Lofty goals aside, the promise of cooperation is solidifying as the IATA FIATA Air Cargo program (IFACP) announced at the 90th FIATA Annual Conference in October last year in Dublin, Ireland, moves into reality.
     Although many people may step back a bit with a weathered eye and a wait and see attitude, don’t cast any doubt about moving this program forward into overdrive because Joana Nunes Coelho, Executive President of Associação dos Transitários de Portugal - APAT (Freight Forwarders Association of Portugal), doesn’t have time for it.
     Smart, beautiful, and totally dedicated, Joana is on the beam to take this revolutionary IATA/FIATA agreement, which reengineers the Cargo Agency Program, all the way into operation worldwide.
     However, she has no illusions:
     “As IFACP Governance Manager, my top priority is to ensure the success of the implementation of the IFACP that will begin in early 2017 with Canada as the pilot country,” Joana told FlyingTypers in an exclusive interview.

Portugal Powerhouse Sees IFACP Challenges

     “I have served as Executive President of APAT, the Portuguese FIATA member, for 21 months.
     “In the beginning of 2016 I submitted to my board a project plan for the current year.
     “The document was approved and from the 10 projects that I planned to develop, only 2 are still in progress—one for financial reasons and the other because we have determined, for strategic reasons, that it should not go forward.
     “Now I shall have to measure my strength with FIATA’s portfolio and that is another ball game.      Without getting out of the airfreight field and knowing that there is at least three or four times as much to do in other areas, we have to implement the new IFACP and that is a novel agreement that needs to implemented all over the world, country by country, replacing habits and mores that lasted for decades.
     “IFACP is not exactly a piece of cake, and then there is the e-AWB challenge, and also the transition period, where many decisions still have to be taken, cooperating with airlines that are also looking at a new chapter and may have precisely the same uncertainties that we have,” she said.
     “But what is happening is human, it is inevitable, and from any point of view this cooperation is all good.”

Biggest Surprise of 2016?

     Casting the net a bit wider, Joana shares some shock and awe events of 2016.
     “The two major events that surprised me in 2016 were the implementation phase of the SOLAS amendment regarding the VGM and the HANJIN bankruptcy.
     “So much was said and written about the SOLAS amendment, so much was supposed to have changed regarding the gross mass verified and declared by the shippers to the shipping line, so much has been done by some national governments in order to adjust their legislation to the SOLAS requirements, only to discover that shipping lines accept the VGM with their internal procedures, period.
     “Maybe ‘much ado about nothing,’ as the Bard wrote, is not completely right, but we are not far.”

HANJIN Shocker Still Reverberates

     “The other event that surprised me was the HANJIN bankruptcy, with the enormous losses it will bring to freight forwarders, and more losses yet to come.
     “Notwithstanding what the law may say, in a global world like the one we have today, it is difficult to stomach that a shipper has to pay twice the value of the freight to get cargo to a safe port, or worse.
     “Sadly, we are still facing insufficient protection in this area.”

Changing FIATA Cargo Program 2017

     First, a bit of background.
     “Freight forwarding companies operated within the IATA Cargo Agents’ rules for several decades; their services gradually evolved in time from being ‘selling-agents’ for the airlines’ services to becoming their purchasing customers.
     “IATA and FIATA have joined forces to review, refine, and reengineer this Agency Program to reflect these changes, and the IATA FIATA Air Cargo Program was adopted.
     “The brand new program moves decision-making on the rules governing the airline-forwarder relationship to a governance body jointly managed by forwarders and airlines, which reflects today’s market conditions.
     “The current IATA Cargo Agency/Intermediary Programs will be replaced by the new IATA-FIATA Air Cargo Program (IFACP) under the governance of IATA-FIATA Governance Board (IFGB).
     “Once it is implemented, the IATA Cargo Agency/Intermediary Program Rules will be rescinded.”
     Joana was born in Lisbon in 1980.
     She graduated in 2001 with a degree in Law from the Lisbon University Faculty of Law.
     In 2006 she continued her post-graduate education in Maritime Law.
     “In 2010, because I was not completely happy practicing law, I felt the urge to join a project that would allow me to contribute more effectively to other people’s lives.
     “So, with that purpose in mind, I took a Mediation and Conflict Resolution Course and joined APAT.
     “Since 2010—and still today—my focus is helping Portuguese freight forwarders improve and developing their businesses.
     “In this industry, I grow personally and professionally every day, and therefore I can say I am a happy person, optimistic about the future, and resilient, highly-motivated and result-oriented as a manager.”

