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   Vol. 13 No. 102  
Friday December 19, 2014

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Taking Control Of Lithium Shipping
     A frame grab of a video that made its way into mainstream media worldwide shows a test conducted at the U.S.A. FAA technical center in Atlantic City, N.J., last April, where a cargo container packed with 5,000 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries simulated a single battery experiencing uncontrolled overheating.
     Forty-four minutes into the test, a build-up of flammable gases inside the container caused an explosion that blew open the container’s door and sent boxes flying.
     The container was soon fully engulfed in flames.
     As new Lithium metal regulations take hold next month, U.S. and international officials have been slow to adopt safety restrictions that might affect both powerful industries that depend on the batteries and the airlines that profit from shipping them.

     By now many FT readers should be familiar with the acronym PRBA (the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association), as the actions and voiced opinions of this learned association have at numerous occasions been a focal point of FT reports relating to the always questioned and at times-contentious issue of shipping Lithium batteries.
     While PRBA responded to the ICAO DGP’s decision on the outright ban of the transport of Lithium metal batteries aboard passenger carrying aircraft that goes into effect January 1st, 2015, including claims that they have always supported safety initiatives, it looks like airlines, regulators, and other stakeholders no longer believe the assurances made by PRBA and NEMA that Lithium batteries are perfectly safe.
     At least a large number of cargo-focused airlines who have filed variations imposing additional measures pertinent to the shipping of Lithium batteries, among them Federal Express (FX), Cathay Pacific (CX), Cargolux (CV), and others seem to think otherwise.
     If this wasn’t enough, regulators are starting to reconsider their approach to the issues at hand:
     While the ICAO DGP in their decision to outlaw Lithium metal batteries on passenger aircraft earlier this year still outlined that they consider “the vast majority of shippers (of Lithium batteries) to be law abiding and compliant,” recent regulatory investigations paint a different picture.
     A recent presentation delivered by Miranda Labbè, co-chair of the TC Lithium Batteries Working Group from Transport Canada, the Canadian DG regulator, found that despite industry outreach and efforts:
          •   Awareness is very poor in general
          •   Regardless of shipping mode and size of company
          •   Very low level of awareness of ICAO requirements by those shipping by air
          •    Very low awareness of the dangers associated with lithium batteries
          •   A surprising number of companies shipped damaged, defective, and waste batteries by air in the past year
          •   78 percent of companies who ship batteries by air were not declaring their shipments properly.
     A 78 percent non-compliance rate by shippers is an absolutely alarming number.
     It is reasonable at this point to conclude that the outreach attempts of PRBA aimed at raising awareness have either fallen short of the mark or failed altogether.
     One might even be allowed to wonder if the PRBA net result in all of this delayed what is eventually coming—tighter regulations aiming at particularly risky cargo.
     US DOT-PHMSA published “PHMSA-2009-0095 (HM-224F) Final Rule” in August this year, and although the “FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012’’ enacted by President Obama prohibits DOT from issuing or enforcing any regulation or other requirement regarding the air transportation of lithium cells or batteries if the requirement is more stringent than the requirements of the ICAO Technical Instructions, the tests undertaken in February this year at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center were sufficiently illustrative— not to say drastic—that a majority of the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel members lean in favor of stricter regulations.
