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 #INTHEAIREVERYWHERE |
| Vol. 21 No. 19 | Wednesday
May 4,
2022 |
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Living near a street named Utopia Parkway in New York City, I suspect something unexpected could happen anytime. My great city is a kind of utopia in its own way and loyally prepares you for the unexpected. No wonder something unusual can lurk between the trade show resort meeting rooms and the golf course. Cargo Network Services (CNS) is conducting its Partnership Conference for air cargo in Phoenix beginning on May 23rd, as we just find out. I like the trade show sense of surprise. CNS, like all organized events, insists on some disciplined routine from participants and we shall be disciplined all right. There has not been a comprehensive history of air cargo created in the past generation, but the story is there from any number of magazines and newspapers now online which have done a pretty good job of not being just shipping journals and telling people what they ought to know, but also importantly what they want to know. Now we even come to the point of deciding also how people want to know what they ought to know. 
There are reports of a lot of activity as
record numbers are expected to this ‘first’ on the list of the
“masks off” gatherings; but at the same time some buzz suggests
that the return to regular trade events will just be riding the wave of
resilience, as the “new” regime of Zoom and other online meeting
and services apps connecting air cargo participants will be more routine
in the future. Difficult to say who will win and even if there is a battle
going on, or things will emerge, as they already do, more and more as a
mesh/hybrid of the two. Certainly there is a lot of that kind of activity
already underway.As example, retired IATA SVP Customer Financial and Digital Aleksander Popovich has joined some other senior industry professionals teaching online courses for a company called Aeroclass. Wondering if that kind of offering by others might impact trade shows’ ability to draw creditable speakers? Only time will tell, we are precisely at the center of the change in our traditional paradigms and the ways of the future are not clear yet.  I
remember sitting in a hotel somewhere at the Brandon Fried’s Air Forwarders
Association Air Cargo Conference, when Bill Boesch was the main speaker.
Bill, who was inducted into the TIACA Hall of Fame in 2013, has the kind
of chops when it comes to logistics, air cargo and strategic thinking dating
back more than half a century as top executive at Seaboard World Airways;
Pan American World Airways’ SVP of Cargo; Emery Worldwide and as American
Airlines President and CEO of the Cargo Division in 1991 and Chairman of
the Cargo Division in 1996. Let me take a breath . . . Bill’s titles
are so many and so lofty, one gets dizzy. In 2004 Bill became CEO of DHL/DP
Global Mail, later DHL Global Mail. At the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan
conflicts, he organized local deliveries of supplies to U.S. soldiers saving
thousands of lives.So there was Bill up on a stage, sharing everything he could with a room full of forwarders and truckers. He spoke without notes and then answered questions for 45 minutes after his remarks. I kept thinking: here is someone whom anyone in this room could pay to walk down the street with them and emerge a hell of a lot smarter about any challenge they could imagine in air cargo and logistics. But there he was, heart on his sleeve, sharing and working in those moments to accelerate the lot of a couple of hundred cargo people. So now in 2022 and onward where will the next generation of trade show content providers come from, if special interests and people with something to sell or advance make up the majority of the speakers at air cargo trade shows? This question also draws another thought: we are contemplating a large number of millennials becoming participants and organizers of trade events. All these women and men are digital natives and are accustomed to effectively connect on line, at times favoring online contact to face-to-face meetings. So the future is still in the haze. Will the new technology become so personal that the Bill Boesch of this new millennium is able to convey his wealth of knowledge through an internet connection? So far I saw webinars which were quite efficient, but the empathy of the human touch was a rare commodity on that table. Another example: the first FIATA meeting in two years is about to happen in a few days (May 17th – 20th) in a hybrid format. Members who cannot travel to Geneva will be able to follow the sessions online, even though they cannot meet online for drinks in the evening, or can they? The question is still open for many of the organizers, answers coming the hard way so far. One group that must be watching all of this very closely is Transport Logistic. That Munich-based company with lots of irons in the trade show fire went out just prior to COVID and forged alliances, partnerships and other big deals to put up trade shows everywhere. The question aside from the fate of all those shows is, like the Spargel that always returns in Springtime to Bavaria, will Air Cargo Europe continue every second year as powerful and well attended as before? Right now a TL event scheduled