Having been involved in aviation and especially in the air cargo industry, I can say that I have been fortunate to witness the evolution of the cargo transportation and logistics industry. I have also been pleased to co-found The International Air Cargo Association, TIACA, which was able to bring together all elements of the supply chain.
AvIATIOn LOgIsTICs
In this book, we have provided insight and practical explanations about the processes involved and the vital role the air cargo industry plays in maintaining the global logistics supply chain. The choice of air cargo is not only reserved for high-value goods or perishable items, but includes almost everything that touches our lives.
Acknowledgements
The main challenge facing this sector now is the implementation of electronic cargo handling (cargo forwarding), which would speed up the entire air cargo chain, increase safety and save a lot of costs. Aviation is never without challenges and threats, but it continues to deliver people and cargo around the world.
Air cargo – trying harder
Many of the industry's 'best airline' awards are the result of excellent ground handling, the only place where product differentiation can take place. However, despite all the debated shortcomings of the industry, the entrepreneurship of its leaders has found solutions to most of these challenges, and airfreight remains the first choice for shippers seeking fast and safe transportation of their precious goods.
As an industry, we need to get ourselves back on track and treat air freight as a core business. Despite all this, air freight has grown by an average of 2.6 percent over the past year.
Air cargo’s strengths
The industry-wide adoption of electronic communications, especially the air waybill, will lay the groundwork. The airfreight industry must therefore continue to minimize costs and reduce processing time while being innovative and responsive, creative and leading the way, otherwise there will be a continued shift to maritime transport as industries such as the automotive sector find it better suited to their needs.
The phenomenal volumes of air traffic have long dictated that airlines invest in all-cargo aircraft to supplement the space in the belly of passenger planes, but the industry has remained in the shadow of the larger passenger business. Fortunately, the challenges to profitability in the airline industry as a whole mean that this naïve and harmful neglect is about to change.
Profit
It is therefore ironic that the air cargo industry has struggled to make itself known to a wider audience, let alone understood and appreciated. Perhaps the disruption has not happened yet, precisely because of the industry's complexity and fragmentation, which have acted as barriers to new entrants: the IT companies that serve our industry were born in our industry and many are spin-offs from the IT industry. airline divisions.
Planet
These major investments by the airlines themselves are only part of the picture of sustainability in the air cargo industry. All things considered, a growing and advancing air freight industry brings benefits that are shared worldwide.
People
It is people who look beyond industry boundaries to understand the changing needs and demands of customers. Attracting, retaining and motivating the best staff and managers is the most important responsibility of the management of the air cargo industry.
TIACA
The industry is truly global and highly fragmented, complex and challenged by economic, technological, environmental and regulatory factors. While different segments of the industry are well represented by their own associations, we need a partnership.
Air cargo history
Regulations and agreements
During 1926, the newly formed German company Lufthansa transported about 1000 tons of air cargo as well as 6000 passengers. It defined international transport, rules regarding documentation, limitations of the carrier's liability as well as rules governing jurisdiction.
The runways available in West Berlin, especially at Templehof airfield in the US sector, were not sufficient to safely land large cargo planes, so plans were made to build a new airfield in the French sector. It is estimated that 621 aircraft participated in the airlift, flying 270,000 flights with a total distance of over 124.5 million miles flown.
When in full swing, some 260 American and British aircraft were carrying the intended 4,500 tons of supplies daily. The airlift moved a total of 2,325,000 tons of essential supplies during the 15-month period it was in operation.
The jet age
These aircraft were equipped with full cargo doors at the rear of the wing, allowing access to the main deck for palletized cargo. Many passenger aircraft were later converted to cargo configurations as the price of used aircraft dropped.
The major contributors
The twin-engine technology and significant fuel savings over the 747, the common operational requirements in maintenance and engineering, the common cabin with passenger aircraft leading to reduced staffing requirements, all produce a much lower operating cost per the airline. Parcel quickly formed the bulk of these shipments versus the post office, and again through innovation, the traditional partnership of airline and carrier broke away from the premium market.
