On June 25th President Tsai Ing-wen stopped in Miami, Florida, en route from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Panama.
     While in Miami, Tsai said she is willing to find out whether China Airlines (CAL), Taiwan's largest air carrier, would be willing to provide direct passenger flight services to the Florida city.
    As she spoke, my thoughts drifted back to 1994, when I found myself in Taiwan sitting at lunch with Peter Yap, who was the top cargo executive for China Airlines Cargo.
    At one point, Peter looked at me and said:
    “The trouble today is finding markets that offer great growth potential and also support from the local gateway.
    “Very rare,” Peter said.
    “Taiwanese people love to eat fish and we cannot get enough of it, competing with Europe and elsewhere.”
    I looked at Peter, who was eager to do business, and thought about Miami. Our company had personally served the gateway since 1975 with distribution of our Air Cargo News publication. We delivered ACN to the cargo area at Miami, back when it was located in the part of the airport that served the U.S. Army during World War II.
    The place was called Miami International Air Depot, or MIAD.
    I also thought about the two detailed history books we created about the airport after Amaury Zuriarrain (executive director at Miami Dade College today) brought us in to meet General Manager Richard Judy. He gave us the green light for the first book and later a second book about cargo at MIA, created for Miami Aviation Director Gary Dellapa.
    I looked at Peter and said:
    “Peter, come to Miami, bring a freighter into South Florida where all the fish you need will swim right into the airplane, and you will make history.”
    That is exactly what Mr. Yap did about two years later, and the rest, as they say, is history.
    But before CAL could fly to MIA, they needed to get permissions and that meant overcoming objections from FedEx and others.
    So for two years we wrote stories and tracked Peter’s progress.
    Every time he came to Washington to realize those flights, we created a story supporting CAL and Miami Dade.
    Peter Yap was a most interesting character—an executive who was as colorful as you can imagine in air cargo.
    He was a true pioneer who sized up opportunities and went for them.
    He put his money where his mouth was, too.
    Peter wanted to help build China Airlines Cargo into a world power and he needed airplanes, but the airline was not about to buy a fleet at that time.

When Michael Chowdry (right) brought Golden, Colorado-based Atlas Air to the fore providing aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) for cargo executives with better things to do, the very first customer for this new idea was China Airlines Peter Yap (left).

    Atlas Air had been founded by Michael Chowdry, who built his ACMI company with new, giant freighters.
    Atlas needed contracts for several airplanes, so Peter and Michael worked out a deal and China Airlines leased a fleet of B747Fs from Atlas.
    Peter and Michael were quite a couple.
    It was all straight business, of course, but both loved Jackie Chan movies, so it was not unusual for them to do a deal and then, with the pressure lifted, repair to a local theater to watch a movie and let the action speak for itself.
    We thought about Peter Yap as we read about the President of Taiwan arriving on that China Airlines stopover passenger flight between Miami and Taipei last week.
    As the red carpets were rolled out and the real possibilities of scheduled passenger service between two great cities advanced, we thought of the cargo guy who led the way more than 20 years earlier with an original idea to deliver some fish to the home market.
    Peter Yap started the ball rolling for Miami, delivering the gateway’s first Asian flag carrier.
    Although many great airlines followed, China Airlines Cargo was first, and Peter Yap made that happen.
    Nobody mentioned his name in Miami on June 25th.
    Truth be told, we have been out of touch with Peter for some time, although we were once very close.
    We tried reaching out to some folks who knew Peter, but came up empty.
    We hope Peter is OK.

1997—Memories “made in air cargo” . . . One of the delights of our lives was corralling as many kids as we could and then repairing to The Golden Pond in Kew Gardens, New York, with Peter and the China Airlines Team for a bit of dim-sum and a wonderful dinner with good food, friends, and laughter. Pictured from left are Eddie Chou, Sabiha Arend, Brendan Furlong, Peter Yap, Geoffrey Arend II, Emily Arend, James Liu, Peter Wei and Edward Sung,

     One of the greatest aspects of what we do is in telling the story of the lives of air cargo’s people.
    We are, after all, messengers. To have been part of moving the industry forward, and to have lived long enough to share these stories is surely the sweetest reward anyone might imagine.
    Peter, if you are out there, get in touch.
    It’s been too long since we have seen your kind face.
Geoffrey/Flossie

Vol 15. No. 50
The Butler Takes Flight Deep In The Heart Of Texas
SOLAS Changes Ocean July 1st
Chuckles For June 29, 2016
On The Ground In London
Mercury Rising