Long Term Goals

     “Long term, I wish to keep contributing the best way I can to the freight forwarders’ community.
     “I want to get involved in as many initiatives as possible in order to make the market (import and exporters around the world) understand the importance of the freight forwarders, and the added value of the service they provide.
     “In Portugal, and I believe in the rest of the world as well, only those dealing with international trade on a daily basis understand the meaning and the concept of a freight forwarder.
     “I believe forwarders need to be more proactive if we want to become real opinion makers in the transportation industry.
     “Importantly, we must make the general community and governments more aware of the importance of logistics, transports, and international trade as a whole, precisely as shown in the reference description of services published on the FIATA website.
     “I am convinced the new IFACP is a major step in the direction of better, more informed logistics choices.”

Recipe For Better Air & Ocean Business

     “Businesses must adapt to the IT technology and not just talk about it.
     “The future is digital and we cannot escape this reality.
     “I think that this will be the greatest challenge for the SME, but one challenge they will have to embrace. The future is now.
     “I believe we create the future, but if one wants to evolve, one must be open minded and embrace changes as something natural. Digital platforms and new technologies are here to stay and they are quickly transforming our services.”

FIATA Is Simply Outstanding

     “I genuinely believe that FIATA has an outstanding plan of action. I believe that all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for FIATA are identified by the current Board.
     “Having the line of action defined will definitely allow FIATA to reinforce the importance it already has in the logistics scenario of international trade.
     “Being an organization that represents an industry covering approximately 40,000 forwarding and logistics firms, the only thing FIATA could improve, in my opinion, is the process of developing, orienting, and training to improve knowledge and motivations in our sector.
     “Perhaps even more than benefiting from an ongoing conversation, I believe all industry stakeholders could benefit from making ideas come true by deciding swiftly on implementing the changes that modern traders require. More visibility and higher frequency in SC information would be fundamental to supplying continuous feedback to the shippers.
     “Understanding and effectively explaining to our principals what the main constraints are in worldwide trade and what can be done in each country to locally develop the air cargo industry will facilitate trade at large,” Joana declared.

Why FIATA?

     “I am a member, and an active part of being in a community is to share experiences, to learn more and contribute as much and as effectively as we can.
     “We are stronger together, but we must communicate, share our thoughts, our daily constraints, and our ideas.
     “In 2017 and beyond we must gather what is useful and put it into practice. Simply put, the driving force here is we must never stop communicating with each other and working together worldwide toward the benefit of the freight forwarding community.
     “The mere trove of good practice and sales tools such as the FIATA Bill of Lading and the training opportunities are as valuable as one can make them by exploiting their distribution in each and every country.
     “Of course, one can rejoice to be chairing a meeting or meeting colleagues and friends, but that is for me the bonus track, not the album,” Joana Nunes Coelho concluded.
Geoffrey

“For American Airlines Cargo, 2016 was a year full of accomplishments—and we’re proud to say it,” AA Cargo President Jim Butler told FlyingTypers.
     “Our success really underscores that the investments we made to improve our operation delivered real value.
     “We introduced infrastructure and process enhancements, backed by the strategic investments we made in our aircraft and network.
     “All in all, we’ve been consistently delivering an exceptional operational experience with support from our remarkable field teams, product specialists, and Customer Experience groups.”

Thank You Goes Wide

     “We can’t thank you, our partners, and our customers enough for the multiple industry awards, such as Cargo Airline of the Year. I would like to personally thank the Airforwarders Association for the James Foster Memorial Award, which is a great testament to what the team does each and every day to advance American Airlines Cargo and the industry as a whole.
     “American is winning as well with the youngest fleet of any domestic carrier, adding its 150th widebody.
     “Our new 787-9 is already making a name for itself in Europe.
     “We have unique network connections and recently announced new routes like Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)-Rome, Italy (FCO), and DFW-Amsterdam (AMS).
     “AA has also invested in the tools and technology needed to help streamline our business processes, which benefits our employees and enhances the shipping experience for customers.”