The airlines
Electronic systems
Adoption of this new technology is very slow and many companies are still resisting these computer based systems to the detriment of the industry as a whole. If a solution to this dilemma is not found, the role of anyone in this industry who does not participate will be relegated to that of a provider of generic services at the lowest prices of many.
All-cargo operators
Combination carriers
In an industry where directional loads are the norm, low trip costs and the excellent fuel economy of the 777F ensure exceptional operating economy. Overall, the 777F is the freighter of the 21st century and this is confirmed by the Boeing order book for the type.
Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, Insurance (ACMI)
In current economic conditions, the 777F's lower payload of approximately 13 tons is also a much lower risk proposition. For example, Qatar is achieving the same benefits with the 777F and also with the A330F due to the many passenger variants of the type in its fleet.
Large heavy lift aircraft
One larger example was built, the AN 225, which was originally designed to carry the Soviet Union's version of the rocket plane on its back. This aerial behemoth can carry up to 250 metric tons in its cavernous main deck holds.
Conclusions
It is a four-engine aircraft that requires a crew of six to operate it in the cockpit. The truth is that the world will experience more than 1 billion people in the next decade from the emerging nations to the middle class.
Airport
Globalization
For air cargo operators, the minimum time they spend on the ground plus road connections are important for accessing local or transit markets. Cargo operations require warehouses and cold stores, health checks and customs with easy access to the aircraft.
An airport is called a hub when airlines perform an exchange of flights with a high percentage of passengers and cargo in transit. Flights arriving or departing from international destinations enter the hub where both passengers and cargo can be repositioned on flights to other destinations.
Airport types
International hubs
The airport's significant gains in the world's air cargo market have provided widespread economic benefits for MiamiDade County. The airport's trade supports more than 1,000 freight forwarders and almost 250 Customs brokers located around the airport.
Integrators
Cargo handling agents – the
The day before departure, the shoe box for the Paris-London leg was taken to Paris so that it was available for check-in the following day. So if you wanted to book today's flight you had to call Paris as the inventory was in a shoe box there.) On the day of departure, all shoe boxes for flights departing from Heathrow were taken to the airport for check-in. Frequent inconsistencies in stored data led to reduced service levels and major performance control issues.
Airlines at the start of computer technology
1956 – IBM/AA saber
1964 – IBM 360 series, PARs
1965 – IBM and BOAC, IPARs
1974 – Alitalia, FAsT (PO4) system developed from IPARs
In fact, these teams were disbanded only in October 2013 with the publication of the "final" versions when IATA moves from CARGOIMP to XML message structures. In the early 1970s, Alitalia's EDP division saw an opportunity to create a cargo version of the BOAC IPARS system, replacing PNR records with CAR (Cargo Activity Record) but retaining the use of schedules and aircraft type data tables, replacing the passenger manifest with cargo manifest and adding data on the air waybill, which forms the master record.
1980 – BA goes live with Fast 2 Alitalia system called BA80
It was a fairly basic system that had a number of shortcomings, including: flight records were only open for bookings 12 days before departure, and air waybill records were only stored online for 14 days after the records were closed (usually via delivery to an import intermediary or transfer to another airline). However, a major step forward was using the same mainframe computers that airlines purchased for their passenger systems; many airlines bought the system, including British Airways.
2014 – Legacy systems holding airlines back
Change factors
- Customs system – UK
- IATA
- Integrated operators
- security
It was thoroughly tested for the proper functioning of the trading features, but when it was finally released to users, it crashed spec. The ASM2000 was designed for the first time with input from one of the agent's own engineers.
- Shipper
- Cargo agent
- Carrier (self-handling example, could be subcontracted to a GHA)
- Consignee
- Customs broker/agent
He places the air waybill, invoice, packing slip, certificate of origin and bill of lading into the "collection bag" that travels with the shipment. Paper was used to control operations and this is still the case today in most plants in the US.
