Post Air Cargo Americas View

     Reviewing this event comes easy because it is fun, with the perspective I have gained, having attended every single one from the get go back in 1991, with the exception of the hurricane year fiasco. Air Cargo Americas stands out because of the people it brings together, not necessarily because of the venue and/or the program.
     I’d like to focus on the exhibition, certainly my favorite place, where the atmosphere is always electric. I find it challenging to describe and do it justice – it’s got something of a stock market trading floor feel to it, lively, dynamic, with people in constant motion and the hum of a souk. And this isn’t just during the seven hours on opening day, but just the same on the seven hours of the second day. Actually on Thursday, shortly after 5:30PM, Charlotte Gallogly, the president of the World Trade Center Miami was still shooing people away, telling them the show was closed for the day and they had to leave! Not quite like the golfing crowd at some other events . . . a sign of the times?
     People were engaged in animated discussions everywhere, at the exhibition booths, outside the entrance to the exhibition hall near the registration area, outdoors facing the parking lot, in the back of the hall where I wondered someone hadn’t started a small business scheduling meeting times for the tables and chairs set up there. There is a buzz in the air, a mix of languages – all variety of Spanish dialects, English, Portuguese, German, Russian – you name it.
     What differentiates this event for me is that it’s not engineered and stage-managed, scripted and packaged tightly but rather has a more esoteric format, which for years has accommodated and repeatedly attracted air cargo professionals from around the world to come again and again to Air Cargo Americas in Miami. Despite the decidedly unglamorous venue it’s a magically successful mix that just works. It provides a platform that lends itself to taking on the shape, which can best reflect the interests of the participants.
     A quick count of the exhibitors alone indicates twenty countries*, and probably a few more, with some foreign companies listing their U.S. offices. These countries span the continents – Asia, the Subcontinent, the Middle East, Europe, Russia, North, Central and South America. Anyone having doubts or wanting to quantify how global trade is and - as the industry serving it, transportation actually is, had an ample first hand demonstration, for all to see.

Air Cargo Americas On Video-Part II	To View Videos Click On Images
If you missed Air Cargo Americas On Video-Part I Please click here

      While some big companies had larger and more posh booths, and the projected polish of the established businesses, it is equally fascinating to meet first time exhibitors from afar – China, India, UAE, for example. As this was the first time the show included sea cargo, it remains to be seen how these vital yet competing modes of transportation evolve.
     The usual mix of freight forwarders, GSA, airlines and vendors is what makes Air Cargo America pulsate with the spark and lifeline of commerce, enterprise and vibrant humankind. It’s always a pleasure to run into old friends and colleagues again and to meet many new ones.
     I couldn’t resist the analogy of the world wide web and its equalizing effect on communications – here we had side by side giant global companies and regional turbo-prop operators, each with its specialty, marketing and customer base. It is what makes the complex web of transportation services and its players unique.
     Several weeks have passed quickly since the books closed on this 2009 show and there are just a couple of weeks before we ring in a new year. I think it is fair to say that it’s been a remarkably difficult year for the world in general, the airline industry and particularly air cargo. And “difficult” is an understatement. Heartfelt congratulations and admiration to all those who survived it! You can bear the scars proudly.
     No one needs a crystal ball for the immediate future to realize that we must continue to hone our skills, improve processes, find new opportunities and ideas and deliver day-in-and-day-out quality services in everything we do. As the economy hopefully will slowly start to recover, we can get breath some fresh air then get ready for the next cycle of the rollercoaster ride that this business has been for so many years. Just be there and do your magic!
Ted Braun

