Heading to one of our favorite conferences, we’re reminded of some past events and efforts that shaped the event known this year as AirCargo 2025 which is hosted by Airports Council International – North America, (ACI-NA), the Airforwarders Association (AfA) and the Air & Expedited Motor Carrier Association (AEMCA).
     Austin, TX-based consultant Michael Webber is currently active with both the AfA and ACI-NA and for the purposes of this story, provides about 30 years of memory for the narrative that follows. “I wasn’t part of the original conversation that led to the creation of ACI-NA’s Air Cargo Working Group in the early to mid-1990s, nor planning the first conference but I attended and quickly ascertained that I’d found my people.”
     Webber speculates that the group comprising that initial coordinating body included Ray Keiser (whose firm still exists as Keiser Phillips Associates (KPA)) and the late Dan Muscatello (then with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey), plus a variety of other airport operators, consultants and 3rd party developers with the total individuals numbering only 10-12. Registration at their first Cargo Symposium numbered only around 45-50 people.
     The original ACI-NA Air Cargo Symposium was unique in the industry in focusing entirely on airport-led initiatives with about two days of content-based sessions with no trade show element. Webber recalls “It was pretty niche-oriented which made it difficult to secure much participation from airlines, forwarders and handlers who perceived airports more as landlords than partners.”
     Attendance grew from around 75 per event in the late 90s to a high of around 200 after 9/11 when the event convened at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles and had abnormally high interest from regulators and vendors trying to get ahead of anticipated security requirements.
     What began as a modest “working group” within ACI-NA’s Economics Committee grew into a Sub-Committee and then its current full Committee status for ACI-NA’s Cargo effort. However, the stand-alone ACI-NA Air Cargo Symposium languished for a while in the 2000s. Webber had become an on-call consultant for IATA and helped plan and implement the first few IATA World Cargo Symposiums in Mexico City, Rome and Bangkok.
     “I have a lengthy gap during which I was more involved with IATA, TIACA and more recently the Airforwarders than with ACI-NA”, Webber acknowledges. During that gap, ACI-NA replaced its former stand-alone event with the current partnership involving the AfA and AEMCA, which Webber believes benefits all parties. “The networking and speaker availability for this much larger and diverse event are beyond what was possible with the singularly airport focus of old.”
     While acknowledging the enhancements, Webber retains his enthusiasm for aspects of the original model. This is the third consecutive year in which Webber has been active on the planning committee of the AirCargo Conference, specifically focusing his attention on three sessions addressing on-airport facilities and operations planning.
     “I first met Brandon Fried when he represented the AfA and I co-represented ACI-NA on the air cargo security task forces that Homeland Security formed in the wake of 9/11. A few years ago, Brandon reached out for my assistance on some airport-related issues the AfA was wrestling and that need became more acute when Dan’s (Muscatello) illness became more acute.” That cooperation coincided with Webber rejoining ACI-NA as a member for the first time in years.

     While plenary and simultaneous sessions are open to all registrants, three sessions have an on-airport orientation, although relevant to all attendees given airports’ unique criticality to the air cargo supply chain. These three sessions are timed so that registrants can attend all three without scheduling conflicts.
     The first of two sessions focusing on state-of-the-art cargo facilities features four panelists with global reputations: Kristin Beck of BeCon Projects GmbH, Jonathan Hardy of Lödige, Thomas Rohrmeier of Lufthansa Cargo AG and Ali Solaksubasi of Ghafari Associates, LLC.
     With rare expertise in the relationship between form and function at air cargo facilities, the panel will provide invaluable accounts of how successful projects have been managed from concept through implementation and onward to ensure that cargo facilities are effective from Day One but also sufficiently flexible to retain that effectiveness across generations of use.
     The panel should appeal to airport planners, facilities developers and the tenant users of these facilities. While mega-projects deservedly garner headlines, the panelists are also equipped to discuss how innovations have allowed facilities to scale up over time, as well as circumstances in which technologies engineered for larger users can be downscaled for moderate-sized users.
     Kristin Beck: “I am thrilled to be part of this conference as many experts will come together to discuss what moves our industry. One of the topics that concern all of us in Air Cargo and logistics is “state of the art facilities”, both in terms of the operators of such as well as the IT as their backbone. A topic close to my heart, new tech and its integration into everyday life, I am looking forward to speaking on the panel “state-of-the-art facilities”, together with very smart fellow participants. See you there!”
     Closely following a panel focused largely on global “gold standards”, the next panel will focus more narrowly on the North American air cargo market.
Representing cargo tenant-operators will be David Fiore from FedEx and Marcus Menish from Amazon. FedEx has the most extensive inventory of on-airport facilities in North America, while Amazon has been responsible for more new on-airport cargo facilities opened in the last decade. Both operators are familiar with facility needs and automation possibilities from smaller spoke markets to mega-hubs.

