World Exclusive—It has been an exciting if not revolutionary couple of weeks for Kenji Hashimoto, the newly named President of American Airlines Cargo.
     AA Cargo can count many industry firsts: launching the first scheduled air cargo service in the world; the first air cargo tariff that established service based on density, volume, value and perishability; and (our favorite) the first Unit Load Device (ULD), known as the Paul Bunyan Box.
     In May 2012, American Airlines Cargo continues to pioneer its place in the 21st century, building strength upon strength whilst promoting staff from within to key positions at the carrier.
     It is the strength of the airline executive that develops at American Airlines that has never ceased to impress.
     Our regular readers will undoubtedly recall Mark Najarian, who we knew and wrote about for years and who moved from his rookie year at AA Cargo a few seasons ago to the post of New York District Manager, where he now oversees passenger station operations at AA’s giant and critical facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
     For his part, Kenji Hashimoto embraces his assignment, succeeding the iconic Dave Brooks as a natural progression to a new generation, in concert and supported by both Mr. Brooks and the team at AA Cargo.
     We seem to recall the same kind of ongoing cooperation that moved forward sixteen years ago when Dave took the reigns of the AA Cargo Presidency from legendary Bill Boesch.
     Kenji is only the third President of AA Cargo during the past 25 years and that factoid all by itself must be some kind of record.
     Kenji is President AA Cargo right now for sure, but with him for some months to come will be Dave, as both have made it clear that what happens next is a continued, close relationship with the forwarder community and the rest of air cargo as well.
     “I am very excited about taking on this new role leading American’s global Cargo operation,” Kenji Hashimoto, newly named President of American Airlines Cargo, told FlyingTypers in an exclusive first interview since he assumed command.
     “Dave and the team have built a very successful franchise with strong customer relationships and a team that is highly recognized for excellent service among our customers.
     “I will be working closely with Dave during the transition period to focus on our priorities and continue providing excellent service to our customers.

     “I join the Cargo team after fourteen years with American Airlines, serving for the last three years as American’s Vice President-Strategic Alliances.
     “In this role, I led the airline's entry into and participation in Joint Business Agreements with British Airways, Iberia, Japan Air Lines, and Qantas, along with strengthening our global alliance, oneworld.
     “Prior to that, I was very engaged in analysis of American’s routes, as well as analysis of labor and competitive issues.
     “I have also served as Managing Director-Investor Relations and Managing Director-Finance, Europe & Pacific, where I was based in London.
     “Before these positions, I held roles in Sales and Financial Planning.
     “American does a fine job of developing leaders by providing the opportunity to broaden expertise through a wide range of experience.
     “My recent focus has been on strategically enhancing the global reach of the American Airlines network.
     “I am grateful for the experience I have gained and plan to leverage this for the organization and our customers.
     “Looking ahead, our priorities continue to be directed toward delivering the kind of products and services that our customers value most.
     “In doing so, we continue the work of enhancing our network reach and building a strong customer-focused organization.
     “In terms of future development, growth opportunities abound in Latin America, Asia, and in emerging markets around the world. American is committed to providing a broad and robust global network to serve this demand.”
     Although of course he must hit the ground running and keep up the pace whilst taking care of old friends and making new ones, we can only imagine that the new AA Cargo President must find time to relax.
     “We have two young kids, so with my busy schedule I spend much of my time following their sporting activities or just playing with them.
     “I enjoy tennis and golf (but I haven’t picked up a club in 2 years), but once upon a time when I was a student, I played tennis competitively.”
     Kenji also confides that taking in the wonders of the world will have to wait.
     “I was fortunate in my prior assignment to travel around the world and see many of our great cities and cultures.
     “In fact, I traveled around 300,000 miles per year.
     “That said, I did not get to spend quality time exploring many of these cities, and I feel like I have just scratched the surface of what’s out there.”
     No wondering, however, about what lies ahead for AA Cargo.
     “We will be adding a large number of wide-bodied aircraft over the next few years and are working to fully leverage our bi-lateral agreements to further benefit our customers.
     “The team here has done a great job of rolling out products and services that are getting excellent feedback from our customers.
