Vol. 9  No. 112                                                     WE COVER THE WORLD                          Tuesday October 12, 2010

 

Grand Send Off
For A Good Guy

     Klaus Holler, one of the best people you may ever meet, has spent all of the 21st Century as Head of Area Management Americas, Lufthansa Cargo AG. He is pictured here Monday evening both saying goodbye and also greeting his successor, Achim Martinka, (right) as Lufthansa Executive Board Member, Dr. Andreas Otto, (left) looks on.
     They held a celebration for Klaus Holler at the Georgia Aquarium, where an incredible facility and program served as backdrop for an extraordinary event that packed the room with well-wishers from USA and around the world, including colleagues and customers. Everyone was celebrating a career filled with the warmth and friendship of Klaus.
   

An evening for dear hearts and gentle people. Here Ron Sanford, Lufthansa Cargo Head of Global Account Management The Americas, who served as host to the event held in the spectacular downtown Atlanta Georgia Aquarium, conveyed the best wishes of all gathered to Klaus and his wife Birgitte.

     Klaus Holler not only built a great and successful organization for Lufthansa Cargo in USA, but also in his quiet, determined and down to earth manner, he managed to leave a legion of fans everywhere.
     Klaus was born on July 2, 1945 in Würzburg, Germany.
     After completing his secondary school education, his military service and an apprenticeship, he began his career at the Lufthansa Cargo Center in Frankfurt in 1967. Seven years later, he assumed command of cargo handling in Nairobi, Kenya until 1980. He continued working in cargo handling and also as the deputy of the station manager in Tokyo/Narita, Japan up to 1986.
     Klaus Holler spent two years in Detroit, establishing the cargo station there and organizing the Turin-Detroit auto-transportation project “Allante” on behalf of General Motors.
     Afterwards, Klaus Holler left the cargo business for some time to acquire further know-how and experience in passenger traffic in the airline industry. Between 1988 and 1993, he worked as station manager in Bombay, India. From 1993 to 1999, he was responsible for setting up Lufthansa’s cargo hub at Sharjah (United Arab Emirates), which quickly became Lufthansa Cargo’s pivotal hub for airfreight operations in India and the Far East.
     As Manager of the “Best in Hubs“ project, Klaus Holler moved back to Frankfurt in 1999 to spearhead sustainable quality improvement at the Lufthansa Cargo Center.
     In 2000, Klaus assumed command as VP Sales and Marketing of USA, a critical hub in the Lufthansa Cargo global route network.

(L to R)—Bidding Farewell, Eric LeFebvre, Corporate Director Sales & Development, EmoTrans; Jo Frigger, CEO Emo Trans, Klaus Holler and Olen Woods, President, Emo Trans.

     Since June 2003, Klaus Holler has also served as Head of Handling the Americas, based in Atlanta Georgia.
     But after leading Lufthansa Cargo as a major part of the company for all of the 21st century, and by our measure having raised that enterprise to its greatest heights, it is also refreshing to discover that it is not always all work and no play.
     You see, Klaus Holler professes a love of the outdoors, especially ripping through the hills and open roads aboard his Harley motorcycle, and occasionally kicking back by picking up his Fender and joining a small musical combo that plays for fun and sometimes performs at events and parties.
     So now, as he closes the book on a career well spent whilst looking ahead to an eventual return to Germany, Klaus (characteristically) has nothing but praise for his colleagues and business partners:
     “I have had the great good fortune to have a great family supporting me in whatever I do.
     “Add to that the opportunity to serve the greatest air cargo company in the world, with staff that is second to none, and the recipe is unbeatable!”
     Somebody mentions to Klaus that he is being feted on Columbus Day in America, and he smiles:
     “What I discovered here in America were great opportunities to build our brand from people willing to work with us and delighted to accept our efforts.
     “My deepest thanks to our colleagues and business partners here in the USA and around the world.
     “You will always be in my thoughts,” Klaus Holler said.
     We depart wondering if maybe after a short while, Klaus might emerge again in air cargo, although he is quick to deny the thought
     Never say never.
Geoffrey

 

     "Lufthansa Cargo has made optimal use of the upswing this year," announced Lufthansa Cargo Chairman and CEO Carsten Spohr as the carrier said that its global biz transported about 1.3 million tons of freight January to September or a year-on-year increase of 19.4 % with RTKs up by 22.8%.
     "We were able to realize the targeted expansion of our offer, bringing about a significant increase in the load factors, and we intend to keep growing during the fourth quarter."
     In November all 18 of The Lufthansa MD-11 (two were parked in the Californian desert) will be back in service.
     Herr Spohr noted that as of November, the cargo carrier would be offering twelve weekly flights to Japan, up from seven.

