TIACA chief Doug Brittin to retire

The International Air Cargo Association is looking for a new secretary general after Doug Brittin notified the board that he plans to leave in December.   Douglas Brittin, the secretary general of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), will retire at the end of the year, the trade association announced Thursday.
   Brittin, 66, has led the organization since mid-2013. A 36-year industry veteran, he spent the previous six years a the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, first as air cargo manager and then as division director of air cargo. In the private sector, he held various business development jobs at companies such as BAX Global, Emery, Menlo Worldwide and Panalpina.
   Brittin is credited with helping expand TIACA’s influence internationally in the customs and security realms, especially by broadening its footprint with the World Customs Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization.
   Achieving policy consensus within an organization as broad as TIACA, which encompasses forwarders, carriers, ground handling agents, technology providers and other interests, is not easy, said Michael White, assistant director of cargo facilitation and standards for Cargo Network Services, an International Air Transportation Association company.
   “When it comes to representing air cargo in Washington and throughout the world, Doug Brittin will always be in my personal hall of fame. His previous TSA regulatory role combined with an extensive forwarding industry background makes Doug a real industry leader who many in air cargo will certainly miss,” Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airfowarders Association, said via e-mail.
   Britton seamlessly took over when TSA Air Cargo Director Ed Kelly died and reassured the industry that he would work closely with them during a period of regulatory upheaval, he recalled.
   TIACA said a search for Brittin’s replacement is under way, led by Sebastiaan Scholte of Jan de Rijk Logistics.