Lufthansa Cargo's Alison Ricker
Handles Global Partners

     Notebook open and pen poised, I am ready to ask Alison Ricker, Head of Global Account Management, the Americas, a few questions. Alison has another idea and soon I find myself being interviewed. It’s earnest, with many smiles in between, although assertiveness is not in short supply and her approach and personality give us a glimpse into why Alison is in charge of three of Lufthansa Cargo’s 12 global partners – Expeditors, which she handles personally, UPS and UTi, all headquartered in the U.S.. This elite group consists of Agility, CEVA, DHL Global Forwarding, DSV, Expeditors, Hellmann, Kühne+Nagel, Nippon Express, Panalpina, DB Schenker, UPS and Uti.
     Open, outgoing and building up on a decade-long career with the carrier, Alison manages the all-important key customer facing activities. With a degree in international relations from the University of British Columbia and having started out as a Lufthansa cargo sales rep in Vancouver, BC, after three years she became sales manager. Alison moved on and in 2002 was made global cargo account manager and subsequently Director Sales, US South.
     Family life convinced her to leave the airline and in 2006 she moved to California to spend a couple of years as stay-at-home mom. But the airline siren call came and the friends and colleagues she made in Atlanta kept tugging at her until on December 1, 2010, she returned to her former carrier and resumed her current position under the new VP the Americas, Achim Martinka.
     In addition to the global partners, Alison runs a U.S. business partners program. When asked what surprised her, she says that the e-bookings level having reached 50 percent of all shipments was a big surprise. She is a firm believer that customer education has played a big role and helped improve the turnaround.
     The global partners are serious business whose council, hosted by Dr. Andreas Otto, Lufthansa Cargo Executive Board Member Product & Sales, in a ceremony on the Greek island of Santorini held in June, 2011, recognized CEVA as its most successful major customer in 2010, presenting it with the prestigious 2010 Planet of Excellence award.
     Alison thinks that there is room for more female senior managers in the Atlanta office. We’ll keep a close watch on developments.
Ted Braun

Charlotte Gallogly's
Economic War Room

     What Is the Miami World Trade Center?
     Air cargo people know it mostly because it has been organizing the Air Cargo Americas show ad exhibition since 1991, an event that takes place every two years, alternating with the TIACA Air Cargo Forum. And it is running the 2011 Air Cargo Americas, which opens on November 2, 2011.
     Since 2009, the show has shifted its focus by adding the sea freight logistics industry. Its close association with the Port of Miami tells the story; it generated 32,000 jobs and is the 11th largest container port in the U.S. Its ambitious target is to double the cargo it currently handles by 2020. Both air and sea freight is up.
     The WTC is bullish on Latin America, looking at the pending Columbia and Panama Free Trade Agreements, which would eliminate the 35 percent duty. Federal and Florida state dollars are at work for the 50-foot dredging in preparation for the super-Panamax vessels due to come online in 2014, aiming to make Miami the first port of entry. Additional infrastructure measures are bringing the railroad back to the port and a tunnel to the port, which will remove traffic from the main highway system, bypassing the city.
     Miami operates what Charlotte Gallogly, its longtime president, terms an “economic war room,” bringing together all the organizations involved in trade for the city. The World Trade Center is set up as an independent, non-profit entity aimed squarely at conducting trade advocacy and staging and managing trade events. It also stages the largest food and beverage show in the northern hemisphere. Its mission is “to increase two way trade,” supported by its own staff in 13 countries in Latin America, plus Brazil and Argentina. In addition to three officers, which include the Port of Miami director, Mr. Bill Johnson, it has a fifteen-member board of directors covering the entire spectrum, from business to academia, state and the airport.
     The organization is looking for new opportunities and Ms. Gallogly cites AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) as such an area where there are little to no contacts but significant promise.
     Air Cargo Americas is expected to host up to 5,000 attendees with more than 3,000 already signed up and 156 exhibition booths sold. This is seen as an event for developing world class connections, not just another run of the mill air show, but one that can boast a track record of deep involvement in this market and the high energy level it exudes. One gets the sense that “things are up” here!
     Several airlines regularly schedule corporate meetings for the days preceding Air Cargo Americas. Charlotte Gallogly notes that the issues she is working on going forward involve bringing back trans-shipments, even closer and increasing work with the customers and attracting more Asian airlines, as evidenced by the new services of the fourth such carrier, Asiana, in addition to Cathay Pacific, China Air and Korean Airlines. A new distribution center coming up near the airport can only help, as does the continued Latin America push where Brazil alone is expected to generate growth figures ranging in the 7-9 percent in conjunction with the Olympics.
     The Convention Center underwent improvements to the tune of about twelve million dollars, a welcome development we look forward to experiencing.
Ted Braun

Lufthansa Charter Adds
Aerodyne Cargo In Calgary

     Reto Hunziker, Managing Director for Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency GmbH, reports on adding Calgary, Canada-based Aerodyne Cargo Services Inc. to its growing LCCA GSA network.
     Recently, LCCA announced Airline Network Service as a GSA partner for the Montreal area.
     “Aerodyne Cargo Services, with focus on the oil and gas industry, was chosen for its expertise and intensive contacts in that business,” he added.
     “Our partnering with Platinum Cargo in Texas earlier this year, which also has heavy contacts in the oil business, is part of our effort to expand our service offering beyond the sales reach of our partners in the Lufthansa Cargo Group,” Mr. Hunziker said.

Air Cargo Americas
Opens November 2

     We are looking at this picture of Ram Menen (left), Bill Boesch and Prakash Nair (right), taken at the high point of Air Cargo Americas (ACA) in 2003, as the event feted Mr. Boesch with the prestigious ACA Award for “Outstanding Contribution To Air Cargo.”_
     Each time we look at these three guys, (although they are not at ACA much anymore) we know that the reason we will be at ACA next week, November 2-4, 2011 as the show convenes once again in Miami, is because of the great people who are always a part of that show, which is the biggest event of its kind for Latin American air cargo.
     Air Cargo Americas is the grand wazoo of American industry events; a wide, open, lusty frenetic couple of days of warmth and Latin spirit, that can also be a bit wild and even rough around the edges.
     But the people that network there, old and young, are always larger than life and represent the heart and soul of this American air cargo industry.
     We have always thought that the ACA venue, just off the main runways of MIA, offered great access, although the place is kind of worn out.
     After TSA cargo security boss Jim Kelly died of Legionnaires Disease after attending the last ACA in 2009, there was even some talk that the ACA venue could be dangerous to one’s health.
     But there is some talk that the ACA venue has been fixed up.
     We will take a ‘wait and see’ attitude on that one.
     What makes ACA worthwhile is out there on the hoof, at the coffee breaks, inside the display stands and taking a microphone.
     Thinking about of all the things we do while employed in air cargo, making friends from all over the world is better than anything else.
     A curious thing occurs when we gather at air cargo events—sooner or later, our humanity takes over.
     The "mission" gets pushed back and we become much more than the voices and faces and thinking of what passes as air cargo today.
     This is our life, this career in air cargo. These are our friends who somehow appear and are there for us, like touchstones, whether in Atlanta, Dubai, Basel or Rangoon.
     What a great example of international relationships these air cargo trade shows can be.
     People from all over the world, connected by the desire to advance the air speed of international commerce in Miami, Florida for a couple of days in November.
     Don’t miss it.
Geoffrey Arend/Flossie

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