for Shanghai to start on June 15th is still listed this year, but its fate looks questionable as the city of 25 million is currently shut down. Masks off is the buzzword now we have been protected by vaccines and medical research, but COVID is still there to disrupt plans and people’s habits seem to shift inevitably to a more hybrid way of social interaction. This being said, if you follow the young in their leisure time nomadism, the face-to-face interaction has not disappeared, on the contrary it happens in a more organized manner. This is the trend that is filtering into the trade show environment: maybe we shall simply have hybrid meetings with different opportunities to interact and a larger attendance than we used to, considering many of those who were barred from travelling for any sort of reason can now participate in full without going away. If you participate online though, perhaps the meeting will be fine, but the weather is still the same as home. Today is a fine spring day in Utopia, but at times you would wish you were somewhere else. GDA |
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Muslim woman with her hands painted with traditional henna prays during
an Eid al-Fitr prayer, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramzan,
at the historical Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, May 3,
2022. Meantime Pakistan’s once proud class of the region flag airline PIA, that among other firsts leased fledgling Emirates Airlines its first two aircraft in 1985, a B737 and an Airbus A300 that put EK into business in October of that year says it now has a plan for restructuring that sees break even in 2023 and a return to profitability in 2024. Following a recent audit, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) removed its Serious Safety Concern (SSC) about the airline’s pilot licenses. This is an important step in the current ban on the carrier flying to the EU, UK, and U.S. being lifted. PIA said its new A320 simulator demonstrates that the airline takes safety and training seriously. Pakistan's Minister of Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, said that PIA “needs to be a world-class airline and that the government believes in reviving the struggling carrier.” The plan in large part focuses on the Pakistan diaspora in several countries, with improved services and growth from a current fleet of 29 aircraft to 49 by 2026, at which point PIA will field 16 widebodies, 27 narrowbodies, and 6 turboprop aircraft. The airline said it will use the additional aircraft to expand on routes to the UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the rest of the Gulf region. Ahead PIA will phase in services to Baku, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Kuwait, Tehran, Urumqi, and Singapore. But reality doesn’t come easy. A first-ever direct flight, set to begin April 22, a weekly service that would cut travel time dramatically between Lahore-Sydney, was scrubbed at the last minute by Australia to “reassess the prevailing security and review the security apparatus and procedures adopted at Pakistani airports.” PIA was founded in 1946 as Orient Airways, and was later nationalized to form the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation following the country’s independence. It has since grown to have a fleet of 29 aircraft operating flights to 56 destinations across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North America. The airline’s primary hub is at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, with secondary hubs at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore and Islamabad International Airport. SSA |
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 Aviato,
Brussels Airport’s job hub says it needs 1,200 new hires for all kinds
of jobs at the airport.“After two difficult years of crisis, the high number of jobs to be filled today is above all a positive sign and bears hope for recovery. Passenger traffic is increasing so we need the right people to keep things running smoothly. We are happy to be able to fully assume the role of employment engine again, and it is now important that all airport companies, with the support of Aviato, can find the necessary talents,” said Arnaud Feist, (left) CEO Brussels Airport Company, Past President European Airports Association, ACI Europe.  That
sentiment was echoed by Vicky Houtmeyers, (right) Service Center Manager
G4S Aviation. “At G4S Aviation, we are looking for new security guards
to ensure the smooth running of Brussels Airport. As part of our Dutch training,
we also recruit people whose mother tongue is not Dutch and who wish to
learn it. Do you want to help ensure a safe vacation for your family and
friends? Working@G4S Aviation Security at Brussels Airport –> Go4Safe!”Due to the enormous growth of e-commerce, companies in Brucargo, the logistics area of Brussels Airport, are also keen to attract new employees. There too, the job offer is very diversified: you can work there as a logistics employee or warehouseman, handling agent, customs agent, carrier, ramp agent, etc.  “WFS
is growing and recruiting! As the world’s largest cargo handler, we
have strong growth ambitions for Brucargo. That is why we are constantly
looking for warehouse and office workers, candidates for operations and
administrative services. 