     While for the time being only Lithium Metal batteries (UN 3090) as such have been banned from transport aboard passenger aircraft effective January 1st, 2015 , and this ban does not cover Lithium metal cells and batteries either packed with or installed in equipment (UN3091), the ICAO “International Multidisciplinary Lithium Battery Transport Coordination Meeting” during its 2nd meeting taking place from September 9th to September 11th in Cologne, Germany, made a number of noteworthy recommendations.
     The UPS 006 crash in DXB in 2010, the UPS 1307 accident in PHL in 2006, and the loss of OZ 991 in 2011 were clearly cited as evidence, something PRBA always considered unproven and denied vociferously.
     DOT-PHMSA’s final rule however does include some opinions from PRBA (which have been duly rebuffed by PHMSA) that “PHMSA’s permission for shippers to utilize the lithium battery handling label is misguided and will cause greater confusion (…) and result in greater non-compliance.”
     In their petition to PHMSA, PRBA goes on to say that “there is no reasonable basis to limit the number of lithium ion or metal battery packages in a single aircraft cargo compartment, ULD, or Overpack.”
     Regulators and airlines seem to think otherwise, since the recent and well-publicized tests of a thermal runaway of one battery or cell (no matter if shipped in a compliant manner or not) spread to other cells or batteries in its proximity.
     Furthermore, the presentation indicated that current aircraft cargo holds are not designed to contain Lithium battery fires.
     Added to the internationally reported episode of U.S. FAA tests conducted last April that pictured an aircraft cargo container exploding into a lithium battery-driven fireball is the U.S. NTSB’s recently published report on the Lithium battery fire aboard a parked Japan Airlines (JL) 787 in BOS on January 7th, 2013, as well as the UK AAIB report on a Lithium battery ELT (Emergency Location Transmitter) fire aboard a parked Ethiopian Airlines (ET) 787 in London (LHR) on July 12th, 2013.
In that case, while Boeing and its subcontractors Thales and Yuasa estimated one thermal runaway per aircraft battery cell in 10 million flight hours, it turned out to be three in about 54,000, which led to that embarrassing, widely reported temporary global grounding of the entire B 787 fleet in service.
     A report covering the results of the 2nd session of the ICAO Multidisciplinary Lithium Battery Transport Coordination Meeting makes several recommendations.
          1. Continue exceptions for so-called “Section II Excepted batteries” but prohibit consolidation of such “excepted packages” by means of Overpacks.
          2. Develop a performance-based provision to limit the probability of a propagation of thermal runaway between cells.
          3. Limit charge levels of Lithium-ion and Lithium-polymer cells and batteries to 30 percent.
          4. Carriage of Lithium Ion batteries in the aircraft compartment with the greatest fire suppression capability aboard passenger aircraft.
          5. Carriage of Lithium Ion batteries in the aircraft compartment with the greatest fire suppression capability aboard all-cargo aircraft or load in a manner accessible to flight crew during the flight.
          6. Re-assessment of current ULD and fire detection/suppression technologies.
          7. Use of enhanced containers and fire containment covers in class C cargo compartments.
          8. Performance-based packaging of Lithium batteries, such as with gel packs.
          9. Look into future replacement for the currently used Halon 1301 fire extinguishing agent.
          10. Publishing industry best practices regarding the shipping of Lithium batteries under the auspice of IATA.
          11. Research and sharing of information concerning the management of risks associated with the carriage of Lithium batteries.
          12. New aircraft type designs.
          13. Aircraft manufacturers to characterize the tolerance of their aircraft to conditions such as under Lithium battery fire conditions.
          14. Establishing methods to distinguish Lithium-metal button cells from other types of Lithium batteries.
     Looking ahead on the ICAO DGP’s agenda comes yet another PRBA proposal to permit the air transport of damaged or recalled Lithium batteries— although the chances of such a proposal finding support seems slim to virtually none at best.
Jens



