 Deep
in the Heart of Texas, American Airlines Cargo declares its focus is on
“meeting our customers’ needs by effectively utilizing our
growing network.”
“We’re striving to ensure that
we are engaged with our customers as we work on continuously improving
our performance and optimizing their experience.”
Nobody has to tell Roger Samways, managing
director of Global Accounts and Sales Strategy for American Airlines Cargo
that the future has arrived.
He insists that by integrating the best
of both cargo operations of American and US Airways, “we took on
the goal of delivering an even larger network, broader opportunities,
and new, creative solutions to our global customer base.
“Not only can we now fly shipments
to more locations than ever before, including 154 stations and 300 weekly
departures between the U.S. and Europe, but we have had the opportunity
to make important investments in our infrastructure and people,”
Roger insists.
The erstwhile executive has broken down
fences and forged new alliances for the world’s largest air carrier.
He continues at a torrid pace even as Summer 2015 takes firm hold, showing
absolutely no let up.
Old Philadelphia
Has AA Pharma
“One of our most recent accomplishments
includes the development of our newest pharmaceutical facility in Philadelphia
(PHL).
“This 25,000 square-foot dedicated
facility includes 9,000 square feet of temperature-controlled storage
for our cold chain and pharmaceutical products at the optimal temperatures
to maintain highest product quality.
“The continued expansion of our temperature-controlled
facilities is a critical element in ensuring we meet and exceed the expectations
of our customers throughout the world.”
The Year So Far
“Thus far, 2015 has been moving along
pretty well.
“Highlights include increased APAC
demand, which we saw in Q1 as a result of the West Coast Port Strike,
and our growing cold chain business that has shown significant growth
so far this year. Overall, we’re continuing to work on making effective
use of our growing network. Along with the integration of the US Airways
and American networks, we recently added a new Frankfurt (FRA)-Miami (MIA)
service in May, which gives us over 40 departures a week from Germany.
In our expanding Asia network, we now serve five destinations with 11
daily departures—including the launch of our new Boeing 787 route
between Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Beijing (PEK) on June 2. This will
increase further when we add a daily LAX/SYD in December 2015.
“Outside of Europe and Asia, we continue
to reinforce our position as the strongest carrier to Latin America, now
serving over 50 destinations in the region.”
Fleet Renewal
“In addition to our growing international
footprint, we have many completed/planned aircraft deliveries to be celebrated.
“In fact, we took delivery of an incredible
134 airplanes in 2014 and are scheduled to receive 128 this year.
“Just focusing on our widebody orders,
we have 42 firm orders and 58 options for the 787 (a mix of -8s and -9s),
22 A350s and three more Boeing 777-300s (taking our 777-300 fleet to 20).
“When doing the math, it works out
to around one new widebody per month for the next five-plus years.
“Our new, modern fleet allows for
greater opportunities for our customers’ cargo needs—it’s
a really exciting time to be at American Airlines.”
What Is Moving?
“We see many unique shipments every
day. In particular, strong growth opportunities in the pharmaceutical
sector, which helps to explain the important investments made to support
our cold chain solutions.
“Most recently as mentioned, this
includes the opening of our new pharma facility in PHL, home to many major
global pharmaceutical customers, as well as the certification of the CSafe
container.
“Many of the commodities we see come
through our facilities are lifesaving and/or highly valuable healthcare
products and perishable goods.
“With the introduction of the new
high-tech, fuel-efficient 787, it’s now possible to offer quick,
high-quality shipping services to and from some of the farther-flung parts
of our network, including Asia and Latin America.
American has daily departures planned for
2015 that will include service between DFW and PEK, DFW and Buenos Aires
(EZE), DFW and Shanghai, and Chicago (ORD) and Narita (NRT); also included
is the recently announced service between Los Angeles (LAX) and Sydney
(SYD), that commences in December of this year (2015).”
GLN &
Other Alliances
“Alliances have delivered benefits
all around.
“We have adopted a multi-layered customer
relationship strategy at American Airlines as we seek to become an even
more important supplier to customers of all sizes.
“Relationships like this are a great
way of engaging with a different segment of customers, getting access
to their key decision makers, and hopefully providing them with some key
relationships at a senior level within American Airlines.
“The relationship with groups like
GLN also help to provide a really good source of feedback regarding our
product offering and how effectively it meets our evolving customer needs.
“Broadly speaking, we welcome the
opportunity of having new ways of engaging with current and new customers
and this can include working closely with industry organizations and forwarder
groups.”
Forwarders
& American Cargo
Ask Roger Samways how important forwarders
are and there is barely a pause before a resounding “Very!”
escapes his lips.
“Forwarders are key partners, providing
complementary services such as infrastructure and expertise that we simply
don’t provide (for example warehousing for long-term storage, customs
brokerage, service to door, and in some cases more deeply embedded 4PL
services).
“The relationship with our forwarders
ultimately needs to be strong in order to enable us to effectively meet
shippers’ needs.
“Our success comes down to our customer
focus.