“Our inclusive HR policy offers chances and opportunities
where personal fulfilment and a stimulating career go hand in hand,”
says Bart Van Mulders, (leftt) HR Director of WFS.Pieter-Jan Germeaux, (right) Ad Interim HR Director at DHL Aviation: “We are currently looking for technical profiles for maintenance, administrative profiles for purchasing and customs, but also loaders/unloaders, handlers on the ramps and finally colleagues for the truck depot (Truck Yard) and dangerous goods.” |
Overcoming challenges – the Coronavirus pandemic, rising costs and supply chain woes notwithstanding – the Indian aviation sector seems to be ready for a booming take-off. While most carriers faced huge losses, with the announcements of two new airlines coming soon, Akasa Air and a resurrected Jet Airways, there is optimism from the ground up. Along with the steady rise in passenger traffic, air cargo is making rapid strides. Over the last couple of months, the two south Indian airports at Hyderabad and Bengaluru have upped their game and made huge progress on the cargo front. Bengaluru, for example, has witnessed a record growth in cargo volumes in FY 2022, despite the challenges raised by the multiple Covid waves. Bengaluru achieved a significant record by gaining 13 percent of India’s air cargo market share and 45 percent of the south India’s air cargo market share. This had made the airport the only major one in the country to show growth over pre-pandemic levels. The airport processed an all-time high tonnage for a fiscal year of 411,513 Metric Tons (MT) of cargo, recording a growth of 26 percent as against 326,643 MT in FY 2021. International cargo recorded a 31 percent growth, 271,988 MT processed, as compared to 207,518 MT in FY 2021. Domestic cargo grew at 17%, with 139,525 MT versus 119,125 MT in FY 2021. Perishable cargo has been one of the major growth drivers for the airport. In fact, it has become the top Indian airport for handling perishables — around 31 percent of India’s total perishable shipments. Next door, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) has not lagged behind. Recently, it announced the inauguration of a new facility to handle international courier and express cargo consignments. As Hyderabad emerges as a major hub for cargo and logistics, the airport identified the need for a dedicated international courier handling facility that is approved and notified by Customs authorities to handle such shipments. The new facility has opened up a whole new segment for Hyderabad’s air cargo trade. It will enable international courier shipments from/to Hyderabad to be handled locally rather than being processed through designated facilities in other metro cities. For its part, the government too has moved in to assist the air cargo sector. India launched the Krishi Udan Scheme on international and national routes (the scheme facilitates movement of agri-produce by air with full waiver of landing, parking, terminal navigational landing charges, and route navigation facility charges for Indian freighters at selected Airports of Airports Authority of India). The idea is to assist farmers to transport agricultural products. The scheme has been focusing on 25 airports of the North-Eastern Region while another 28 airports also controlled by the Airports Authority of India have been included. 
So that has seen growth: 1,08,479 Metric Tons
perishable cargo (International + Domestic) was handled in Financial Year
2021-22 (til February 2022) in comparison to 84, 042 Metric Tons handled
in Financial Year 2020-21 at AAI airports.Even as airports ramp up for cargo, Indian carriers face the massive challenge of, perhaps, the highest ATF prices. Indian Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia declared that he hoped that “the spikes or hikes that we have seen are transient in nature because there are events that have unfolded across the world and which have led to these hikes and a great amount of volatility on oil as well as Aviation Transport Fuel (ATF) . “Once things normalize, then we will see ATF coming off its peak. I certainly hope for that but in the interim, we have to do whatever we can do best to make sure that the bleeding of the airlines stops,” the Minister said. Tirthankar Ghosh |
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April 25th was all hands on deck around the Arend household as Sabiha celebrated her 70th birthday. True to character at a last-minute emergency she spent this important day in Kalamazoo, Michigan with daughter Florence caring for her ailing brother Ahsan, who thankfully is now well on his way to full recovery. Now the rest of us have some party time to make up. She is not only the mother of four smart and handsome children, which I’m happy to report are all doing well in life, Sabiha is also a wonderful wife, mother, and business partner. It’s unlikely that our publishing company would have survived very long without her, let alone 47 years later. The picture here is us from 1978. When most of our business was at JFK International Airport, we used to go Hangar Hopping to cover the news with photographer Bill Wilson. Bill was an old timer on the airport beat, as nice a man as you could ever know, a community activist in Jamaica, Queens, where the airports reside. He also happened to have his studio on 164 Street, where we received our mail. Once, while in his studio, Bill asked us to pose and we forgot all about it until one day the ladies inside the GPO were all excited to see “two celebrities picking up their mail” as they spoke animatedly about this picture in Bill Wilson’s studio window across the street. So, as we celebrate Sabiha’s birthday and Mother’s Day on May 8, I am thankful to share the warmth of her smile and the gentle and free love and mercy of this truly remarkable human being. Happy Birthday, darling. GDA |
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 Vol. 21 No. 16 Will Air India Bring Back The Maharajah? From A Seed To A Mighty Way To Pay Chuckles for April 12, 2022 Pharma Party On French Riviera Sabiha Pioneered Dawn In Aviation Tutti Frutti At Fruit Logistica Thukral From Rags To Riches Logistics Alive At Swiss Museum Showdown At The Hamburger Door |
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Publisher-Geoffrey Arend
• Managing Editor-Flossie Arend • Editor Emeritus-Richard
Malkin Film Editor-Ralph Arend • Special Assignments-Sabiha Arend, Emily Arend |
Send comments and news to geoffrey@aircargonews.com
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