Saudia Cargo LAX ad

 

John Johnston

   Apparently, CHAMP CEO John Johnston has not departed the building entirely, despite reports this week in German logistics journal, Verkehrs Rundschau that he will be stepping down.
   FT learned from a usually reliable source that Johnston—who has led the company into the 21st century with a track record that dates all the way back to when Cargolux owned the IT powerhouse—will leave "some time during the first quarter 2015.”
   “Johnston will remain some kind of force available beyond this timeframe in an undisclosed advisory role,” our source adds.
Geoffrey


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Best In Show Scores Productivity

     Several leading international air cargo gateways were at Air Cargo Handling (ACH) Milano this past September.
     Here we present Part Four of our exclusive series, with a deeper look into the session content at ACH Milano.
     Part Four will be followed in January by in-depth analysis of October’s TIACA Seoul, and finally November’s FIATA Istanbul.


In Milan, Thilo Schaefer, vice president Global Handling Management, Lufthansa Cargo, posed the question:
     “How can we further improve productivity of the air cargo supply chain while getting costs under control?”
     Lufthansa’s answer: Focus on lean logistics and digitization.
     Data quality and transparency are the biggest issues faced today. Complete supply chain transparency is key. With a growing number of accomplished transformation projects, Lean is spreading throughout LH Cargo. LH believes that Lean logistics can save millions of Euros if implemented across the entire network. To date, 26 transformation projects have been achieved and LH has introduced 85 daily team dialogues, across the organization, where stakeholders openly discuss the good and the bad and what can be improved. 92 workshops have been conducted focusing on improvements in the warehouse, etc. Over four hundred employees have been ‘Lean-trained,’ with over 1,000 ideas submitted to date. More than 1,250 employees are in touch with 'Lean,' with local stations given leeway to identify and name specific projects.
     The LH lean logistics guiding principles include transparency, such as shipment status, location of documents etc., flow, looking at processes such as loading and unloading, looking at whether pallets are being built effectively, just in time, and zero defects. Lean Logistics is about people, and everyone counts. The three areas of focus are:
          HAND – changing the working environment and processes
          HEAD – Changing the way of leading and steering
          HEART – Work with passion to drive the change
     In essence, changing the way LH drive projects, how LH leads, and how LH encourages the work force.
     Thilo gave an example of one LH station where LH Cargo and the GHA have jointly improved transparency, production lead times, and staff productivity. By keeping export target times in mind, the supervisors jointly distribute the pallets to the capacity of their workstations, resulting in savings in build-up lead times of 30 percent.
     Ultimately, 'lean' improves KPIS, staff productivity, reduces failure costs, improves production lead times, and improves quality. It does however require full management buy in.
     In terms of digitization, Thilo recognized that many parties are involved in the movement of shipments, with data being captured on average nine times per shipment. Non-integrated information flow causes high transaction cost for all participants in the supply chain and is a good source for errors.
e-AWB is designed to become the next standard process in air cargo transportation—the multilateral agreement has been signed by 979 forwarders and 73 airlines. Quality of data is still an industry issue.      Having tested 1,000 air waybills, LH found none of those tested could be classified as 100 percent perfect. The roadmap to 100 percent e-freight requires 100 percent data quality.
     LH’s aims for digitization include order handling, the scrapping of the physical document, improvement of quality and service, increased revenues through optimized planning and steering, and a reduction in unit costs through automation.
     We asked Head of Dubai-based Calogi Patrick Murray, who knows quite a bit about these actions, for his take:
     “I think a structured programme relating to any form of improvement is welcome in our industry.
     “The involvement of the people on the ground tasked with delivering the changes is also a great idea.”
     The hope is that the audience latches on to these thoughts and starts looking closely at how they can improve the way they conduct their business.
     The facts on the number of times that data is re-keyed and the quality of the FWB are particularly disturbing, as is the quality of the air waybill data.


ACH Finale

     ACH Milano was a great conference for ground handlers, and FT encouraged forwarders and airlines to attend (there were many airlines in attendance anyway).
     What we particularly liked is the frankness and honesty of some of the participants when addressing issues.
     For instance, one area raised as a concern had been the increasing decision-making powers of procurement departments who were more focused on cost versus quality; by squeezing the rates, they were limiting the capabilities of the service providers.
     Another important point that came up repeatedly had been the dwell time of cargo on the ground and an analogy of someone going on a week’s holiday and spending two days on the ground at the origin and destination airports.
     As Patrick Murray attests:
     “We need to understand the delays, identify the fixes, and determine how we measure our success.
     “[We need] more discussions on how to attract talent into the industry, and I had the feeling that we do tend to downplay our achievements, which will have an adverse effect on recruitment.
     “Glyn Hughes took the opportunity to remind the audience that air cargo accounts for a huge volume of work trade by value, saves lives, and is a key enabler in getting the latest technology into the hands of our children.
     “I enjoyed running the workshop, and industry KPIs is a huge subject and worthy of further debate.
     “I think these are valuable exercises and really give industry experts the opportunity to share ideas,” Patrick Murray said.
     FlyingTypers adds that as we move toward a new year, we would like to see the debates and calls for cooperation raised at ACH expanded and acted upon with deliberate speed in the future.
Geoffrey

For Part I click here
For Part II click here
For Part III click here


Chuckles For December 19, 2014

Nut Gate At Korean Air
Cho On This . . . Bag of nuts (or hubris) ends career of Heather Cho, a top executive at Korean Air.