     “I look forward to getting involved and continuing the work underway to bring new industry-leading solutions to our customers.
     “This week at the CNS Conference in Miami I will be joining Dave and the rest of the AA Cargo team, and hope to meet many more of our customers in the days and weeks to come.”
Geoffrey/Flossie

     Just as world security networks (especially airlines) go on high alert as the first anniversary of the death of Bin Laden is upon us, some pretty level thinking about better business security comes from the head of a U.S.-based think tank and editor of The Journal of Physical Security.
     “Organizations with poor security cultures are often obsessed with secrecy.
     “In reality, security, somewhat counter-intuitively, is usually better when it is transparent,” writes Roger G. Johnston (left) in “Outside Opinion” for the Chicago Tribune.
     Mr. Johnston is Section Manager, Argonne—Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne National Laboratory near Lemont, Illinois.
     “People and organizations can't keep secrets anyway,” Johnston declares.
     “But more to the point, transparency allows for accountability, review, criticism, and employee buy-in.
     “The most serious mistakes in a poor security culture include being reactive instead of proactive about security; not thinking like the bad guys; scapegoating after security incidents instead of trying to fix the problems; not undertaking independent, critical, creative vulnerability assessments and security reviews; and confusing or overemphasizing threats at the cost of not understanding vulnerabilities.
     “Poor security cultures also have a binary view of security.
     “They encourage the viewpoint that something is either secured or it is not, even though security is actually a continuum.
     “Poor security cultures do not tolerate questions, criticism, or debate about security, although anything as challenging as security, and involving so many trade-offs and value judgments, should be controversial.
     “In a business with a poor security culture, the discovery of security vulnerabilities is viewed as bad news.
     “In fact, finding vulnerabilities is good news. Vulnerabilities are always present in very large numbers.
     “Finding one means you can do something about it.”
     Worth noting: the vulnerability assessment team at Argonne provides consulting, training, vulnerability assessments, and security solutions for dozens of companies, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
     The Journal of Physical Security (produced under the auspices of the Argonne National Laboratory) is the readable result of all the big security thoughts going on as JPS deep dishes articles of unique common interest in security, billing itself as “a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal devoted to technical or social science aspects of physical security. Physical security involves protecting tangible assets (including people) from harm, or using physical security measures to protect intangible assets.”
     A quick look-see at JPS (anyone can download the Journal, and it is also available by subscription) uncovered that there are indeed well crafted articles and think pieces contributed to the magazine that should be read by security people.
     Others might discover that away from the blare and sometimes sensationalism of security headlines, these articles are interesting and worthwhile.
     But also included are some observations that anyone can understand.
For example JPS Issue I Vol 5 2011, Editors Comments, in addition to the heavy stuff, made room for these comments, titled ‘Some Interesting Homeland Security Quotes’:

     Another interesting lead toward understanding, and a behind the headlines, balanced view mentioned in JPS, was a new book.
     “Charles Kurzman has written an interesting book entitled, The Missing Martyrs: Why There Are So Few Muslim Terrorists, Oxford University Press, 2011.
     “Kurzman points out that approximately 150,000 people have been murdered in the United States since 9/11. Islamic terrorism has taken fewer than three dozen lives on U.S. soil in the same time period.
     “Fewer than 200 Muslim Americans have been caught planning or engaging in terrorist acts, out of a U.S. population of 2.5 million.”
     More: http://jps.anl.gov/
     One guy that knows air cargo security from the ground up and knows more about what needs to be done to get security in line with flying right is Harald Zielinski, Lufthansa Cargo Head of Security & Risk Prevention Management.
     Harald, who combines a street cop’s sense with a visionary view of what works (and what definitely will not work) says, “What air cargo must do is continually raise awareness.”
     To that end, Harald has held high profile, free admission air cargo meetings in front of large audiences both in Germany and the USA for the past several years.
     Lufthansa stands alone amongst every other airline for its continued effort in carrying the security dialogue public.
     “Moving forward is a terrific challenge to everybody,” says Harald Zielinski.
