Shakespeare wrote in Henry IV, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
     IATA, which continues what can only be described as an obsession with former UK-based executives, has just announced Glyn Hughes (right) as Head of Cargo.
     With that posting, IATA has again designated to a key post an individual who once worked for either British Airways Cargo or a UK-based airline.
     While everybody agrees that the decision as to who to hire is indeed up to IATA, it is also fair to stand back a bit and survey the landscape.
     Glyn Hughes, formerly of Air Europe, replaces Des Vertannes, formerly of BA Cargo.
     Prior to Vertannes, Aleks Popovich served as IATA Head of Cargo, yet another executive from      British Airways Cargo, where he worked under the great Kevin Hatton in the mid 1990s.
     Aleks replaced Phil Sims, director of cargo at IATA from 2001-2005.
     Phil was also formerly with British Airways Cargo.
     Phil joined IATA in 1997 after Colin Mills left as director of cargo services.
     By now you might have guessed—Colin had also been with British Airways Cargo.

An IATA Obsession?

     When you look at the scope of it, there are a lot of air cargo executives in the world with great credentials—and they hail from almost every corner of the planet.
     Without casting aspersions upon anyone, we’re curious as to why IATA seems intent on repeatedly hiring executives from essentially the same gene pool.
     Is it accidental, coincidental, or possibly a study in risk aversion?
     We think the repetition says more about the internal workings and culture of IATA than about the cargo prowess of BA Cargo, with all due respect.
     Without a doubt, a stubborn succession of “known quantities,” shaped in the British Airways mold to top spots at IATA, seems to have been attractive to IATA management for quite a long period of time, and that view marches in lockstep toward the future.
     But we move on.

Another 48 Hours Was A Day In 1972

     Something else in the Glyn Hughes Head of Cargo press release last week jumped out at us.
     “Air cargo faces considerable challenges and we have an ambitious goal to improve the industry’s competitiveness through a cut in end-to-end shipping times of up to 48 hours,” proclaimed the IATA presser.
     Speaking of succession of cargo people coming from the same place, as Summer 2014 begins you can take a dip in the IATA pool of ideas, where déjà vu similarities abound—truly, what’s old is new again.
     In March 1972, IATA’s Cargo Automation Research Team (CART) was established and led by American Project Manager Lee Mitchell, delivering what became the blueprint for all cargo systems.
     In fact, CART enabled successive improvements in the quality of service.
     Ironically, one of the CART main objectives had been to “…reduce the terminal dwell time of air cargo at major airports to less than 24 hours [by 1976].” Another key CART goal was to “recommend guidelines for standardization and simplification of transport data and information exchange methods…”
     Did we miss something, or was 48 hours 24 hours 42 years ago?
     Since clearly the 24-hour idea did not fair so well in 1972, has IATA decided to double down the time line and see if that might work?

Who Is Glyn Hughes?

     The Glyn Hughes I know is a personable individual who has been with IATA for 22-plus years and has worked alongside all the directors of cargo named here.
     Glyn certainly knows all there is to know about CASS, and during the short four-year reign of Mr. Vertannes, Glyn was quite close to Des.
     But right now air cargo has just barely started to slowly recover from its worst slump since 9/11.
     It is fair to wonder what IATA expects from cargo and how important a role does cargo play in the larger IATA scheme of things.
     Among all of the individuals who have held the top spot at IATA Cargo, Vertannes was the first cargo head with the credentials of having headed up an airline’s cargo business—and he did that on two occasions, (Gulf Air and Etihad) directly prior to his move to Geneva.
     So now it falls to Glyn Hughes to stand up to some gigantic challenges, and we wish him well.
     No matter what anybody says or thinks, naming Hughes head of cargo in critical times will speak volumes about IATA down the road.
     The IATA Cargo Committee reaction might be an early indication—primus inter pares—but we might never know exactly how that group feels.
     Right now, the top priority amongst cargo executives is capturing business, keeping airplanes flying full of cargo either above or below deck, and remaining flexible at all times.
Ted Braun

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