This year’s get together covers every topic imaginable and it certainly will be interesting to listen to the views from such a wide variety of industry experts. As far as the airlines are concerned the only topic not on the agenda is how most carriers have retreated from regarding airfreight as a serious component of their structure. For me, barring a very few airlines, over the past fifteen years most airline CEO’s have used the surgeon’s scalpel on their air cargo divisions to the point they are unrecognizable from twenty years ago. Sales and service personnel have been slashed and in many instances cargo handling outsourced to independent contractors even at large airports such as Los Angeles. In the meantime, IATA ambitiously moves forward promoting Cargo 2000 and complicated supply chain theories when many of their members operations are returning to the “stone ages”!

On the one hand we have most IATA airline members who couldn’t care less about cargo, but on the other, forwarders/shippers who have never enjoyed such low rates for such a long period of time. I suppose it is all about getting what you pay for. However in saying that, when will we see a return to airlines treating cargo seriously with an upswing in real investment and a compensatory rating structure to match? I notice at this year’s “Symposium” every subject under the sun is being discussed except the issue of the real future of airfreight as far as most passenger/combination carriers are concerned.