When
asked to offer some insight into air cargo in 2016 both
domestically (U.S.) and internationally, Roger Samways,
Managing Director Global and Key Accounts for American
Airlines Cargo, related the following.
“The international market
makes up a lot of our business. And although the macroeconomic
situation worldwide isn’t necessarily encouraging,
there are still plenty of opportunities as we continue
to focus on building stronger relationships with our
customers and developing new partnerships, and as our
overall network continues to expand (as with our newly
acquired presence in Haneda, Sydney, etc.).
“On a similar note, our
domestic network is offering us many new opportunities
since our merger with US Airways, both in terms of growing
domestic business and also the way in which our domestic
network supports international growth.
“For example, within
the pharma sector, we added our new dedicated facility
in Philadelphia (PHL) last year, which is designed to
support the needs of cold chain customers on the East
Coast whilst also supporting customers looking to export
to the U.S. from overseas markets, particularly in Europe.
“We will continue to
make infrastructure investments where supported by demand,
including additional coolers for perishables (we have
just opened a new drive-through cooler in DFW, for example)
and more temperature controlled spaces for more sensitive
healthcare items.
“This year, we’ll
also be focusing on the growth of our high-value business
as we enhance visibility across the entire shipping
process and offer exceeded security measures for the
safety of these important shipments.”
East
Vs. West
“Percentage-wise, a majority
of our domestic-to-domestic traffic moves west to east.
Specifically, in regard to weight, 55 percent of our
coast-to-coast business—or 27 percent of our overall,
purely domestic business—moves westbound to eastbound,
due to the large amount of perishable traffic that originates
on the west coast.”
Potential
Red Flags
“Of
course, we have modal threats from road and sea freight
(and even rail in some markets), particularly in sectors
which are particularly price sensitive and less focused
upon speed of transit. We need to continue to focus
on differentiation based upon areas such as speed of
transit (whilst our industry provides an advantage vs.
other modes of transit, this could be even greater if
we could strip existing inefficiency out of the process,
including our interaction with forwarders and end users)
and accuracy of information.
“With the tracking capabilities
available, as well as the naturally quick nature of
the business, we have unmatched potential compared to
other modal services. Specifically in regard to the
temperature-control supply chain and our ever-growing
perishable business, our monitoring services and enhanced
online tracking capabilities help offer a sense of transparency
and promptness we know the customer values greatly.”
U.S.
Versus The World
“There are differences
in the types of commodities which are shipped across
our network which are driven by geography—strong
perishable support ex Peru and Chile and West Coast
U.S.A, high tech/consumer electronics out of China,
and fashion out of Italy. No matter the origin or the
commodity though, customers value consistency in their
experience and reliability when it comes to interactions
with their carrier. Awareness of this is a key driver
for development of our future strategy, and you can
see the effect of this in the implementation of several
new initiatives over the last year.
“For example, our Customer
Experience solution, which we are in the process of
rolling out, is designed to provide customers with a
more consistent and reliable solution for questions
and issues from the point of booking through to the
end of a shipments’ life.”
“We have a strong domestic
network and have learned an invaluable amount from our
colleagues who came over with the US Airways merger.
We’ve embraced mail opportunities and are working
to better utilize our narrowbody planes for postal (and
other relevant) domestic transports. We now also have
a team dedicated to our specialty programs, which are
highly impactful parts of our domestic business. TLC,
our service for transporting loved ones to their final
resting places, live animals, and high-value shipments
are all closely worked and monitored by this dedicated
team. Specifically in these areas of our business, we
know how important transparency, security, and accuracy
are to customers. From art galleries to zoo animals,
these shipments (although not just domestic) remain
a crucial part of the cargo world we live in.
The
Air Cargo Professional
“I realized pretty early
on that, whilst Law was interesting, I didn’t
want a career in it.
“I had a vague notion
of wanting a job in sales based upon the fact that I
enjoy meeting people.
“Fortunately, the day
after getting back from traveling around the U.S., my
Dad’s cricket team was one man short, so I ended
up filling in.
“This led to a job opportunity
in sales with another player who also happened to only
be playing in this game as a one off.
“The job was with a GSA
based at Heathrow—I think I must have been the
only applicant as the job description clearly stated
‘must have previous experience.’”
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Born
To Fly
“I was born in Oxford,
England. We moved around a bit when I was young, so
I’ve lived in a variety of places, including:
Bristol, High Wycombe, London in the UK, and Nigeria—my
parents were both teachers and taught at Kano University
for a couple of years (hence the spell in Nigeria)—and
then Dad became a vicar (Pastor in U.S. parlance!),
which necessitated training and then serving a couple
of curacies. I live in Dallas presently.