     The behavior of one Korean Air executive illustrates how, despite all its accomplishments, South Korea is still trying to escape its past.
     The success of South Korea’s economy over the last five decades has become something of an inspiration for today’s emerging economies.
     Without being blessed with an inheritance of vast raw materials, the country’s political and economic pioneers instead manufactured cheap exports to kick-start growth before gradually moving up the value chain to build a multi-layered economy.
     Today Korea is one of the richest countries in Asia, boasting global behemoths such as Samsung as well as growing cultural reach through the popularity of its music and film industries.
     But South Korea is also stuck in the past. Family-owned industrial conglomerates with huge political influence spearheaded much of the country’s success. Known in Korea as the ‘chaebol,’ these sprawling companies still dominate the economy—some analysts believe they also choke the life out of SMEs.
     That leading family members still inspire fear cannot be doubted.
     Heather Cho was forced to resign last week as a leading executive at Korean Air and from her positions at all affiliated companies.
     She was accused of forcing a plane bound for New York to turn back to the gate so that a flight attendant could be removed.
     The attendant’s alleged offense?
     Serving Ms. Cho nuts in a bag, not on a plate.
     Head Steward, Park Chang-jin, claimed Ms. Cho also forced him and a female attendant to kneel and beg forgiveness.
     ‘Nutgate’ has taken Korea’s media by storm, not least because Ms. Cho’s father is Cho Yang Ho, CEO of Korean Air. The Cho family has controlled Korean Air since the late 1960s, when it purchased it from the government.
     Korean Air is also part of the Hanjin Group, a key component of Korea’s chaebol system, which owns Hanjin Shipping, one of the world’s biggest shipping and shipbuilding companies.
     Ms. Cho’s father has since apologized for his daughter's "foolish act" and blamed himself for not raising her correctly.
     Others view the incident as an example of all that is wrong with a Korean economic and social model that, for all its successes, has also bred a generation of arrogant and over-privileged offspring linked to tycoon families with unhealthy levels of political and commercial power.
     Whether nuts in a bag will ever be served again or acknowledged at KAL is currently unknown.
     Your move . . .
SkyKing


A FlyingTypers Original
Nomita Kothari
Delta Cargo Women Execute
Moaza Al Falahi Padma Has No Regrets

 

Maurice Flanagan and others

     A ceremony was held in Dubai recently to launch a commemorative line of postal stamps recalling the rich heritage of aviation and its contribution to the amazing growth and development of Dubai.
     Many important people attended the event, including HRH Sheikh Maktoum (pictured far right), but what caught our eye was the man in the dark suit, seated in a wheel chair in the front row.
Maurice and Lady Flanagan      It’s nice to see Sir Maurice Flanagan, one of the founders of Emirates Airline, looking well and back in Dubai, where he made history as a key figure in the creation of one of the greatest airline success stories in aviation history.
     Sir Maurice retired to London (Kensington) in 2012.
     But gone is not forgotten, as Maurice, who has been dealing with some old football injuries, had lost none of his fire, wit, and genteel civility when he told Management Today:
     “I joined BOAC in 1953. (Bastards Overseas Avoiding Conscription, as it was known.)
     “Got posted to Kano, Calcutta, Tripoli, Bangkok.
     “You saluted the captain and flag as you taxied out in those days. Lovely organization.
     “We arrived in Dubai in 1978.
     “Now it's like Venice in its pomp.
     “It's a city of merchants—a medieval court with king and barons.
     “Emirates is now a top airline of the world, and in 2014 is the equivalent of the Venetian fleet.”
     Ah, Maurice!
     Let’s hope they see fit to issue a stamp to honor Maurice Flanagan.
Geoffrey