India Air Cargo Plans Rebound

     The Indian air cargo industry is preparing for a rejuvenation of sorts in 2010. The chinks of sunshine follows the data released by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) which shows that domestic air freight has been growing in double digits year on year since May 2009, compared with a contraction between October 2008 and March 2009. Overseas freight has also started growing marginally since August this year.
     During the year 2008-09, all operational Indian airports together handled 16.97 lakh tonnes of freight registering a negative growth of -1.0 percent when compared with the corresponding period of 2007-08. Compound growth rate, over the past five years, indicates that international and domestic cargo has been increasing annually at the rate of 10.6 percent and 7.9 percent respectively, which accounts for 9.7 percent compound growth rate for total cargo traffic at all Indian airports.
     It is in such an environment that Capt. Gopinath’s Deccan 360, with eight freighters, has already marked its presence (ACNFT, November 13, 2009). Another cargo carrier, which has been waiting in the wings for a long time, Aryan Cargo Express Pvt Ltd, has decided to start operations with two Airbus A310 freighters early next year. According to Mukut Pathak, MD, Aryan Cargo Express Pvt Ltd, the launch would be some time between January 15 and February 1, 2010 since the period between February and March is the peak season for air cargo.
     Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which manages 124 airports in the country, is going all out to enhance cargo operations. V P Agrawal, Chairman, AAI, (right) in a recent interview said that with two major airports at Delhi and Mumbai having gone to private owners, the Authority had to take stock of the changed ground realities and review the cargo operation policies. The review was also necessitated due to the changing market forces: of late, there had been demands from many industrial townships and regions in the country for air cargo facilities. This, said the Chairman, had opened up new vistas for the AAI.
     Pointing out that AAI’s objective was “Zero tolerance with regard to mishandling of cargo,” the cargo infrastructure available at the AAI controlled airports was being upgraded: state-of-the-art cargo handling equipment, like Elevated Transfer Vehicles, had been stationed at the metro air cargo terminals.
     The AAI has chalked out elaborate plans for the future and had even drawn up a policy, which would allow domestic airports to handle international cargo. In a bid to enhance the tonnage of perishables, Centres for Perishable Cargo had been established at Delhi, Mumbai (both with the private holders of the airports), Chennai, Kolkata, Amritsar and Trivandrum airports. In addition, cold storage facilities had also been put up in a number of airports.
Tirthankar Ghosh

Contact! Talk To Geoffrey

RE:   We've Seen Enough Of

Dear Geoffrey,

     As a former advocate of the "term" sustainability, or more accurately a philosophy of decision-making and actions to perpetuate something, I share some of your frustration. Actually the term is as good a term as justice, good, bad, honor or conservation and has a clear meaning--decisions and actions that tend to perpetuate a process or state. The problem with the word is the problem with people. We apparently cannot agree on any desirable conditions or state, for anything.      The public mind cannot think in the abstract. On a basic issue such as population limits, where one person might see a billion starving people living on a depleted landscape (not good), another sees more souls to populate a Christian heaven (a good—I presume the faster they multiply and die, the better). A third sees a possible disruption to profits either way. Regardless, as with justice, the term sustainability provides a useful mental image and that allows us to communicate a notion, regardless of how it much it is corrupted.
     Our founding fathers established a representative republic foreseeing the inability of the common man to think in the abstract or not corrupt noble notions required for good government. I guess today’s endless public debate, resulting in little action, on every issue proves their point. Sustainability is a case in point.

Rob Hendricks

RE:  Americas Beautiful Venue Lags

Good Day Mr. Arend,

     I just wanted to drop you a note thanking you for your critique regarding our facility – The Doubletree Miami Mart Hotel and Exhibition Center. (Americas Beautiful But Venue Lags FT Nov. 8, 2009 )
     As note-worthy as your comments were, it might also be appropriate to unveil the real news story regarding what is happening at the Doubletree Miami Mart.
     First, the hotel was acquired by United Capital Corp. in August of 2009. UCC immediately embarked on an extensive renovation program for both the hotel and exhibition Center.
     Our company also contracted with a World Class Design/Architectural Firm from Coconut Grove, to develop a new state of the art design program for the exhibition center and to assist the ownership in developing the property into the finest Exhibition and Conference Center in South Florida.
     The work is commencing immediately – sand is slated for completion prior to November of 2010 – well in advance of the next ACA Conference.
     The Hotel will remain a Doubletree Hotel, as it is now, and UCC is committed to maintaining the facility as a member in good standing of the Hilton Family of Brands.
     So as you can see, in 2011, the ACA Conference will have the opportunity to enjoy South Florida’s Finest Convention and Exhibition Center, while staying in at our Hotel/Resort facility, attached to the World Famous International Merchandise Mart, located adjacent the Miami International Airport (MIA) and Blue Lagoon Business District, and only minutes away from the Miami City Center, Bayside, Port of Miami and the Internationally Famous South Beach.
     What more could one ask for –

Regards,
Tony Ferrara | General Manager
Doubletree Miami Mart Airport Hotel & Exhibition Center