“Customers are our partners and ensuring
we stay ahead of the curve to continuously meet their needs means we’re
doing our jobs right.
“We stay well attuned to those needs
and collaborate with our customers on an ongoing basis to provide the
most reliable, enhanced service possible.
“After almost 70 years in the air
freight business, American continues to evolve with the industry by offering
innovative ideas and solutions as the need arises.”
Connections
. . . Although change is the constant, some things remain the same
. . .
Here in 1938, a trailblazing AA Douglas
DC3 loads high-value consignments via special handling.
Today, even as highly developed IT-driven
cargo loads via a variety of containers & pallets, an AA Boeing
B787 finds room for some last minute, special handling “must
ride” cargo. |
Where Business
As Usual Is Unusual
“I’m not sure there is such
a thing as a typical week, which is one of the reasons that I love my
job, and the Cargo industry, so much!
“It will involve a lot of customer-focused
work, either meeting with customers across our global network or engaging
with them via conference calls during those weeks when I’m based
in the office.
“This could include any combination
of meeting with my team to discuss our Global and Key account strategy
and performance and reviewing our interline relationships (around 10 percent
of American’s total Cargo business comes from Interline and so this
is an important focus for us as an organization).
“Part of these discussions also involve
finding ways in which we can further leverage these relationships to benefit
our customers, and speaking with our sales team, including GSAs, in order
to gauge the current market conditions.
“My team and I work closely with cross
departmental groups as we discuss short and longer term strategies aimed
at meeting our evolving customer needs… the list goes on!”
How Roger
Gets Over
“Typically my travel is a reasonable
175,000+ miles a year, primarily to Europe, Asia, and Latin America, but
with some domestic travel thrown in for good measure. I aim to spend around
40 percent of my time out there, somewhere, mostly visiting our customers
and sales team across our network.
“I love the opportunity this gives
me to meet people face to face and always find it easier to understand
specific market issues if one has first-hand experience.”
Major Hurdles
Facing Air Cargo
“There are a myriad [number of hurdles],
some positive and some less so, facing the future of the air cargo business.
“As an industry we need to deal with
economic uncertainty in some areas of the world and the potential impact
that this might have upon our business, as well as how best to address
overcapacity in some markets, the changing needs of our customers, the
need for greater visibility of information through the supply chain, the
demand for faster end-to-end solutions, competition from other modes of
transportation, and the need to embrace technology at a much faster rate
than the industry.
“The fact is, our cargo industry is
constantly changing—and American Airlines has done a great job at
adapting and evolving as needed.
“As we implement needed changes, we
strive to keep our customers and their needs top of mind, always asking
how each change might impact them and their businesses.”
The Importance
of Roger
Roger Samways says he has enjoyed himself
immensely during a 22-year career in air cargo that somehow began by accident
after a brief encounter whilst attending a cricket match with his sister
at home in the UK.
“I love the variety that each day
brings and the opportunity to build meaningful, long-term relationships.
“I definitely would endorse a career
in air cargo, as it provides a great opportunity for stimulating, productive
work, so many diverse roles, plus the opportunity to travel.”
Roger said he and wife Lucy “enjoy
travel anywhere with great beaches and/or the opportunity for adventure.”
Recent holidays have included the Caribbean
and Costa Rica, “and we’re spending some time in Nicaragua
this summer.”
Roger said picking a favorite city is “really
tough … but I’d have to say London (what else) . . . closely
followed by Rome and Tokyo.”
Places to visit and things yet to do include:
“Definitely Australia and New Zealand
. . . preferably watching an England Cricket Tour,” Roger said.
As for his favorite foods and hobbies, Roger
replied: “Does beer count as food?
“If not, I’d have to say, curry!
“For the other part, anything sports
related and I love exercising. My favorite sport to watch is football.
“By this, I mean proper football,
not the American version.
“An actual fact: My football team
(a little known team called “Watford” based northwest of London)
has recently been promoted to the Premier League in the UK.
“It’s tough to get back to see
them play very often (although I have been known to make the odd trip)
so one of the great things about their promotion is that their games next
season will be televised a lot more frequently . . . which will also help
the indoctrination process that I’ve started with my son, Dylan!”
What Air Cargo Can Do Better
“We can always work harder to build
and improve relationships with our customers.
“Remaining engaged with them will
help us to enhance our products and services to align best with their
needs.
“Secondly, we are constantly focused
on guaranteeing the highest quality, reliable service possible.
“By continuously focusing on our service
levels, we can ensure a safe and compliant operation our customers can
trust.”
An Immediate Personal Goal
“It’s pretty unrealistic, but
I’d love to beat Doug Brittin (The International Air Cargo Association,
TIACA) at table tennis, just once!”
Greatest
Accomplishment
“I’m not sure how to answer
this question so I asked my wife, Lucy.
“She thought long and hard and suggested
the time earlier this year that I changed a radiator hose on her car .
. . which might have been a subtle dig at my DIY skills (or lack of).
“The car is still working, by the
way,” Roger Samways smiled.
Geoffrey/Flossie
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