MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH

Capacity continues to shrink as airline permanently ground large chunks of their fleet. Today Delta announced all seven of the old 747-200 North West cargo fleet will shortly make their last flight; to that graveyard in the Mojave Desert. Only UPS and Kalitta will be left flying the old 747-200 workhorse. The decision of carriers to match demand with supply indicates that the future of air cargo is indeed bleak. Not only has tonnage shrunk by over 30% in the last six months but when the right levels are determined, the consensus of opinion is we will see little growth in the years to come. The sad thing is profitability for the industry, be it the airline or the forwarder, is something we will also have to contend with for years to come, because rates are still shrinking. The market looks horrible.

The CII team continues to leave no stone unturned and like the good family we are, we continue to look at each day as a new beginning. Tony Feist, who heads our special projects operations has just returned from tropical Apia and Pago Pago with new business literally coming out of his ears! Most forwarders wouldn’t risk (and rightly so) jumping head first into these third world type banana republics. I was also a skeptic that is until Tony chose to work with us. He came to us after fifteen years of building up relationships in the Samoa’s. The truth is during this time it has become a second home for him. Yes, we are primarily there to support the tuna fishing industry, but in order to survive, we must also look at opportunities we would not have considered in better days. The Samoa’s require all sorts of urgent goods: from pharmaceuticals to telephone equipment, to airplane parts and Tony is there to move the goods in a timely fashion.

Australia is picking up and our wholesale customer list is actually growing, but volumes unfortunately aren’t. However, we are dealing and we will not lose one kilo of freight on price. In these tough times we must keep the wheels turning and more than ever before every customer and every shipment, no matter how small, truly counts!

Tags: 747, AirFreight, Apia, Australia, CII, Delta, Kalitta, Pago Pago, Samoa, UPS