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A R C H I V E S

N E W S

A CHINESE NEW YEAR STORY

     You get so little time to enjoy the authentic local scene when you travel on business.
     Dinner that is not tied up to the reason for the trip, can often be an after-thought, or worse a quick twelve dollar hamburger on a tray with a face towel napkin in some forgotten hotel room.
     Going out for no reason and discovering what is real about the town where you just landed for a couple of days, rather than just an annoyance that gets your goat, can be grist for your memory’s mill, even cathartic.
     At the very least, a side step journey, a life experience, and makes for polite conversation with whomever else you meet up.
     I remember one Sunday alone in Taipei at the downtown Mandarin Hotel near Nanking Road.
     The Mandarin is a crew hotel.
     Pilots and cabin crew by reputation are tight with a buck, even notorious cheap skates.
     In the pilot’s case, they are usually divorced. But married, single or otherwise, pilots like to maintain a fairly high profile life-style.
     Cabin crew never has any money.
     Sometimes, I think cabin folk invented stew. They always seem to be planning group meals.
     The old joke-“Hey this food tastes different.
     Did somebody wash my bowl or something?” barely gets a ripple of laughter from these chowhounds.
     The Taipei Mandarin is always a good buy.
     The place is clean, if a bit faded. But the restaurant is decent with Chinese and American breakfast all the time.
     The Mandarin also has staff, usually husbands and wives, who seem to live and take care of things on every floor.
     After you check-in, they either take your room key as you exit the elevator, or tiptoe behind you into your room upon arrival with hot tea and cookies.
     Once, after stumbling into the room after a 19-hour flight and diving right into the shower, I discovered my clothes that had been on the floor in a heap, neatly pressed and hung up when I regained consciousness.
     Lots of ex-patriot fliers and business types stay at the Mandarin.
     Anytime, night or day Sky King is meeting with Terry and the Pirates, while Smilin’ Jack (all three comic book heroes of 1930-40s aviation) looks on.
     After arriving late Saturday and working all the next day on a story, while the TV rattled on alternately in Chinese and English about some sporting event, I decided to take a walk for something to eat and to pick up some bottled water.
     It was drizzling, a warm early spring evening. Sundays anywhere are the same.
     It doesn’t matter where you are in the world. There will be more places open for action on the day after the end of the earth, than on any given Sunday.
     I stopped at a small restaurant that looked good because it was busy. The first thing I notice about a place is how it smells.
     This joint smelled great.
     A couple of beers and a plate of fried rice later, I departed the small side table well satisfied, and started back for the hotel.
     Suddenly I noticed lots of people laughing and joking around the corner in front of a restaurant.
     For an instant I thought I had missed the place where the in-the-know crowd supped.
     But determined to get the name and address so I could return at another time I sauntered over to the group.
     But when the sign in the window flashed T.G.I. Fridays, I just laughed.
     I had not come half way around the world to eat burgers and fairy food.
     Ever since that damp Sunday in Taipei, when its time to hit the road, I try to get out and experience the local scene.
     It’s a good idea to always explore a little.
     Like I said, memories are made of this.
     I always wonder about people who come to New York from India or China or Paris and insist that the best restaurants are in Manhattan because they read it somewhere.
     Let’s set the record straight.
     Any bindle stiff can read a review then go out and pay all the money.
     The idea is to get out, get fed, have some fun and not get stuck with paying out too much of your hard-earned dough.
     Try something new even in small amounts.
     Live a little.
     You may not pass this way again.
     The Chinese food around our offices here at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, New York City is incredible, plus you can eat until your hands get tired for a couple bucks.
     In fact several of the places compare or are better than the majority of restaurants in Manhattan, and I dare say in Taipei as well.
     Since this is the season to celebrate Chinese New Year and to be in New York is also to enjoy great Chinese food, here are some tips of where to go the next time you land at JFK or LaGuardia Airport.
     These restaurants are close enough to the airport hotels to make sense for a short cab or bus ride.
     If you are dining alone and feel funny about that you may need a prop.
     Get a book or magazine or if you really are dexterous take along your Palm and fiddle around while you wait for your meal, while checking the scene out.
     Pocket your cell phone and call somebody. Defensive chic today has people, even families around the table in restaurants, with one or more members of the party chatting on the phone, talking to somebody in Bombay or somewhere, while the meal continues.
     Now you may decide to talk to a stranger at the next table or just stare at the wallpaper.
     But like any good Scout, be prepared.
     The host could ask you if you might consider sitting at a table with other diners.
     Chinese restaurants in New York have lots of big, round tables. Often when the place fills up with small families or couples, strangers sit together at the table.
     That works great when you are alone and the place is busy because you get seated right away.
     Also if you have had a tough day with people that you know in business, the anonymity of a table full of merciful strangers might be just the ticket.
     In New York, Chinese restaurants always bring a pot of tea and a menu, giving the diner a couple of minutes to check things out.
     Group eating every once in a while is fun. It’s like being back in summer camp all over again. Look and see what’s good on the table and around you, before you order.
     If you observe your new best friend fellow diner, coveting bok choy, don’t be afraid to tell them how it tastes. Sharing an observation of what’s good, is always a great ice-breaker.
     Here are a few places worth remembering.
     Golden Pond Seafood Restaurant
     113-15 Queens Blvd.
     Forest Hills New York
     (718) 268-1668 Free Parking.
     Golden Pond is the best Chinese Restaurant in New York. Everything is done with class and style from dim-sum to dessert. Doesn’t matter what you have in mind from a simple combination to a traditional multicourse extravaganza.