What’s Next? Just Listen

     “From a cargo standpoint, we have big plans for 2017,” Jim Butler continues, “and we know you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the process and product enhancements we’ll announce throughout the year.
     “Our enhancements are a direct result of feedback we’ve received from customers and our industry peers.
     “We experienced impressive eFreight year-over-year growth in 2016 and we will continue our focus in 2017 as it ensures faster delivery times and the ability to support new technology, making everyone’s job easier and more efficient.
     “Ecommerce is also a growing sector full of opportunity and we need to be a part of that growth.
     “In the end, it’s our people that we’ll invest in most. Without them, we couldn’t provide the top-notch customer experience for which the industry has recognized.
     “These folks deserve all the credit for our success, and I know they’ll continue amazing me in 2017.”

Big Move At AA Cargo

     “We have just moved our cargo headquarters building to a new location in the DFW area that offers our team a more modern setting with larger meeting rooms and open work spaces.
     “The increased collaboration I have witnessed in the first few days has exceeded already lofty expectations.
     “I am confident this will translate into an even more seamless customer experience.
     “Of course, you’ll see new routes launch and more new aircraft delivered throughout the year, maintaining our status of the youngest fleet of the U.S. global carriers.
     “But our products are the core of our business and we are constantly looking at ways to innovate.
     “This year we added more service options out of Europe by dramatically expanding our trucking network and using London Heathrow to connect across our extensive network.
     “Our temperature-control product is receiving increased internal training to support its market growth and CEIV efforts.
     “In 2016, we added even more capacity to carry, hold, and charge more active containers than the previous year—and now offer the full suite of Envirotainer products.
     “With the success of our PHL facility, we’re growing our dedicated pharma spaces, most recently opening one in San Juan (SJU).
     “We were also humbled to receive the DHL Care Award, which was a huge and appreciated acknowledgment of the quality of our temperature-controlled program, ExpediteTC°.”

Systemwide Strength

     “American Airlines offers the best connectivity between Asia and Latin America with service to 85 cities in Latin America and nine in Asia, as well as all-widebody service to 72 unique destination pairs and one stop connectivity from our LAX and DFW gateways to GRU, EZE, and SCL.
     “We’ve been investing heavily in people and equipment to solidify our operation,” Jim noted, “and to have industry-leading performance that our customers can count on.
     “Some specific facility improvements included new dock doors in Miami and a brand new material handling system in Dallas, all designed to speed transaction time for our customers.
     “From small businesses to large organizations, we want to be the carrier they prefer.
     “We’re committed to leading positive change and exceeding expectations on a daily basis.”

Taking eFreight & Other Issues All The Way

     “The recent success of eFreight is an example of what can be accomplished if we all drive toward solving some of the issues facing the industry.
     “Carriers have made significant progress driving toward worldwide adoption and I am proud to say that our growth this year has materially surpassed the industry standard.
     “This hasn’t been an accident.
     “We have worked with our customers to find ways to move this initiative forward with the ultimate goal of improving the accuracy and speed of each shipment.
     “So, yes, as an industry, it’s increasingly important for us to collaborate with each member of the supply chain.
     “To grow, we need to better understand all needs involved for participants in the shipping process, whether that’s the forwarder, manufacturer, or end user.”


Up, Up, & Away!

     “We expect 2017 to be a year of growth. With the addition of service to Sydney, Auckland, and Tokyo-Haneda (just to name a few), we’ve increased our reach with nonstop options from the U.S., plus additional trucking and interline options from these new destinations to places we can’t necessarily touch on our metal alone.
     “Thus far, we’ve seen an increased demand for perishable goods (produce, meat, flowers) and auto parts out of the South Pacific, which is great news for air cargo as a whole.
     “It’s a great story for American and our customers, as our network allows us to provide valuable new trade connections between key markets in Asia and the Americas.
     “We’re the largest operator of widebodies between North and South America, and that’s a big selling point for our customers.”
     Regarding their aircraft plan, American says that it already fields the youngest fleet of the U.S. global network carriers and the new deliveries scheduled in 2017 will make the fleet even younger, more modern, and more efficient.
     “We expect to add 68 new planes in 2017,” Jim said, “including our favorites from a cargo perspective, like the 787-9, with flights between Dallas (DFW) and Madrid (MAD) and São Paulo (GRU).”

What Needs To Change In Air Cargo?

     “To continue evolving, there are some basic things we’d change in how we do business from an industry perspective.
     “And it’s simple:
     “We need to continue collaborating with our customers and adapting to new technology that allows us to digitize our exchanges with vendors and customers. These steps mitigate risks during the communication process while increasing customer value. Doing so will ultimately lead to our overall goal of increased visibility into the shipping process and the faster transport of goods for customers.”
Geoffrey