     Almost 60 days ago, on March 5, Lufthansa Cargo hosted a Security Conference in Frankfurt.
     In a world where timing is often everything, the event played against European Union security directives saying that next year on March 25, 2013, EU member states’ shippers must certify known shippers; air cargo from all other shippers will require exacting and cost-intensive security inspections prior to being allowed onboard aircraft.
     “It is a huge undertaking,” Harald said.
     Registering “known shippers” and how a potential avalanche of cargo from uncertified shippers would impact life at hub Frankfurt during peak time, between 8 and 9AM, at gate 31 and 32, when up to 1,500 trucks pass through the Cargo City, brings home the reality of the world just outside our conference room windows, Harald noted.
     If anything, the conference was also a reminder of the deep and real cultural differences between various states in Europe and how perception is reality.
     As Harald Zielinski sees it, the basis for these regulations is one and the same European Union mandate.
     “This same set of rules is interpreted to mean a full stop in Germany, but turns out to be a more benign warning sign in AMS and LUX and the equivalent of ‘bon voyage’ in CDG.”
     In his remarks, Dr. Karl-Rudolf Rupprecht, Lufthansa Cargo executive board member-operations, noted that since 9/11, security has caused a tenfold increase in the cost of air cargo, which is untenable going forward.
     Despite the volume and more stringent security measures, Lufthansa has handled cargo with a 0.03 percent error rate.
     Dr. Rupprecht went on to list the bizarre situation of not being allowed to deploy screening technology in Germany that is in use in the U.S. and elsewhere in Europe, which was very unproductive and an irritant; his hope was that the conference would advance the discussion to affect a change in this state of affairs.
     Herr Rupprecht called for faster implementation of the certified known shipper approval process.
     Dr. Rupprecht said he found it was “neither comprehensible nor acceptable that U.S. authorities recognize security measures for air cargo from say, France or Switzerland, but don’t recognize the virtually identical measures that apply in Germany.
     “That results in additional checks on all departures from Germany to the USA and an unacceptable competitive disadvantage for Germany.”
     Herr Rupprecht noted that the new construction of the Lufthansa Cargo Center in Frankfurt is due for completion in 2017-2018, reinforcing the fact that what is needed is ongoing dialogue with all segments of the air cargo industry.
Geoffrey/Flossie

     They say the best things in life are free.
     One look at the joy and friendship in this picture, taken almost twenty years ago, will confirm that.
     Above networking at the second CNS Partnership Conference in Dallas are (L to R) first CNS President Jack Lindsay, second CNS President Anthony (Tony Calabrese), and original CNS Board Members Brian Barrow and Buz Whalen, with American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall.
     Now fast forward to 2012.
     Aside from all the golf courses, meeting rooms, and posted events this week, the busiest, most productive spaces at the big resort hotel in Miami will be with the new generation who, much like this picture from another time, will network in the lobby or at an outside garden spot, under a tree, near the pool, or in some tucked away bar as another CNS Partnership Conference rolls on.
     The big picture at CNS is always networking amongst large and small pockets of air cargo people, either in heavy discussion or on their way to another big pow-wow.
     Many people may have called CNS Partnership a lot of things over its two decades plus, but the gathering has never been slow or late at providing a first-class venue for doing business.
     Credit the individual who dreamed up Partnership Conference in the first place, former CNS President Tony Calabrese (1986/2006), for making sure there was plenty of time (and space) for cargo executives to feel they had discovered the perfect spot to cut a deal all by themselves.
     “When I started at CNS, the airlines and the forwarders, even the airlines and airlines, barely spoke to each other,” Tony recalled.
     “What happened right from the very first Partnership Conference in 1986 is that everybody discovered, through understanding, that our supposed differences were more myth than fact.”

     “There is nothing like CNS Partnership anywhere in the world.”
     Tony Calabrese shepherded this North American gathering (which began in 1991) for 15 years until his retirement in 2006.
     He recalls those years as quite positive for air cargo as well as for himself.
     “I never went to work one day at CNS that I was not glad to be there.
     “I was part of the original board that put CNS together and into business.”