 

chuckles for December 19, 2014


Ode to Concorde     “This film combines beautiful, original photography and animation to create a joyful portrait celebrating one of the world’s best loved design icons.
     “It’s a nostalgic visual poem that conjures up a dreamlike recreation of Concorde’s heyday.
     “The soundtrack is a collage of emotions and memories from passengers and pilots, designers and engineers, together with cultural commentators and artists who were connected to, or have an appreciation of Concorde,” writes visionary UK film producer/director Chris Purcel, who has spent almost every spare moment and more money than he can remember creating an homage to his favorite airplane, Concorde.
     “The film still in production is titled Ode To Concorde.
     “It was a DC9 hiding inside a sleek design.
     “The striking, dagger-like outside gave way inside to a DC-9-sized cabin… lovingly appointed, but in the end, a pretty tiny tube.
     “And yet, when the aircraft made its farewell tours at iconic airports, people came out to gasp and point and laugh and smile and show their grandkids.
     “Somehow, the appearance of Concorde made today's all-too-ordinary airline experience special again,” writes pilot Jim Matthews in Things With Wings.


Love At First Flight

      The first time we saw Concorde was on a drive down to Dulles Airport from New York, where the aircraft had been banned and demonstrators with nothing better to do went out and blocked up the inner roadways at JFK International Airport.
     That was 38 years ago on May 24th, 1976; we got to see two for the price of one, as a pair of supersonic commercial flights was headed west at twice the speed of sound.
     One from Paris and the other from London, both landed at Dulles Airport within three minutes of each other.


Chris PurcelOde To Concorde

     But now, alas, Concorde has disappeared as high flier of the skies, forced into a static display on the Interpid in New York harbor, but Mr. Purcel (whose credits include several projects featured on the Discovery Channel) and an eager volunteer team of first class filmmakers in UK want to create a proper homage to the unique aircraft and are attempting to raise some money. The goal is 5,000 pounds to create a short film titled simply, Ode To Concorde.
     Chris reports work is progressing; it is indeed a work of love, and we heartily endorse it.
     “I’m now busy working on the audio bed. These are the audio interview clips that will form the spine of the film and tell the story in the words of our English and French contributors.”

Abbey Road video

Great Camera Man

      Chris, it should be said, created an absolutely fabulous five-minute short titled “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?” that watches the Abbey Road crossing made famous by The Beatles.
     Get a coffee or your favorite cuppa and give this one five minutes.


Still At It

      “There are still 2 or 3 interviews I’d like to record.
     “One with an A-list former passenger (TBC) and a flight engineer who can relate some more key technical background.
     “After a great deal of to-ing and fro-ing with Brooklands, we finally have a firm booking for the Simulator filming, when we’ll be able to gather unique close-up photography of Concorde’s flight deck.
     “Our project includes no archive footage or talking heads in this film so, in addition to the Sim, there’s more footage to be filmed of London and Parisian rooftops and sky-line, for example (into which Concorde can be composited).
     “There are also special effects shots and cutaways to film on an airfield, some inflight clouds to be captured, and some Concorde passenger footage to be staged.
     “Quite a bit of progress has been made with flying shots, worked on by a team of compositors using some of our Toulouse footage, and I’m currently working with an animator to create other sections for the piece,” Chris Purcel said.
     Here is a preview and a link if you might want to get on board.

Concorde Video

 

If You Missed Any Of The Previous 3 Issues Of FlyingTypers
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FT120914Vol 13. No. 99
Finnair Readies Big Leap Forward
Air Rates Up Through Chinese New Year
Chuckles For December 9, 2014
Best In Show What Airports Can Do
Mail For December 9, 2014
FT121214
Vol 13. No. 100
Air Cargo News For December 12
Oliver Steps Down
Wish We Said That
1, 2, 3 Look At Mr. Lee
Chuckles For December 12, 2014
Samsung Same Song
Molinelli Was Always Certain
JFK Cargo Christmas December 16

Publisher-Geoffrey Arend • Managing Editor-Flossie Arend • Associate Publisher/European Bureau Chief-Ted Braun
Film Editor-Ralph Arend • Special Assignments-Sabiha Arend, Emily Arend • Advertising Sales-Judy Miller

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