Road feeder service
Miami's airport is informally known as the capital of Latin America and is one of the busiest cargo hubs in the United States, especially for perishable goods. Fewer than 5 million km of modern and unpaved roads serve the country, but it was only after 1995 that the program really started.
Road feeding as business saver
Air freight accounts for 40 percent of the Dutch company's business, with 60 percent related to warehousing, rail transport and other segments. He talks about the United States, Latin America and the Middle East being closely scrutinized.
Living example: RunAir
This was the basic and simple idea behind the strategic agreement formed between the RunAir group and Ibertinsa. Something similar will now be set up between the RunAir Group and Ibertinsa on truck routes between Germany and Spain, although not as a joint venture, but on purely marketing terms.
Freight forwarder
A number of paid membership networks have been established with the aim of representing their members in the international market as a united partnership capable of competing with the global giants in the freight forwarding world. Examples of these are: EFFA - European Association of Freight Forwarders; the FFSI Global network in Hong Kong, which has members in 68 countries; GLA - Global Logistics Associates - The Netherlands; Security Cargo Network in Denver, USA; Bangkok.
Associations and networks
These 'multinational opportunities' are perhaps one of the industry's biggest features in terms of attracting talent. But what I think is most interesting about this particular customer service is the way it can be seen as a timely microcosm of the ways in which air cargo is evolving, and will continue to evolve in the future.
Cool logistics
Part of daily life
These distinct supply chains must maintain and secure each link to the same impeccable standards across varying levels of temperatures, conditions, facilities and knowledge. The creation of systems and technologies that protect products has evolved into what is collectively known as the "cold chain."
Market fluctuations
However, maintaining the freshness of the fruits and flowers and the integrity of pharmaceutical products presents a major challenge to the suppliers, transporters, airports, handlers and distributors.
Creating standards
Sebastiaan Scholte of the Cool Chain Association states that, for example, many attempts to set up cultivation facilities in the Netherlands have had disappointing and expensive results. Ethical and moral arguments are debated in the context of the global need to grow more food and reduce waste and spoilage due to exposure to high temperatures.
Flowers
Agriculture contributes about 25 percent of GDP and is one of the country's largest foreign exchange earners. The growing demand for cut flowers and plants in the United States is being met worldwide.
Fruit and vegetables
Although many flowers and plants are flown directly to each European country, a large percentage of flowers and plants are traded through the Flora Holland auctions at Aalsmeer, Bleiswiujk, Eelde, Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg in the Netherlands. Flowers and plants are delivered from all over the world for the daily auctions, supplying wholesale florists and dealers across Europe.
Fish and live seafood
China is the world's largest producer of seafood products, with Japan and the United States being the largest importers. More than three-quarters of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported from other countries.
Insects and eggs
Of all modes of transportation, air transportation is the most likely to have shipment delays or cancellations. Cargo order cancellations and delays are usually due to weather events, but there are also cancellations and delays due to mechanical or crew problems, higher than expected cargo weight, balancing due to high fuel requirements, etc.
Animal semen
When these events occur at a secondary point where lobster has been transported, there are often limited options to rebook or return by air. While there have been various product offerings over the years on the cold chain side of cargo, they have mainly been too expensive for the competitive lobster market.
Pharmaceuticals
There has been a lot of interest in pharmaceutical shipments in the air freight industry in recent years, as airlines and freight forwarders search for traffic that can bring them the elusive higher yields: around 30 airlines now offer services for pharmaceutical products, and many are investing in expanding their cool chain facilities. It is an area full of acronyms and organizations – FDA, EU, MHRA, WHO, PDA – trying to define the way medicines should be handled and transported.
For example, new EU directives (EU343/01) state that pharmaceutical carriers must undergo a transport qualification, part of which is that they must audit whether airlines can really do what they say they can . Customers seek out-of-season and exotic fresh produce or must rely on frozen produce.
Collectively in Europe, the express industry employs around 300,000 people and delivers more than 260 million parcels each year – almost half of the intra-European air freight market. The express delivery companies are able to connect 90 percent of the world economy within 72 hours.