     For the record, CNS came into being as the result of IATA losing its anti-trust immunity, a consequence of the Competitive Marketing investigation and subsequent deregulation, which is the reason that for many years the American-based organization had to keep an arm’s length relationship with IATA.
     “For years we struggled for recognition and many people thought CNS was not more than the CASS settlement system.
     “To change that perception, we started CNS Focus as a four-page newsletter and sent it around to our members.
     “While attending a luncheon at the Wings Club I had mentioned to an IATA official that I was with CNS and the reply was an enthusiastic:
     “‘Oh yes, that is my favorite news network.’
     “We had a good laugh at that one but the comment told us we needed to do some work at defining CNS to people in the world at large.
     “CNS Focus as a publication certainly helped raise awareness but I felt that there was still more work to do.
     “So we began The CNS Partnership Conference.
     “But I wanted our conference to be different.
     “To us ‘Partnership’ was never about CNS, it was more about industry stakeholders’ objectives and needs.
     “We never looked at the event as a big money-maker either, but rather our approach was to do what was good for air cargo.
     “The idea was to bring airlines and forwarders together.
     “From that simple premise we held our first conference in Tarpon Springs (near Tampa), Florida.
     “We set up meeting tables of ten places each in the hall and assigned luck of the draw seating to everyone.
     “The idea right out of the gate was to keep people from congregating with co-workers or best friends.
     “We wanted to stimulate the conversation, the floor discussion, even debate.”
     “I recall 97 people showed up for that first Partnership Conference and half again as many for our second gathering a year later in Dallas.”
     As CNS Partnership celebrates 20 gatherings this week it’s good to remember the dedication and hard work from the guy that built up some ideas into a great transportation organization, and to also recall that Tony Calabrese made CNS great by basically carrying the organization around on his shoulders from day one.
     Tony Calabrese began his career in transportation as a bicycle messenger in Manhattan.
     “Our offices were on East 36 Street, just down the block from Emery Airfreight.
     “Often my assignment was to pedal my bike over to the big, daily newspapers of the day to deliver celebrity photographs that were shot out at Idlewild Airport (JFK).”
     When he retired, Anthony Calabrese handed over a first-class industry force to the future of air cargo.
     Tony was a master at making CNS unique and vital while keeping IATA at arms’ length, paying tribute to be sure, but guarding its independence, special character and industry role.
     Once upon a time CNS had an abundance of that New York ingredient, steeped in JFK cargo history and legendary characters.
     It was a time, Tony recalled, when every airline had a major headquarters in North America and an executive presence that made transportation superstars out of air cargo people.
     At CNS during the 1980’s, and in truth right up to his retirement, there was always a lot happening, but Tony never coveted the limelight; quite the opposite, he preferred to stay in the background, making things work.
     Characteristically, Tony is still giving much of the credit for CNS to others.
     “Guenter Rohrmann was a very dynamic board member and Chairman of CNS.
     “The CNS Board during those years, both airlines and forwarder members, really gave the organization purpose.”
     “It was the CNS members who carried the ball and helped make things work.”
     People like Cotton Daly (TWA), Buz Whalen (JAL), and Pat Phelan (Aer Lingus), Ed Mortiz (British), Isaac Nijankin (Varig), Jerry Trimboli (SAS), Bill Boesch (AA), Dave Brooks (AA), Jim Friedel (NWA) and of course others, including brokers and forwarders like Joel Ditkowsky and Jo Frigger (EMO Trans).
     “Jo is an old fashioned air cargo guy who is one of the all-time greats.
     “From the media, Dick Malkin, left (who also edited this publication from 1990-1994) carried his more than 50 years of experience in air cargo forward, editing CNS Focus and helping all around with perspective and advice.”
     “I am reluctant to name names because leaving someone out can cause an unnecessary slight.
     “Safe to say, all the people who we worked with who helped lift our CNS idea are in a special place and we still think about them.”
     “Often someone we have not thought about for years will be recalled because of an incident or a project we once shared.
     “The memories are mostly positive and I am very grateful to have shared them.
     “Our best work has been bringing the industry together.”
Geoffrey/Flossie      

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