     A gateway to Alberta’s energy belt, the Calgary International Airport (YYC) has been an ambitious promoter of air cargo, willing to make substantial investments sharing risks with cargo tenants to support international cargo flights. Representing the Calgary Airport Authority on this panel will be Robert Bachart, YYC’s Chief Real Estate Officer.
     An architect and planner, Paul Krieger has worked on numerous air cargo projects for AECOM at North American airports like BWI, DFW and PIT, as well as abroad on multiple continents. Consequently, he can compare the speed and relative ease of completing cargo projects in contrasting markets.
     The ability to compare logistics facilities development in multiple markets, as well as the myriad nuances of on and off-airport markets is often a “blind spot” for operators of individual airports. David Lotterer, Senior Vice President of JLL Industrial & Commercial Real Estate will speak to this and other considerations on this panel.
     The session will be moderated by Tod Willman of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.

     The final of three sessions emphasizing on-airport air cargo facilities and operations addresses the sector most responsible for many communities’ elevated interest in air cargo. While perishables have long been a staple of the air cargo industry and life sciences have been strong influencers since the 1990s, it was the recent COVID pandemic that caused so many millions of citizens to first utter the words “supply chain”.
     With only two panelists and a moderator, this session was designed to allow for more of a “case study” approach to the subject.
     As Philadelphia International Airport’s Assistant Director of Air Service Development and Cargo Services, Nicole Maddox has a local service area that includes one of the world’s largest concentrations of pharmaceutical companies and related life sciences. Moreover, PHL is now several years into an ongoing air cargo modernization program long sought by area shippers.
     Bringing both local and global perspectives to the session, Haris Raza is dnata USA Cargo’s Vice President with responsibilities including the only dedicated on-airport perishables facilities at DFW and IAH (Houston) supported by years of experience in the UAE, Pakistan and Qatar. Haris will speak to the relationship between handlers and their airport landlords, as well as with critical commercial partners along the supply chain.
     The session will be moderated by Patrick Haley, Air Cargo Facilities Manager for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Chair of ACI-NA’s Air Cargo Committee.
     Nicole Maddox: “AirCargo 2025 offers an excellent opportunity to continue engaging with our partners, establish new connections, and explore the latest innovations shaping the industry. As a panelist for the ‘Focus on Pharma’ session, I look forward to sharing updates on PHL’s partnership with Bristol and SPR to develop a 241,000 sq ft state-of-the-art, climate-controlled cargo facility and discussing how we’re fostering collaboration with industry stakeholders to leverage their expertise to meet the unique demands of our cargo catchment area.”
     Haris Raza: “Pharmaceuticals and perishables are core focus area at dnata, and our commitment to these sectors is evident in our continuous investment in state-of-the-art infrastructure. Our dedication to innovation drives us to offer enhanced products and services that fortify the Pharma-Ecosystem, embracing cutting-edge advancements within the Pharma Ecosystem, ultimately generating significant economic value across multiple industries for our partners.”

Additional Background
     Since 1948, Lödige has been a global leader in providing logistics systems, including innovative material handling systems in its European home continent, as well as throughout the Americas, Asia and the Middle East. The company is renowned for the durability of its systems, necessitating flexibility to keep cargo facilities productive for decades after their planned lifespan.
     Founded in 1982 in Southeastern Michigan, Ghafari Associates, LLC is a global architecture, engineering and consulting firm serving a diverse range of industries, including automotive and aviation. For this panel, the focus will be their expertise in value-management in the engineering of cargo facilities in North America and around the world.
     Prior to his current role as Lufthansa Cargo’s Vice President, Head of Handling for the FRA hub, Thomas Rohrmeier served as Lufthansa’s Director of Sales & Handling for the U.S. Northeast and before that was Lufthansa’s Regional Manager for the U.S. Southwest while based in the DFW area. In 2024, construction began on Lufthansa Cargo’s $760 million cargo modernization anticipated for completion in 2030.
     From their Wiesbaden, Germany base, BeCon Projects GmbH are specialists in project management and IT solutions. Founded in 2009, the family-owned business’s leadership brings decades of prior experience to its projects. BeCon was instrumental in the development of the recently opened Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) cargo facility at JFK International Airport.
     The panel will be moderated by Michael Webber who is one of the organizers of the conference and who observed that “even the discussion we had in a preliminary panel coordination call was animated and educational for me. To learn from these global experts on a single dais at a conference in North America is an extraordinary value for attendees.”
GDA/SAA