Since that time, industrialized countries have developed systems that allow them not only to compete with express operators, but also to cooperate with them. It is estimated that the express industry has also created a total of 2.75 million jobs worldwide through indirect employment.
Changes in trading patterns
DHL was acquired by Deutsche Post in July 2002, when the German Postal Group bought out the minority interests of the two airlines. It currently claims a 14 percent share of the global postal market and can process six million pieces of mail every day.
Federal Express (FedEx)
DHL Global Mail operates one of the world's largest delivery networks, with 38 sales offices and 28 production centers in five continents serving more than 200 countries. Today, UPS is a global company with one of the most recognized and admired brands in the world.
Postal services
UPS is one of the world's largest express carriers and package delivery companies, as well as a leading provider of specialized transportation, logistics, capital and e-commerce services, managing the flow of goods, assets and information in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Formerly the operating division of TNT NV, TNT Express was spun off from the parent company on 26 May 2011 and listed on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
Parcelforce Worldwide
China Postal Express & Logistics
United states Postal service (UsPs)
Universal Postal Union (UPU)
The role of the FNKKJK Global Logistics Service is to ensure that the FNKKJK has a strong, competent and efficient logistics capacity to effectively carry out its humanitarian assistance activities and achieve its goals. Its mission is to create a world-class service to support the essential work of the Red Cross/Red Crescent network and to share resources with other humanitarian organizations.
Charter brokers
Animals
The company sending the animals will need to ensure that the appropriate documentation and licenses are obtained well in advance of the flight. Despite the combined efforts of global regulatory bodies, many of the regulations are ignored in some countries and the illegal trade continues to flourish.
Animal diseases and regulations
Regulations are drawn up by IATA and the protection of endangered species is governed by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) regulations.
Pets
Horse transport
The journey's recovery time for a horse will vary significantly depending on the length of the flight. The horse would fly from Turkey or the Middle East on Wednesday for a Saturday race.
Zoos and exotic creatures
For example, horses would fly to England from Ireland and race the same day and then fly back. To and from further afield would require at least a week and in the case of Japan 10 days is required, while Australia has a two week arrival quarantine so a much longer rest period is required.
Airport animal centres
Events such as the Olympic Games, which handle as many as 200 competing horses in two to three days, require tremendous skill and planning, but overall, very few problems have occurred during many years of successful horse transportation.
Cattle and farm animals
Lift off for heavyweight freighters
The AN225 was originally conceived by the Ukrainian Antonov Design Bureau in support of the Soviet space program to carry the Buran space shuttle and its rocket's boosters. In August 2009, the heaviest piece ever shipped by air freight was loaded onto the AN225.
Battle proven
The single-flying version is operated by Antonov Airlines, and is commercially available for the transport of ultra-heavy and oversized cargo up to 250 tons. The shipment was a generator for a gas-fired power plant in Armenia and its loading frame weighed a world record 187.6 tonnes.
Lighter heavy cargo
Oversized cargo
A fleet of converted Airbus A300600ST (Super Transporter) Beluga freighters is maintained by Airbus and, in addition to oversized cargo, is used to transport prefabricated aircraft components from global manufacturing centers to the Airbus assembly line in Toulouse, France. Both Airbus and Boeing use their Beluga and Dreamlifter fleets to transport aircraft parts; However, the Beluga fleet also includes specially heated and pressurized cargo compartments.
Flying fashion
This meant that the Beluga was occasionally used to transport space satellites, art paintings and other such large and sensitive cargo. The aircraft's maximum payload of 47 tons allows for very limited "heavy lift" use.
The UK example
The advent of so many modal options globally has led to an unintended decline in the quality of service for many carriers, in particular the use of third-tier carriers and inappropriate transportation points for modal changes. In an effort to address this, the latest developments in air freight are in the use of premium carriers, 'flagship' airlines and ultrasecure transshipments.
