Report: E-commerce causing airport infrastructure headaches

Panelists at the Airforwarders Association meeting at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport this week addressed the question of how to handle too much air cargo in a limited amount of space, according to a report from Air Cargo World.

   E-commerce has increased cargo volumes to a point where some airports are questioning how to handle all the cargo.
   A panel at the Airforwarders Association’s (AfA) regional meeting at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) earlier this week faced the question of how handle too much cargo, according to a report from industry news outlet Air Cargo World.
   “Sea-Tac’s current infrastructure wasn’t built for it to be a hub, but e-commerce is making it one,” said Jason Berry, managing director of cargo at Alaska Airlines.
   The infrastructure challenges begin “long before the carriers receive the cargo,” said Matt Hodson, vice president of operations with trucking company Summit NW Corp., according to Air Cargo World.
   “Inefficiencies at the airport leave truck drivers idling for hours, especially when the cargo is destined for a carrier that doesn’t handle its own cargo. These delays often force the driver to track down individual customer service agents for every airline transporting the cargo,” he said.
   Logistics issues arise once the cargo arrives at the airport, due to lack of space. According to Air Cargo World, panelist Patrick Eaton, the general manager for Swissport Cargo Services at Sea-Tac, said that “Swissport and other ground handlers at the airport contribute to slowdowns for trucks arriving at the airport because they are trying to deal with too much cargo and too many airlines in too little space.”
   However, allowing for additional cargo space may be impossible due to “the geographical constraints of the region,” said Tom Green, senior manager for air cargo development with the Port of Seattle. The three main ground handlers at Sea-Tac, Swissport, WFS and Hanjin Global Logistics, generally dominate the market, due to the lack of space.
   Furthermore, despite the airport expansion master plan currently underway, most of the additional space will be utilized on the passenger side, “possibly at the expense of cargo,” noted Green.
   Nevertheless, Green asked AfA meeting members to “go to Port Commission meetings and comment on the importance of air cargo at Sea-Tac,” as air cargo accounted for 35 percent of global trade value in 2015, said Air Cargo World.  
   Brandon Fried, executive director at the AfA, thinks the best short-term solution is improving the process of screening cargo by utilizing a third party, private sector canine method which “could reduce bottlenecks significantly,” he noted.