 

Billion Dollar Baby

     Everybody has goals in mind with some top executives clearly focused with eyes on the prize.
     For Neel Shah, Vice President Delta Air Cargo the plan is to emerge in 2012 as a billion dollar business.
     “It’s everything we do in all aspects of air cargo including our return to the mail that adds up to a resurgent Delta Cargo.
     “Delta Cargo is a Delta you don’t know.”
     Look for the full story upcoming in Flying Typers.

 

 

     The U.S. forwarder National Air Cargo, a subsidiary of Ypsilanti, Michigan-based parent National Air Cargo Inc., has launched thrice weekly cargo services between Germany and China, with intermediate stops in between.
      The inaugural flight took place on September 12. The routing read Frankfurt-Kuwait-Kabul-Hong Kong. On the way back the aircraft landed at Karaganda, Kazakhstan for a fuel stop. Deployed is a Boeing B747-400 freighter that National Air Cargo Inc. has purchased. Aircraft number two is supposed to join the fleet in the beginning of October. By then, the roundtrips will increase to five a week. The third B-400F is scheduled to follow sometime in November. All three Jumbos are originally coming from AF Cargo.
     A considerable portion of the carried tonnage consists of military equipment and supply needed by U.S. forces in both the Middle East and Afghanistan, like medicines, foodstuff and beverages, clothing, and occasionally also arms. Roughly 70 percent of the loads uplifted by the carrier are military goods in a wider sense. This is complemented by “commercial transports that we are offering the market,” states Axel Hoffmeister, National Air Cargo’s Managing Director Europe.
     Currently, the plane is flying under Icelandic registration “because so far we don’t have enough own pilots for this Boeing variant at National,” Hoffmeister told ACNFT in a brief Frankfurt-held interview. To fast-fill the cockpit gap, carrier National Air Cargo Incorporated has sent applicants to Lufthansa’s Frankfurt facilities for pilot training. Once the U.S. nationals are licensed, the then three B747-400 freighters will be registered in the USA. According to Hoffmeister, this is supposed to happen in spring 2011.
     Frankfurt-based Globe Air Cargo is the general sales agent for Germany and Europe. “We market the rest of the capacity offered by the carrier on all flights taking off at Rhein-Main airport,” confirms Mark Grinsted, Globe’s Commercial Manager.
Heiner Siegmund

 

The Lady Has Cargo Under Control

     Meet Tonya Phillips who coordinates activities of Delta Cargo from the Operations Control Center (OCC) of Delta Air Lines in Atlanta.
     Tonya is part of a team including Terrence Lawyer and Michael Boyce that 24/7 keep track and coordinate every Delta flight that carries cargo.
     That job can take various courses including adding more cargo to aircraft payloads when less passengers show up and all kinds of interesting other possibilities.
     “We stay in touch with sales and operations and just about everyone at Delta,” Tonya said.
     Tonya has been part of the Delta family for eleven and a half years starting out her airline odyssey on the ramp.
     She says among the most interesting events of her early career was out on the ramp one day loading up baggage and coming upon a skid with a can that had a curtain.
     “I peeled back the curtain and a live lion bound for the zoo growled hello.
     “Needless to say I beat it out of there—fast!”
     “We have great people here,” said Patrick Frantz, Manager Cargo Operations Control Center.
     Amidst a forest of computer screens and LCD displays that encirce a room that contains the electronic brains of an airline in the form of a giant computer Delta Cargo reaches out to all the disciplines in domestic and international flight control and reporting.
     “Aircraft,weather,all flights,maintenance,capacity control,sector management-there are plenty of people here to interact with in real time to make sure the cargo takes the right path to delivery.”
Geoffrey

 