Art craft
A museum specialist always accompanies these precious shipments from the departing museum to the arriving museum, and they fly aboard the same aircraft as the art objects, whether passenger or full cargo aircraft. In terms of weight this is very little compared to the thousands of tonnes we carry on an annual basis, but in terms of the value carried it is significantly more significant.
And in terms of turnover, compared to the total/global turnover of all goods we carry per year, the number is quite small. But what is more important is the fact that if the specific customers choose your airline as an 'art' airline, it is for your 'know how' and your reputation for quality and reliability, and to that extent it is important for an airline to belong to this small group of 'happy few'.
Transporting F1 equipment
As with all fragile and valuable goods, they require special attention and a special type of packaging, which is done in the museum by specialists under the permanent control of the museum. While it is clearly more economical when it is possible to move equipment by road, many of the events involve long intercontinental routes.
Cargo security and risk
Crime
Cargo theft is, of course, not a victimless crime as, in addition to the high risk of injury or death to the personnel involved, it affects everyone in the chain. In the US and Europe, criminal gangs are often involved, finding unlimited markets for stolen goods around the world.
Road theft
Internal theft
It is possible for the same employees to pass on sensitive information to criminal associates.
Countermeasures
Counterfeiting
Additionally, the failure of various agencies to communicate and share information played a major role in the problem. For example, in June 2014, Taliban militants attacked the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, resulting in the complete suspension of all flights.
Flight MH17
What are the solutions?
Why cargo is a target
Insurance companies that paid a large portion of the losses work with these groups. All of this has resulted in lost business and changed the perception of air cargo integrity for many shippers.
Health hazards
Is the industry being priced out of the market by expensive security systems and loss of time. What has proven to be effective in areas such as the US and the EU is the incorporation of supply chain participants into the process.
Cybercrime
Corruption
Malaysia Airlines chief commercial officer Hugh Dunleavy argued loudly that individual airlines should not decide whether the skies over war zones are safe or not. However, it is highly unlikely that these international bodies want to take full responsibility for deciding whether flight paths are safe.
This impression is completely false today, with some possible exceptions in some less regulated parts of the world. One of the main problems is the high profile of air transport, so even the smallest incident gets a lot of press coverage.
Despite ongoing research and improvements in engine design and fuel efficiency, these advances will be offset by a constant increase in global aircraft movements. At high altitudes, condensation trails form, consisting of frozen ice crystals that deflect a small amount of sunlight from the Earth's surface and reflect more infrared radiation back to Earth.
Airports
Local produce
In the UK, the wet winter of 2013/14 is clear evidence of a problem facing the agricultural industry, with many crops destroyed by flooding. The southern regions of Europe and the United States produce large quantities of fruit and flowers, which in turn must be transported by road to their markets.
Alternative fuels
Political influences
In other countries, such as Germany, the lack of space further limits agricultural expansion. After threats of legal action and an outright refusal to comply with this unilateral regulation by countries such as the Russian Federation and the United States, the European Commission withdrew and a compromise was reached to move the matter to ICAO and establish a global to find a solution.
Air freight’s extra burden
Despite this setback, the airline, as one of the largest cargo carriers in the world, managed to plan its way forward. Within the United States, thanks to cheaper fuel and less long-distance passenger traffic, most goods are transported by road, not air, at a fraction of the cost.
Innovation and trends in air
CargoClaims seeks to simplify the claims process, an extremely long and frustrating job known, according to the Dutch company IATA, as 'headache files'. Paul Ennis, Managing Director, previously used Excel but stated that "the accuracy of the information was insufficient and there was no real-time visibility into capacity allocation, especially considering that DHL Aviation has such a complex network".
Changing buying habits
This is especially true with millennials (those born after 1980 is the standard definition), who will make up the majority of online consumers in the coming years. In the air cargo logistics chain, wholesalers, distributors and retailers are most vulnerable to loss in factory-controlled e-commerce.
What is the solution for airlines, airports and handling companies?
This gives them maximum flexibility in designing a product for e-commerce, but in most cases it comes at a cost far beyond that of the postal authorities. For international shipments, this can be a major problem in consumers' choice of modes, and this is where the integrators have an advantage.
