Air Integrators Column

Air Integrators Column Air forwarder seeks bright spot in U.S.-Asia
      Air freight will face an extremely challenging year in 2009, but pockets of growth will be found, particularly in U.S.-Asian trade, according to Gloria Whittington, managing director of DAX-Dependable AirCargo Express, an international air freight forwarder based in Rancho Dominguez, Calif., that specializes in that trade lane.
      Whittington predicts a 10 percent increase in U.S.-Indian air cargo as Indian manufacturing continues to expand, followed by 8 percent growth in U.S.-China air cargo volume. The China growth rate is down sharply from its usual double-digit increases as the global recession dampens demand for Chinese exports.
      Overall air freight growth will be less than 2 percent compared to high single-digit growth rates of recent years. The air freight sector could be less affected than ocean shipping, however, because high-value industrial components or high-tech products that normally seek out air transport are less vulnerable to an economic slowdown than ordinary consumable goods.
      Whittington said in a news release that India's air cargo market will not experience any lingering fallout from the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
      'Cargo continued to flow from Indian airports even during the height of the terrorist attacks. The Indian government has begun taking more forceful steps against terrorism which should benefit Indian trade,' she said.
      Air cargo could also benefit from greater use of just-in-time deliveries as companies seek to maintain inventory levels at absolute minimum during a tough sales environment.
      The economic slump has shifted pricing power to the shipper, she added.
      'Rate negotiations are becoming the norm rather than the exception. In the past, airlines serving a number of international destinations were rock solid in their rates. You can call an airline's cargo department today for a booking tomorrow. You also can negotiate a very favorable rate for your customer, something the forwarder could not do as little as a year ago,' she said.

Cathay volume drops 15.4%
      Cathay Pacific saw cargo volume drop 15.4 percent in November compared to the same month in 2007, a huge drop signifying just how slow demand has been.
      Cathay and sister airline Dragonair carried a total of 131,758 tons of cargo and mail in the month, while capacity, measured in available cargo/mail ton kilometers, fell 3.8 percent. The cargo and mail load factor dropped 5.3 percent to 64.5 percent. Cargo and mail tonnage inched up 0.6 percent compared to a capacity rise of 2.2 percent.
      'November is traditionally one of the busiest months in the air freight business but this year the peak simply didn't happen,' said Titus Diu, general manager of cargo sales and marketing.
      The company plans to lay up three freighters in January to cut costs.

UPS opens Shanghai hub
      UPS in December opened a new Asian cargo hub at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China.
      The facility has a large 24/7 customs inspection area that can rapidly process express packages as well as heavy freight. Specifications for the hub include 117 conveyor belts and 47 docking bays, enabling a sorting capacity of 17,000 pieces per hour.
      UPS worked with Shanghai Customs on a system for streamlining inspections by focusing on high-risk items.
      The dedicated customs area is equipped with advanced technology enabling automated import and export inspection to increase package flow efficiency. Suspicious packages can be routed off the main conveyor belts for inspection with the touch of a button, without impacting the flow of the remaining packages.
      The hub also provides a 'shipper build area' at the general cargo handling area, where customers can perform on-site packaging before goods are loaded on the aircraft. This eliminates processing goods at a separate facility, UPS said. It also improves service to customers who ship items requiring special handling.

Two for the price of one
      It's a basic principle of air cargo – weigh more, pay more. But for passengers, airlines use a flat rate system per seat.
      What about very obese people that take up two seats? Air Canada and WestJet previously charged such customers for the extra seat, but the Canadian Supreme Court recently sided with the Canadian Transportation Agency, which last January required domestic airlines to provide additional seats at no extra cost to disabled or obese passengers who need them.
      Air Canada said it is working to develop guidelines for implementing the rule, which only applies to domestic flights. The Canadian government estimated the rule will cost Air Canada about $5.6 million (0.09 percent of its annual passenger revenue) and WestJet $1.2 million (0.16 percent) per year.

Delta rolls out scanner system
      Delta Cargo recently implemented a mobile scanning system at the airline's main cargo facility in Atlanta.
      The system, designed and developed with AirClic, Unisys and Sprint, will be rolled out to other U.S hubs in JFK, Cincinnati and Los Angeles, as well as international stations of Amsterdam and Charles de Gaulle.
      The system allows Delta Cargo Operations personnel to use AirClic-enabled wireless handheld scanning devices to capture, exchange and access critical data, providing real-time visibility of information and cargo tracking using deltacargo.com.

Airbus quality too good
      Airbus has apparently built its new A380 super-jumbo jets so well that some pilots want to bring back the noisier environment they are used to in other aircraft.
      Pilots at Emirates say the lack of engine noise in the crew-rest area in the aft main cabin means that they are disturbed by crying babies, flushing vacuum toilets, call bells and other sounds created by passengers, according to an article in Air Transport Intelligence. Passengers also try to open the door in the mistaken belief it is a lavatory.
      One solution being considered is to install lightweight generators to create ambient noise.
      Emirates is partly to blame because it is the only A380 operator so far to have situated the crew rest area at the rear of the main deck, instead of the standard option behind the cockpit. Emirates said that layout would have compromised the design of the upper deck first-class cabin, while the cargo hold alternative was believed to be too claustrophobic for the crew.