I’ve
seen Tony Charaf twice in the last two weeks—first at the TIACA
AGM in Istanbul last week and then this week at CNS in San Antonio.
You know that kind of silent communication
that comes with a quick handshake or a nod, with the verbal conversation
not occurring until much later?
Sometimes, simply passing like ships in
the night can be as informative as a sit down conversation.
A heightened awareness develops when you
are in a place where so many people need to be greeted and chatted up
a bit.
The Delta Air Lines Senior Vice President
and Chief Cargo Officer speaks, and whatever the current situation,
you get the clear feeling that he is dually in the moment and looking
ahead, weighing options, and never letting things get out of hand.
In an atmosphere where others cast some
doubt, or are unable to predict what will happen or, worse, go around
clucking that the sky is falling, Tony Charaf is always the coolest
customer in the room.
I first met him back in our old newspaper
days, during his first pass as top DL Cargo executive. We ate cake over
at Newark Airport to celebrate Delta Cargo opening a facility there
in the early 1990s.
Today, some years later, Tony is back,
unflappable as ever, with his focus and vision always at the ready,
although he almost never draws attention to himself.
Remember, Mr. Charaf is the air cargo
chief who once said:
“In a position of leadership, shrink
your head and grow your heart.”
To explain his philosophy of working with
people, Tony proclaimed:
“There is no ‘I’ in
team.”
So forward we march into pretty little
May 2014.
Here is our latest take with the smartest
guy in the room:
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Q:
What was the top Delta Cargo priority at CNS this week
in San Antonio?
A: Our
top priority at the CNS conference was to engage in dialogue with our
customers to find out what’s on their minds and talk about what’s
next. It’s an opportunity for us to hear from our customers on
how we can work together to realize efficiencies in our businesses so
that air freight can continue to be a viable shipping option for those
products where other modes could be considered as an alternative. We
value the time that we have with our customers, and we really listen
to them. Delta Cargo was well-represented with Ray Curtis and key members
of the Sales and Commercial team, Scott Barkley and Mike Rizzo from
Operations, Sharon Poindexter who participated in an e-freight panel,
as well as others from Revenue Management and Finance. We always welcome
and value our customers’ feedback. The entire team is working
very hard to earn their business.
Q: What
is your view of the cargo transportation business climate in 2014?
A: We
are cautiously optimistic that 2014 will be a better year than 2013.
The headwinds are still there – excess capacity driving down yields,
modal shift and near shoring will continue to affect the air freight
industry. The competition is stronger than ever, so it’s very
important that we deliver exceptional service to our customers. They
have options; we have to earn their business every day. Consistency,
reliability and predictability are what our customers demand, and we
will work harder and smarter to meet their expectations so that they
can take care of their customers as well.
We are keenly focused on continuing to
build our business in line with customers’ expectations and having
the products and services available on a consistent basis across Delta’s
extensive global network.
Q: What
do you envision by region and in terms of growth and development that
is targeted by DL?
A: Delta
is creating an industry-leading West Coast – Asia gateway in Seattle.
In June, we will have new service between Seattle and Hong Kong and
Seattle and Seoul (Incheon). We’re up gauging our service between
Seattle and Shanghai and have gone to daily year-round service from
Seattle to Beijing. We also offer service between Seattle and Tokyo
to both Narita and Haneda using 777 and 767 aircraft.
Delta is the only carrier offering trans-continental
widebody pallet capable aircraft. We offer five daily flights between
JFK and LAX, and our flights are timed to connect to international banks
in both directions, from the East Coast to Europe and Africa and from
the West Coast to Asia and Australia. We have additional widebody routes
from ATL to LAX, PDX and SEA, connecting South America and Africa along
with ATL to LAX and HNL.
Our joint venture with Air France-KLM
and Alitalia, where we have trans-atlantic anti-trust immunity, will
continue to evolve as we work together to further develop our partnership.
We’re also fortunate to have a 49%
ownership stake in Virgin Atlantic where we have anti-trust immunity
between the UK and North America. Our teams are working together to
develop this relationship, and we are already co-located in several
cities in the U.S., including JFK, EWR, BOS, IAD and most recently MIA.