The IATA view
They are then sorted, loaded onto the DHL Bell 206B3 Jet Ranger helicopter and transported to the new Chicago Vertiport. The 1980s saw the era of the jetliner, the jumbo jet freighter and today the modern wide-body B777 A 340.
Views on the future
Alexis sioris
In addition to the many businesses related to the aviation industry, there are many businesses that need to be located close to an airport in order to operate efficiently. The latter not only provides more employment and improves a community's economy, but also serves to retain existing businesses and attract new industries to the area.
Heiner siegmund
Transport across the Eurasian land bridge can be expected to increasingly challenge combined sea-air transport via Dubai and other ports in the Middle East due to time and cost advantages. In general, air cargo can be expected to play a dominant role on intra-Asian routes, outgrowing other markets in the near future.
Fred smith
My view of the future of air cargo
The IT technology is fully competitive with the global players, track and tracing works; efreight and ebooking are a must, and the requirements must be met if we want to be successful on the market. The political situation does not contribute to expectations that the market situation will change in the near future.
The aim is to consolidate domestic cargo in two hubs in Frankfurt and Munich in order to remain competitive in the market despite the increasing concentration. We wonder how a small or medium-sized business can monitor and follow the requirements.
The future is a challenge
The day-to-day use of these systems for supply chain operations should eliminate errors and losses in the future. The worsening situation in the Middle East and the clash of conflicting religions and cultures will have a major impact on world trade and will require some very strong negotiations between the conflicting groups to find a reasonable solution.
Managing the ratio of inventory to sales is becoming a science in itself and is the key to achieving optimal cost efficiency in inventory management. Today, a product's supply chain, not the product itself, is a competitive advantage.
TIACA Leadership Training – all about change
I want future modal shift discussions to take place at shipping conferences, not air cargo conferences, and that can be done. It's not just the airlines that will suffer; everyone in the supply chain that depends on air cargo will suffer as well.
Ram menen
That's why the TIACA training is so important: everyone in that room understood how working together to tackle industry inefficiencies can lead to better business for the entire chain. It is our responsibility now to take it to the next step and we will do it.
In 1955, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reviewed the Hague Protocol, which was adopted by the ICAO Council.
Liabilities
Regulatory bodies
The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) is the only global association open to all industry stakeholders, including shippers, freight forwarders, airlines, integrators, managers, IT providers, truckers and educators. TIACA is a global organization for all users and participants in the air cargo industry (see www.tiaca.org).
IATA: International Air Transport Association
While different segments of the industry are well represented by their own associations, TIACA requires a collaborative approach to facilitate a sustainable and connected global industry. To support regulators and strengthen supply chain security, IATA and industry are working on various freight security initiatives: the IATA Center of Excellence for Independent Validators, the Standard Consignment Security Declaration and Secure Freight.
ICAO: The International Civil Aviation Organization
Ongoing projects include a Cargo Agency program in collaboration with FIATA, which will address issues such as accreditation, training and relationships with suppliers and customers. The eCargo initiative seeks to introduce digital processing to increase speed and replace paper documents.
WCO: The World Customs Organization
The governing body of the World Customs Organization - the Council - relies on the competence and skills of the Secretariat and a series of technical and advisory committees to fulfill its mission. The partnership approach advocated by the WCO is one of the keys to building bridges between customs administrations and their partners.
FIATA: Fédération Internationale des Associations de Transitaires et Assimilés
Today, the WCO represents 179 customs administrations across the globe that collectively process about 98 percent of world trade. As the global center of customs expertise, the WCO is the only international organization with competence in customs matters and can rightly call itself the voice of the international Customs community.
CCA: The Cool Chain Association
ACI: Airports Council International
TAPA: Transported Asset Protection Association
GLossARY oF Common AIR FReIGHt teRms
GLOSSARY OF COMMON AIRFREIGHT TERMS. Another term used is General Handling Agent.) GSSA General Sales and Service Agent.
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