauging our domestic
fleet, which provides additional cargo capacity and greater capabilities
for dangerous goods as we retire 50-seat regional aircraft and add Boeing
737-900ERs, Boeing 717s, and CRJ-900s.
“These are cargo friendly aircraft
that we know will benefit our seafood customers as well.”
“We are investing in Seattle and
have already announced significant capacity increases to multiple domestic
and international destinations which underscore our commitment not only
to the Pacific Northwest but to the seafood industry.
“Delta Cargo is also focused on building
our organization and we now have the optimal team in place that will allow
us to accomplish our key objectives.
“Last year, Sharon Poindexter joined
our team as Director of eCommerce and Technology.
“Sharon and her team are focused on
removing paper from our business and providing efficient options for our
customers to do business with us from booking to eAWB submission and tracking
shipments.
 “We
are making investments in deltacargo.com to improve the user experience
and provide enhanced functionality that is valued by our customers.
“Lisa Wallace (right) joined the team
as director of revenue management and alliances. Lisa and her team are
focused on building our existing partnership with Air France-KLM, where
we have anti-trust immunity for our transatlantic flights, and on developing
our new joint venture with Virgin Atlantic, where we have anti-trust immunity
between the U.S. and the U.K.
“Alex Clayton is our new General Manager
of Premium Products.
“This was another investment the company
made in our cargo business, illustrating the importance we are placing
on building our premium product portfolio.
“Alex and her team have been busy
certifying stations to handle our Pharma business and we now have 45 stations
that are ready to handle Pharma shipments.”
“We know that our customers expect
operational reliability for their shipments.
“Even standard air-freight shipments
are considered premium as compared to other modes of transportation (ocean,
trucking).
“Scott Barkley is continuing to lead
the team to build processes and standard operations procedures and measure
and report progress on a daily basis.
“The entire leadership of Delta Cargo
is working together to achieve our objectives, which are shared across
the entire division.”
“Feedback from our employees is
essential to our success – our third annual employee survey just
opened.
“Employee feedback is very important
to our company and is taken into account in decisions that are made.
“Delta Air Lines is a great company
and remains focused on the cargo business.
“It’s an exciting time for the
team and we look forward to the opportunities ahead.”
“We have defined clear operational
procedures for our teams that outline the handling of seafood and other
perishable items.
“Shipments are accepted and set to
ride as booked.
“We assign perishables a higher boarding
priority because of the nature of the product.
“If the shipment doesn’t ride
as booked for any reason, we bring it back to the warehouse for storage
in coolers whenever possible, depending on the city, or we hold it in
the warehouse protected from the elements until it is able to ride on
next available flight.
“We also measure our performance daily
and make adjustments when necessary so that we can serve our customers
well.”
The Big Show Is In Boston S/H
“The Delta Cargo team will be well
represented in Boston.
“For that event we have sales account
managers whose main focus is on perishable products.
“We will be in a booth with our joint
venture partners AF and KLM.
“Christine Waggett will be leading
the Delta team.
“She recently celebrated her 30th
anniversary with Delta and has been in Boston for the majority of her
career.
“Christine has worked closely with
her customers to ensure the optimal container is utilized when seafood
is shipped on different aircraft types around the world to ensure the
products are fresh when they arrive at destination.
“She was recently promoted to the
East Coast Perishable Manager because of her knowledge and expertise in
the perishable market.
“I can tell you that it was great
to be on the same team as Christine when I came to Delta Cargo six years
ago.
“She is Delta Cargo in Boston!”
Geoffrey |
