Vol. 8 No. 8                                              WE COVER THE WORLD                                            Wednesday January 21, 2009

Deccan Cargo Flies In Spring

     Breaking out of the gloom comes news that many here in India think worth cheering about.
     Captain G R Gopinath's integrated logistics outfit, Deccan Express Logistics (DEL), is all set to make its appearance sometime in May-June this year.
     On a high with his new venture, the father of low-cost air travel in the country, Capt. Gopi said recently, "We will be the largest and double the size of existing industry players on day one."
     He has his reasons.
     With all the background work almost complete, the second-time start-up entrepreneur has been able to get some big names to advise him.
     Topping the list is Ram Charan (left).
     A business strategist par excellence and a friend to such big names as Jack Welch (former CEO of GE), Ram Charan has been associated with GE, Bank of America, 3M and Home Depot for the past 35 years.
     He has also written the best-selling books "Boards That Deliver" and "What the CEO Wants You to Know".
     The iconic Ram Charan's duty will be to advise the CEO and the operations team regularly and he will be joined by former FedEx executive-turned-consultant Madan Birla (below right).
     Birla is well-known for his book, "FedEx Delivers".
     Capt. Gopinath's DEL has already assembled a team of 180 for Deccan Cargo led by CEO Jude Fonseka.
     The departments that report to the CEO are aviation, airport warehousing, ground operations, sales and marketing, human resources and IT.
     Fonseka will be helped and advised by an advisory panel and board members of whom Ram Charan and Madan Birla are part of.
     DEL will have a fleet of six cargo aircraft, all converted: three wide-bodied A310s with 35 tons capacity each and three ATRs with capacities of 5.5-6 tonnes each (three more ATRs will join the fleet in course of time).
     The first A310 will be in the country be the end of February.
     The ages of the planes range from 10-15 years and they have all been purchased outright by DEL.
     Deccan Cargo aircraft are slated to connect Nagpur, its hub in central India, to 14 cities that will be the spokes across the country.
     Incidentally, Capt. Gopi's company would be the first Indian logistics outfit to set up and operate a hub-and-spoke model and it has been allotted 100 acres of airside land at Nagpur airport.
     Nagpur was chosen as the hub because DEL's aircraft would not have to fly long distances to reach any part of the country, saving time and cost.
     In addition, a trucking network has also been put into place that will ensure that DEL reaches out to 68 destinations across India.
     Capt. Gopi's idea is to connect all those places in the country that are not covered by air.
     Among the other cities where DEL has acquired space are Hyderabad and Delhi.
     On New Year's Day 2010, his agreement with the GMR Group (the owners of new international airport in Hyderabad and managers of the Delhi International Airport) for the development of cargo hubs in Hyderabad and Delhi will become operational.
     Until the hubs at Hyderabad and Delhi are ready, DEL will be using the existing cargo terminals at the two airports.
DEL has plans to use 2,000 sq mt at Delhi Airport as a hub for its north India operations while the 300 sq mt Hyderabad facility will be used for its central and southern region operations.
     "The setting up of infrastructure at these strategic locations will enable Deccan Express Logistics to establish an extensive state of the art multimodal (surface and air) storage, transportation and delivery network reaching out to every corner of the country," Capt. Gopinath said.
Tirthankar Ghosh

Obama Targets
U.S. Interstate Highways

     On a day like no other in American history, as more than two million people crowded into Washington, D.C. and the U.S. banks once again dragged the stock market down into the worst sell off in inaugural history, here came President Barack Obama striking a measured resolved tone as counterpoint to otherwise over the top celebrations.
     “The market is not as bad as it looks,” said Marshall Loeb, a respected television business prognosticator.
     As Mr. Loeb uttered those words, everyone hoped he knew something they didn’t.
     Amidst indication that President Obama is going to move to create a national or “Über Bank,” to buy up toxic assets or some other such dramatic action, the new President has promised to move quickly on many fronts and maybe all at once.
     “We plan to make transportation infrastructure investment a cornerstone of the economic recovery plan,” the new President said.
     What that means to aviation is yet to be revealed but how the move will impact the roads and highways and other overland access will surely impact USA air cargo for many years to come.
     “Rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure is a major driver for saving or creating at least two and a half million jobs while among other things addressing the ageing USA interstate highways system and bridges,” President Obama declared.
     And he vowed that his commitment to infrastructure would be, “the single, largest new investment in national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950's.
     “We’ll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways,” said Mr. Obama, “and we’ll set a simple rule—use it or lose it.
     “If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money.”
     Mr. Obama’s pledge to leverage infrastructure investment as a springboard for job creation and an economic recovery comes at a time when news regarding the economy gets worse by the day, as evidenced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics recent reports. Investing in infrastructure has been a major issue for the new President.
     While campaigning last year, Mr. Obama called for the establishment of a National Infrastructure Investment Bank that would invest $60 billion over a ten-year period for highways, technology, and other projects.
     The timing for this endeavor also matches up well with House Legislation—H.R. 7110, Job Creation and Unemployment Relief Act of 2008—passed in September that allocates nearly $30 billion for transportation infrastructure initiatives, with $12.8 billion pegged for highway infrastructure specifically for aging U.S. highways and bridges to improve safety and reduce congestion.
     Taking a look at the actual number of “ready-to-go” transportation projects, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) said that—based on the results of a survey sent to the Departments of Transportation for the District of Columbia and all 50 states—there are 5,148 “ready-to-go” transportation projects worth more than $64 billion.      AASHTO said that these projects are considered “ready-to-go,” because they could be under contract within 180 days and support an estimated 1.8 million jobs if sufficient funding were available. While the AASHTO focuses on transportation projects at the state level, the need for funding transportation infrastructure projects at the local level is not lost, as evidenced by the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors.
     At the conference, participating U.S. Mayors unveiled its second report that is comprised of an inventory of ready-to-go local infrastructure projects that could be started and completed within two calendar years.
     The report revealed that 427 cities cited 11,391 infrastructure projects at a cost of $73 billion, creating 847,641 jobs.
Gordon Feller