     Quite a few Indian entrepreneurs have entered the cargo and logistics arena in the last couple of years, but few have survived. The latest to join the logistics bandwagon is V. G. Siddhartha – restaurateur, investor and owner of the highly successful Café Coffee Day chain (999 cafes in 135 cities). He has been apparently singled out to buy the financially strapped Hyderabad-based express and logistics service provider Gati, though Gati’s Managing Director and CEO, Mahendra Agarwal, right has denied it vehemently.
     Coffee Day is a division of India’s largest coffee conglomerate, the Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Limited (ABCTCL), one of the top coffee exporters in the country with buyers in the USA, Europe and Japan. Siddhartha has the financial clout. He has $200 million that he acquired from a number of Private Equity players and buying out Gati at slightly over $100 million would be no problem at all.
     If sources are to be believed, V. G. Siddhartha, who is the son-in-law of India’s External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna, has been on the lookout for a logistics company for a long time so as not to depend on a number of logistics providers, as his business does today. In fact, having one in his business empire is essential.
     Though the Coffee Day boss has not made his intentions of acquiring Gati clear, industry pundits are reading meanings into some of Siddhartha’s appointments.
     One such appointment was with Kush Desai, former Managing Director of SAP Labs India, as head of infrastructure. Logistics is a major element of all Siddhartha’s businesses. His cafés require a constant supply of coffee beans. Add to that the food that is prepared and supplied to the cafes from the company’s central kitchen in Bangalore. In addition, Siddhartha has hotels and resorts spread out over southern India that require their stocks get replenished regularly. There is also a furniture-manufacturing unit in Chickmagalur (the nearest airport is Bajpe airport at Mangalore, 160 km away) that the company owns which sends its products all over the country. To top it all, the company also requires logistics support for its export of coffee.
     Air Cargo News Flying Typers readers will remember the hype and the speed with which Hyderabad-based express and logistics service provider Gati tied up with Air India around the end of 2007. At that time, Air India handed over a Boeing 737 to Gati that was used to operate daily cargo flights on the Delhi-Mumbai-Bangalore-Delhi sector. Four more planes were given to Gati in 2008.
     Almost two years down the line, Gati’s Mahendra Agarwal was forced to terminate the wet lease agreement for the five planes with Air India; the immediate reason was the company’s whopping losses. Over the last year or so, Gati lost around Rs 650 million ($1 = Rs 48) in its bid to run freighter services and take future positions on Swiss and Japanese currencies. In fact, the company has decided to restructure its finances. As part of the move, it will sell a part of its assets and lease out its warehouses. It also plans to get rid of its ships.
     If the Café Coffee Day chief gets hold of Gati, he will join the likes of Mukesh Ambani, who started off his retail stores and then hunted around for a cargo freighter fleet ‘till he tied up with Deccan 360’s Capt Gopinath.      Those who have knowledge of the industry point out that the potential is promising, but there is a lot of inefficiency; unlike developed nations, where logistics costs account for 8 percent of the GDP, in India it is 13 percent.
Tirthankar Ghosh

 

Ryan Skies
High Wide & Handsome

     We are thinking that John Ryan must believe that in air cargo, you actually get to live three times.
     Here in October 2010, while others have packed it in, been caught in downsizing—or worse—have been tangled up in the expanding global price fixing web, this long time top cargo executive is off on a new adventure, and happy about his new role as Regional Sales director New York for Airline Services International.
     As he takes up residence in One Cross Island Plaza in Rosedale, New York, close to the big air cargo operation at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where he will head up sales and marketing and operation for the company, John (john@airlineservices.com) says he is looking forward to the new challenge.
     John Ryan certainly has a well-rounded air cargo business record, having served in every facet of the industry during his career from the airline to the forwarding side.
     Therefore, this latest move into GSA would seem natural.
     You may recall that John was once part of a small team of air cargo professionals, which included Angelo Pusateri and Alan Chambers who were instrumental in creating Virgin Cargo.
     Later, John worked at keeping his customers close and communications open with “The Castle” as the USA face of bmi Cargo.
     Before all of that, back when he was still a kid, John Ryan broke into the business as an air freight fowarder.
     “Plenty of people promise anything you want to get your cargo.
     “The difference is often thought to be a couple of cents per kilo, and truth be told, sometimes it is.
     “But long term air cargo is all about relationships.
     “You honor your deals, quote the best rates and don’t even think of copping a plea if something goes wrong.
     “Long distance runners in this business are up front and able to take a beating whether it’s accolades for a job well done or for settling the screw-ups.
     “I love air cargo and treasure the customers and everybody knows that,” John Ryan smiled.
Geoffrey

 

Making Of Florida One

     Here is a new LUV B737 from Boeing taking off from start to finish in just 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
     Enjoy the ride.

 

 

 


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