On Golden Pond, Peter Yap is no slouch. When the Atlas Air Asian whiz used to run China Airlines Cargo the group like the one gathered here showed up for New Year’s festivities at the Golden Pond Restaurant near JFK. Once FedEx celebrated the annual event with its favorite JFK clients there. Mr. Yap confided: “This is a great restaurant. After dinner if I could hike around the hills as I do in Taipei, I’d think I was home.”

     Golden Pond has the kitchen to create anything and the dishware to deliver the most complex banquet. The room is formal and bright with white starched table cloths and attentive waiters.
     The prawn dishes are incredible. Nearby fish tank offers today’s catch before your very eyes, awaiting your choice.
     Steak dishes are tender and complex.
     Joe’s Shanghai. 136-21 37 Ave. Flushing NY 11354 (718) 539-4429 www.joesshanghai.com
     Located smack dab in the middle of the ‘New China Town’ of Flushing, Queens, Joe’s Shanghai has been hailed as a real treasure of the area. Less formal and more family oriented, Joe’s features steamed buns of pork or crab, a dozen to an order served in wicker baskets. Often people duck in for just that delicious delicacy.
     Joe’s also serves delicious Shanghai fried rice that is a lightly turned and simply prepared dish with small bits of scallions and egg.
     Scallion pancakes are an excellent accompaniment at Joe’s which also features an extensive menu.
     Joe’s is constantly rated in the top ten New York Chinese eateries and serves until 11 p.m. weekdays and midnight Friday and Saturday.
     Just around the corner from Joe’s, C&J Restaurant at 136-14 38th Ave. (718) 353-3366, www.jade-palace.com is a great choice for business meetings and full service presentations with all the trimmings.
     About a half block from C&J, at 38-05 Main Street, Homefood is a main drag, narrow and deep place with cooked ducks hanging in the front window. Food is very good, quite plentiful and dirt cheap. Luncheons are all you could hope for at less than five bucks.
     Another aspect to enjoying Chinese food is Dim Sum. Dim Sum is served almost everywhere, especially in the better Chinese restaurants.
     One place, Gum Tong Gung at 133-30 39th Ave in Flushing does it better, we think, than anywhere else.
     Dim Sum is served in earnest, earlier in the day and especially during lunch, but Gum Tong Gung will deliver a variety of choices to you anytime.
     People with carts laden with Dim Sum which is contained in small round metal tiffin-like pans, usually four to six pieces of each variety in each serving, circle the restaurant offering the choices.
     You eat what you see that you like, while your server keeps tab of your meal chosen and served on the spot.
     Steamed dumplings with shrimp or chicken or beef. Fried eggplant roll, pork congee with preserved egg and a hundred other choices are on the menu including braised duck feet and turnip cake.
     This place which is nicely laid out in what appears to be enough space to house a gym and the SS Titanic both, at the same time seats 250.
     On Sundays it is worth the trip to Gum Tong Gung just to see the action of the servers who are a show all by themselves.
     At $1.95 to $3.00 a serving, dim sum, that small taste of delicious Chinese cuisine heaven is a bargain too.
     The Flushing area in terms of places to eat can be thought of as a ‘pick ’em’ zone but also it has become a “destination.”
     What that means is, check into a hotel just go anywhere and eat ,or shop or go to the movies and you probably won’t be sorry.
     Savvy business travelers can take the Q48 bus from LaGuardia to the center of town.
     From JFK, the cab will cost less than six dollars anytime.
     Flushing also offers a variety of Japanese, Indian, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Korean food
     The Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel at 135-20 39th Ave. with 173 rooms is a very nice centrally located full-service place to set up operations. (718) 460- 6666. North America—1-888-268-0717, Hong Kong—800-90-0376. Taiwan—0080-10-3852.
     The Sheraton room service menu includes many Chinese choices.
     But don’t get us started again on why we think you should venture out.

