NIT League to strengthen ties with air cargo sector

NIT League to strengthen ties with air cargo sector    The National Industrial Transportation League met with representatives from the air cargo industry this week at its annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to better understand the issues impacting this transport mode.
   Cargo Network Services, the U.S. arm of the International Air Transport Association, and Cargo 2000, an IATA-based group dedicated to improving the flow of international air freight, asked the NIT League shippers to strengthen their relationship with the air freight forwarders.
   'The league's Air Transportation Committee agreed in principle to partnership with IATA on security issues,' said Peter Gatti, executive vice president of the NIT League.
   The league is especially concerned about recent efforts by some U.S. lawmakers to ban the transport of cargo in the bellies of passenger planes.
   'When you start talking about concepts like this, the burden falls on the industry to make the system as safe as possible,' Gatti said. 'The practical reality is that there is simply not enough capacity outside the combination carriers to handle the freight.'
   The league's Air Transportation Committee also met with an associate firm of its outside counsel to discuss the recovery of fuel surcharges from air carriers. The European Union and U.S. authorities raided air cargo offices of several major airlines last spring as part of their investigation into price collusion.
   'The amount of potential refunds could be significant,' Gatti said. The league will soon survey its membership to determine the best of course of action on this issue, he added.