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“All
is well” is word up from the House of McCool in Dublin this March.
Air Cargo Pioneer and the father Sean McCool at 90, pictured in his St
Patrick’s Day hat celebrating with family at home looks in fine
fettle.
The Too Cool McCool, son Ian is IAM Managing
Director responsible for Ireland’s International Airline Marketing
Ltd., the largest GSSA on the Emerald Isle moving a quarter of all freight
from Ireland.
Delivering for American Airlines, Etihad
Airways, Air Canada and All Nippon Airways, IAM forms the core of an expanding
group with dynamic Ian in the center of the action.
Spoke to Ian in high spirits:
“Sean approaches his 91st birthday
next month,” Ian said proudly.
“He says he still feels like he like
he is in his twenties.
“Sean is planning his next business
venture and has a great interest in importing some rare breed meats such
as Wagyu Beef or Manx Loaghtan Lamb.
“Not long before Sean started in the
air cargo business with Seaboard World Airlines, air cargo was at the
top table.
“The Pandemic has accelerated air
cargo to the very top table once more.
“COVID & Russia,” Ian said,
trying hard not to spit the words out, “in the first case was the
main topic of conversation over the last two years.
“Now in the second we are experiencing
substantial restrictions with air space closed down for many carriers
over Russia.
“Been some large-scale flight cancellations
of flights between Europe and Japan as well as some other Asian destinations.
All Japanese carriers ex-Europe have experienced substantial restrictions
over the last two weeks. Some carriers are not flying on certain routes
and others are re-starting via much longer routes to avoid over flying
Russia. This has caused major supply chain disruptions on a major world
trade lane.
“The zero Covid policy in China is
also starting to add additional restrictions with some ports and cities
heading into another lock down.
“Overall – the market is very
volatile and there is very little sign of stabilization.”
“Sean is, like most of us, in a state
of disbelief, as to what has become of Ukraine over the last three weeks.
“Sean was a young child during the
final years of World War II,” Ian said, “and he cannot believe
what we are now witnessing on the global news channels.”
Upside Hard to Come By
“One positive result of war in Ukraine
is the pressure on every economy in the western world looking to advance
sustainability projects as we all look at the weekly increasing energy
costs. Europe in particular is very reliant on Russian gas. This has changed
and will change further over the next 12 months. “Governments
and big business know they must become more self-sufficient and there
is a big drive to increase investments on major sustainability projects.
Interest rates remain low and many of these projects are now being talked
about as an investment rather than a cost.
“Big business is also pushing the transport sectors to hasten the
move to sustainability and there is a move where some are now willing
to pay for the extra costs.”
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Further Q & A With Ian
FT: What
do you want to improve in 2022?
IM:
Peace on earth may not be too
much to ask! We would love to see a bit more stability in the market.
For the last two years is has been one upheaval after another. Covid;
port and airport restrictions; inflation; sky rocketing fuel prices; Suez
Canal blockage; and war in Ukraine.
FT: What
if you kept things the same and didn’t do anything?
IM:
We have the most amazing group
of professionals at IAM. Everyone adapted so well to the changing world.
I am so proud of all the team and how they battled through the last two
years. As everything is still so uncertain, it is hard to access the good
and bad of the last two years. There were many weeks where it was so manic,
you did not come up for breath and you could not be sure what the following
week would bring. As we went through the pandemic and now a war in Europe,
I think we have learned to expect the unexpected and are more prepared
for any curve ball that may come our way.
One of the girls I work with in Belfast said to me last week, “Tell
God your plans and watch him laugh.”
FT: What
did you want air cargo, airlines, forwarders, other cargo resources and
even truckers to know about IAM and moving ahead today?
IM:
IAM have been at the forefront
of supplying quality air cargo services to the Irish Air Cargo Market
for over 30 years. For the first time ever we achieved approximately 30%
market share of the air cargo export market in 2021. A testament to the
great level of work all the team at IAM put into their jobs every day
and the quality provided by our principals and partners.
FT: Will
fly arounds impact freight or is it so in demand shippers will pay the
extra?
IM:
At the moment, shippers are paying
the very high costs to get freight into and out of some Asian markets
( Japan in particular). I cannot see shippers being able to pay the very
high rates thus this should be short to medium term until extra capacity
is introduced. The higher fuel cost is also adding additional price pressures
on both airliners and shippers.
FT: Is
there concern Russia falls off the deep end and does not return leases?
IM:
The estimate is that more than
300 aircraft on lease in Russia are from Irish-based aviation leasing
companies. Approximately a total of 500 aircraft are leased to Russian
airlines by foreign companies. At this stage the exposure is enormous
and there is no clear route for recovery of the assets. The longer the
war and sanctions continue, the harder it may be to repossess the assets.
This has wide ranging repercussion as many of the leasing deals are backed
into global bonds to finance the purchase of the aircraft.
Geoffrey
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