VIRGIN'S NEW MAN IS NO FOIL Virgin Air Cargo’s Jack Fiol assumes command in North America. The airline with a strong culture for cargo is deepening its committment to service.

     Virgin Atlantic Air Cargo did not have to look far when they selected an executive to lead their USA team into the 21st Century.
     Last March when Joaquin (Jack) Fiol was tapped to move to the position of Senior Vice President Cargo North America, the ease in which he made the transition was about as relaxed as the man himself.
     Jack is a “Mohair Sam,” the old racetrack description of a smart, but outwardly-appearing easygoing guy who likes to wear a sweater. Comfortable in a corner office, that used to be occupied by his predecessor Angelo Pusateri, Jack Fiol can still remember the first day he began at Virgin.
     “I had the good fortune to start here when the airline first commenced service from Newark International Airport to London in 1984.
     “We were little more than a joke back then.
     “Nobody’s laughing now.
     “But learning the air cargo business from the ground up inside the United Cargo shed at EWR, taught me all about the challenges and rewards of getting service delivery in line with customer expectations.
     “The team that built Virgin Cargo did a great job. Today, as we look ahead to new possibilities we can never forget that it is our service that is responsible for where we are today.
     “Let’s face it there are many choices for shippers. Everyone is aware of what’s out there.
     “Often as is the case right now, when capacity is way out of line with market demand, a buyer’s market emerges where rates can be negotiated.
     “We understand the forces that drive air cargo. What is more difficult to comprehend are some rate levels that make no sense and cannot make money.
     “Put another way, Virgin Cargo is in business to make a profit. We built our reputation upon a solid foundation of service. We are realistic about the need to be flexible, but we are determined to continue as a reliable go-to resource in the total logistics chain.”
     Jack Fiol (pronounced fee-ohl) was born in Cuba. His mom and dad and two brothers migrated to the United States when Jack was four.
     After graduating from C.W. Post College, where he studied Spanish Literature and Business Management, Jack who is 45, got into air cargo just by accident, joining Virgin in 1984.
     He has been there ever since.
     “It says a lot about the culture of our airline. Often you hear people say ‘we promote from within.’
     “Here that really happens.”
     Jack’s office is new enough to him, that he can still remember how the place looked, during the 18 years that he worked almost every task at Virgin Cargo in operations and planning.
     The office has one of those large vertical views of Newark Airport taken from a couple thousand feet up.
     Airline and airport people love that kind of picture because they are always dreaming about moving buildings around to streamline the process.
     Virgin Cargo in addition to it’s flight schedules operates third-party handling situations at five of it’s North American gateways including Newark, Washington Dulles, Orlando, Miami and Los Angeles.
     “Like everything else there is a challenge to operating air cargo handling, not the least of which is directed toward costs.
     But as mentioned, our strong hand has always been our self-imposed controls and procedures which has allowed us to maintain the service standards our customers require.
     “What has changed is our approach to marketing our cargo product here in the United States.”
     Virgin began with one route from New York to London as basically an O&D operation.
     Today those gateways are central to a growing route network served by a fleet of mostly new cargo-friendly aircraft including B747s and A340 aircraft, the latest being the new super sized A340-600 series.
     “There is plenty of reason for shippers to think of Virgin Cargo for cargo beyond the UK to several destinations in places like Africa and India.
     Movement from our hub at Newark and elsewhere via London is fast, uncluttered and every bit as dedicated to service delivery as here in America,” says Mr. Fiol.
     He revealed that a growing portion of his busy schedule will be occupied with getting out into the field to meet and discuss options with Virgin Cargo customers.
     Next week, for example, he will be in Houston.
     “The possibilities we believe are just beginning. Sure this is a tough business climate but its also an opportunity to streamline, fine tune, and develop new products.
     “Building better understanding through two-way dialogue so that everybody knows what to expect, is critical.”

A TREMENDOUS MR. KOH

     Part of the trauma besetting world business, including the airlines, has been brought on as the result of greed and a headlong rush to show profits rather than build companies, according to Koh Boon Hwee, Chairman of Singapore Airlines (SIA).
     In a rare, no-holds barred address to business leaders in Singapore this week, the esteemed Mr. Koh rapped corporate knuckles for advancing what he termed as short-term thinking as the norm, in an atmosphere hell-bent on creating, short term profits.