An area that we will continue to focus
on this year is revenue growth from premium products. We’ve made
solid progress with our Pharma products and amplifying the infrastructure
to support these critical shipments. Express products and perishable
shipments are also growth opportunities.
Q: Why
should forwarders support Delta Cargo? What is your commitment?
A: Our
company recently reported a March quarter pre-tax profit of $444 million,
which was a $363 million improvement over the same period last year.
These results were delivered by our people who are the best in the industry.
We will continue to remain focused on the path that we have set forward
as a company.
Our approach is to make Delta a great
place to work for our employees, make Delta an airline our customers
want to fly and ship with and make Delta a great investment for our
shareholders. Simply said, we take care of our employees who take care
of our customers, and our customers take care of our investors.
Delta is setting a new standard and building
a resilient franchise. Cargo continues to be a strategic focus, and
we’re fortunate to be afforded the opportunity to invest in our
business. This allows us to build on the foundational aspects of our
business and be a valued and reliable business partner for our customers.
Our corporate focus is always to be safe, clean,
and on-time with bags and cargo.
 “There
is no ‘I’ in team,” says Delta Cargo’s Tony
Charaf, and there are few who would doubt this group is ready with
imaginative solutions to any logistics challenge. Mr. Charaf outlines
some moves here, determined to carry the Georgia-based air cargo
resource to new heights.
From L to R—Delta Cargo's Alex Clayton, Laura F. Cascino,
Miffy Wiggs, Marie Buetow and Sarah Berry. |
Q:
What will you expect from CNS 2014 to consider the event
a success?
A: A
successful event would mean that we were able to connect with customers
and understand their view of where we are and where we need to be in
order to build our respective business. It will be a success when we
have executed on the areas of improvement that our customers have told
us are important. And we know that speed wins. We will focus on results
and measuring how we are doing.
Continuous improvement, which is not only working
harder but working smarter, is core to our success.
Q: What
is the one message that you would like to deliver to the global audience
we serve about what you do-your hopes and ambitions and what we all
can do to make working together better?
A: I
have said many times since I returned to cargo that as an industry we
have not moved forward with removing paper from our business and making
the investments in technology to do this. Meetings such as CNS are very
important as they bring the players in the industry together to have
dialogue. But we can’t just talk; we have to continue to drive
hard and have the same level of commitment to make this happen. There
are many challenges facing our industry, and we have to become more
efficient so that air freight can continue to be an effective and efficient
means of transportation.
When we come together next year, I hope
we can talk about the significant progress we have made.
Q: Please
describe what Delta Cargo feels as its most continuing contribution
to air cargo?
A: As
a cargo carrier, it’s important for us to deliver products safely
and on time to the final destination. With the growing cargo business,
combined with the increasing number of flights and tight turn times,
it’s ever so important that we continue to deliver on our commitment.
A key component of our business is perishables products, which means
it’s time sensitive that we get items to the final destination.
Our express shipments can contain biomedical specimens, heart valves
and other lifesaving organs. These high profile shipments can make the
difference in a person’s quality of life.
That’s our commitment to the industry
– safe, clean, on-time with bags and cargo.
Q: How
do you feel about being ranked Number One in e-freight utilization of
all the domestic airlines in the latest IATA count? What is your resolve
toward the future in terms of further e-freight implementation?
A: We
are pleased with our progress, but there is a lot of work ahead. Our
resolve is to never be satisfied with where we are; there’s always
room for improvement. This remains a key area of focus for our entire
team. We will continue to work with our customers, play an active role
in the industry to drive adoption and look for innovative ways to utilize
technology to further adoption as well. The path has been paved on the
passenger side of our business. It sets the path and a roadmap we need
to use to move forward at a rapid pace.
Q: Do
a self report card on your second term atop DL Cargo. What are you most
proud of having accomplished. What is yet to be done?
A: I
am most proud of our people, including the leaders we have now. This
group of people is committed to Delta Cargo becoming the best in the
industry and working together as a team to get the job done.
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