“I studied Law at Huddersfield
University and loved living in the north of England
(although I did wake up one morning during my first
winter there to find that 20 inches of snow had fallen
overnight, which was a bit of a surprise). After graduating,
I travelled around the U.S. with my sister, driving
from New York to Los Angeles. I then completed an MBA
at BCUC in my spare time between 1999 and 2002. It may
have been hard work at the time, but was really good
fun.”
The
Biggest Thrill
“Did
I mention that I love meeting people?! This is going
to sound really corny, but it’s a great thrill
to be able to do a job that I love; I’m very fortunate.”
Job
Or Profession?
“Using
the strict definition of ‘profession’ (a
vocation founded upon specialised educational training,
the purpose of which is to supply disinterested objective
counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite
compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other
business gain), it’s a job… but that shouldn’t
make it any less important than so-called professions.
The air cargo industry provides a huge variety of roles,
many of which require detailed training, constant variety,
daily challenges, and form an integral and valuable
part of global commerce.”
Teachers
Vs. Students
“We can all
learn from each other. Yes, there are certainly things
that shippers need to learn, but there is also a lot
for other stakeholders (including airlines and forwarders)
to learn. We welcome a more collaborative approach,
which helps to facilitate this environment, rather than
a 'partnership' based around conflict and imprecise
information.”
A
More Perfect Union
“From a cargo perspective,
the task [of coordinating the business cultures of American
and US Airways] is complete—the broader airline
still has one or two areas to finish integrating but,
from a passenger perspective, that is almost complete
too. It’s always a challenge bringing two big
organisations together, but we are really happy with
the results and have a much larger network because of
it. And whilst our customer bases were largely similar,
we have found instances where one carrier or the other
had a stronger relationship with a particular customer
and we have been able to build upon this.
“We’ve set out
to take the best from both airlines and have many examples
where this is the case—American’s ExpediteTC
product to handle cold chain, and the US Airways expertise
in human remains and handling domestic mail, for example.”
Living
In The Jet Age
“The
only person I can think of who is old enough to remember
the pre-Jet age is our VP of Sales and Marketing, Joe
Reedy, and he tells me ‘yes,’ [jet freight
has changed customer habits].
“Customers have become
much more aware and expectation levels (particularly
regarding service and visibility of information) have
grown, and continue to grow, substantially (which is
a good thing, by the way!).”
Custom-Tailored
Cargo Services
“Our
goal is to offer our customers the high-quality products
and services they need. To do so, we offer a broad range
of options to meet the needs of all. Of course, that
doesn’t mean we don’t offer a completely
customizable experience but we’ve added a variety
of elements to our product line that are designed to
provide customers with the additional flexibility/visibility
that they need. This includes our newly introduced enhanced
tracking, an initiative that encompasses who we are
and where we’re going as a service provider. It
offers full transparency into the entire shipping process
and allows our customers a more user-friendly experience,
with the ability to customize as they see fit.
“We know not all of our
customer want and value the same things, so our new
sorting features allow each unique individual an opportunity
to choose the content most important to them. We’re
talking Customs information, history, and active status
bar updates, which are color-coded in a visually appealing
and easy-to-read way (even for someone who is color
blind, like me!).”
The
Role Of The Cargo Agent
“Our
customers make up the basis of our being—they
provide a partnership that allows us to do business
successfully worldwide and provide the feedback and
support needed to ensure we evolve and continue to offer
relevant services industrywide.
“Our customers, shippers,
and forwarders, not only provide us business, but help
support the global economy and supply the world with
the resources needed to be healthy and prosperous. For
example, through our cold-chain program, we move temperature-
and time-sensitive goods that have the potential to
save lives and offer a better standard of living to
people in all parts of the world. Our customers are
invaluable to us and we do everything in our power to
exceed their needs by expanding our network, introducing
new products and services, and collaborating so we can
be positively impactful to the population worldwide.”
Brave
New World
“Air
freight has become an increasingly important and larger
portion of world trade. We are proud to be a growing,
integral part of the supply chain and are an essential
component for key industries, such as healthcare and
food. We’ve made great strides in our product
offerings and services. Overall, with a bigger focus
on open communication with our partners and customers,
we have greater access to information, including feedback
and, using this, we can continue to improve the way
we do business at American and within the industry as
a whole.”
Everything
In Place
“As
I mentioned a little more above, everything we invest
in, whether that be in time or money, involves exceeding
the ever-changing needs of our customers. The industry
is evolving, our customers are evolving and we’re
doing everything in our power to develop and use new
technology and streamlined processes that will keep
us ahead of the change.
“Globally, no matter
how big or small the entity, the customer experience
is our top priority—so leading the way toward
a more efficient, technologically advanced supply chain
is key. ”
Geoffrey |
100%
Green