Koh Boon Hwee

     Mr. Koh both chided and challenged world business executives.
     While being compensated for the rewards that executives take, there is a moral responsibility to not go over the top.
     Business will have to reform its focus on long term performance rather than stock prices.
     High personal rewards should be only if a company outperforms its peers.
     Exxon and WorldCom are the result of executives’ desire to meet expectations of rising stock prices.
     Mergers and acquisitions of themselves are not bad. But to pursue M&A’s to make up numbers is a fool’s game.
     All of that said, Mr. Koh expressed a realistic view of what lies ahead for many companies:
     There is too much entrenched interested in the board of directors. Stockholders, the real owners of the company, often are too fragmented to pose any serious mandate for change.
     Finally, this far into the most turbulent time in the 100-year history of aviation somebody has the courage and voice to speak up.
     But Koh Boon Hwee is not just anybody, rather he commands world respect for the universal respect afford SIA from every corner of the globe.
     Just for the record, SIA Group reported a profit of $631 million in 2002, continuing its non-stop string of always managing to make money.
     But lest others think that those profits might be viewed as license to celebrate, Mr. Koh pointed to sacrifice with emotion:

Dr. Cheong

Mr. Chew

     The apparent comfortable margin by which we stayed in the black belies the tremendous effort put in by many people.
     Speaking of executives, 56 year-old Chew Choon Seng moves to the top at SIA Group June 1st as Dr. Cheong Choong Kong retires as chief operating officer.
     Mr. Chew worked his way up through SIA, serving in every major theater that the airline serves.
     Of Mr. Chew, Dr. Cheong said:
     “SIA Group will be in excellent hands.”

BEST & THE BRIGHTEST

William Boesch
Chairman
Envirotainer

Streetwise Cargo

     Bill Boesch spent the last quarter of the 20th Century at the heart of air cargo. As President of American Airlines Cargo and Pan Am Clipper Cargo before that, Bill a native New Yorker, was one of John Mahoney’s boys who emerged from legendary Seaboard World Airways of the late 1960’s. One thing for sure, when Bill Boesch was around, ideas and imagination flowed.
     Once at TIACA-Seattle in 1992, Boesch got up on a stage and levitated a room full of hard-bitten cargo people, dropping all pretense of open discussion, to push his newest idea for American. It was 45 minutes of masterful Bill Boesch and although memory fades as to just what the hell he was pitching, his window on that group was a highlight of the conference.
     Later when we beefed that his bit was not about industry but only about American, he said: “Are you kidding? We operate thousands of daily flights, and hundreds of airplanes all over the world. When American makes a move it is a benchmark for everybody else, period.” But we caught that kid-like grin Boesch gave up for an instant as he spoke, and pressed him some more. “C’mon?” We chided. “That was a three quarter hour ad for American.” The response was classic: “Well you know they do pay my way. I have a responsibility to see to it that the greatest airline in the world delivers, and that’s what I’ll do every time!”
     Now it’s 2002. Bill is in Washington D.C. or at home in his beach house along the New Jersey shore or deep in the heart of Texas at times. Children are getting older, his daughter just graduated from Harvard, and he does not attempt to hide his joy at that accomplishment. He is on the board of Envirotainer and makes no bones about a still active life of air cargo behind the scenes, more with security issues in Washington, a project to develop the C-17 cargolifter into commercial application and his lifelong love of containers as mentioned, with Envirotainer.
     “Air cargo needs leadership. There do not seem to be enough people willing to move on behalf of the industry. Right now with all these security edicts emerging left and right, somebody or group within air cargo better speak up, aside from just complaining, or the entire industry will reap the whirlwind.
     “I have been invited to trade shows this year but you know after I get back I’m depressed for a month. All talk and no action. That’s not the way to better air cargo. Everybody has to give a little. Not for the power or influence, but for the good of the business.”
     Bill Boesch always has had something to say, worth the listen. Even when every other breath was pitching American, he would not be timid about leading or joining debate on any topic to better the business. Now, ‘retired’ Bill Boesch admits that it’s the air cargo business that keeps him occupied, albeit in a less public, behind the scenes way. He voices approval at hearing Polar Air founder Ned Wallace, nedwallace@adelphia.net (ACN June/July 2002) is making another run at air cargo.
     “If it makes sense, I hope he does it. We would like to get an apartment in Manhattan,” Bill offers. That’s good we think. Put this guy in the middle of the greatest city in the world and consider the possibilities.
     The summer has ended Yankee Stadium is empty. “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?” is a plaintive refrain that means almost nothing to the generation of today.
     Bill Boesch has left centerfield in air cargo, but he still has fire for the business. It’s good to think, this genuine original born in Air Cargo USA hasn’t left and gone away. (Contact: cargoman@attglobal.net).