... 2019... still
ranks as one of
our top three
years
Jessica Tyler,
American Airlines Cargo
much was moved by air in
passenger jets whilst
domestically in the US, it was
trucked. Internationally
speaking, there was reduced
capacity, but not as bad as
some people believe. Air cargo
performed strongly from our
perspective, although it
certainly wasn’t the best year
on record.”
Did he feel that the current
upswing in cargo could mark
the turning point for the sector
in general?
“It’s quite possible. We’re
going to witness a surge in air
cargo at some point in 2020, I
feel. We’re seeing more and
more cargo coming out of
China now and prices have
gone through the roof – it’s a
seller’s market and aircraft are
being filled. As Europe and the
rest of the world get back on
AA Cargo faced plenty of challenges but still
posted healthy figures
noticeable shift between the
different modes?
“A few years back, around
2015, we were beginning to
notice changes in transport
modes,” he relates. “People
were looking to take the cost
out of airfreight. This
continued in 2019, yet it was
apparent that there was still
growth in cargo.
“Pharmaceuticals and
e-commerce have driven this
sector onwards; and last year
saw reasonable fuel prices, both
in the US and elsewhere, which
also encouraged the airfreight
sector. So costs were being kept
down. The forwarders
appreciated the strength of the
international air cargo market
although for domestic
operational purposes, trucking
was finding favour. Really, the
situation wasn’t so different
last year: high value goods and
perishables might be put on
ocean transport but shippers
will always look to send a
percentage by air, wherever
possible. There was a definite,
positive trend last year and as
2020 unfolds, the challenges
are different. Certainly,
specialists like DHL, FedEx and
UPS are going through a boom
period at the moment.
“As for capacity last year,
their feet, this escalation will increase, and possibly flatten off
afterwards. The difficulty is that not everywhere will be geared up
to the reception of quantities of Chinese cargo until the recovery
is assured. We have 45 facilities around the US, for example, and
we are storing goods for customers whilst this pandemic
continues. Quite simply, at present, Chinese production is
outstripping general demand.”
The AA way
For Jessica Tyler, VP Strategy & Development for American Airlines
Cargo, to talk about 2019, it was necessary for her to go back to
2018.
“That was a record-breaking year for us in revenue, operational
performance and pounds carried. The hardest part of experiencing
great success is figuring out how to go for more. Last year was a
really challenging year for the entire industry and especially when
we use the prior year as the baseline. Even as challenging as 2019
seemed in the moment, it still ranks as one of our top three years
on record - and that means our team just kept delivering the
exceptional service we’re known for.
“We did launch a number of new routes where we saw success:
most notable were our summer routes between Dallas-Fort Worth
to Dublin, Dallas to Munich and Philadelphia to Berlin. These
locations have a lot of business flowing between them including
machinery, pharmaceuticals, electronics and fruit logistics, as well
as oil industry equipment and aviation parts that we were happy
to help accommodate. We also introduced new service from
Philadelphia to Bologna.
“But all that said, the challenges of 2019 pale in comparison to
what our team is facing as we go to print on this article. It’s
amazing how our team is rallying to keep critical goods moving in
such a challenging health and economic crisis that reaches all
corners of the globe. The American team is staying focused on
doing our part and meeting every challenge as an opportunity to
lend our talent to the world in this critical time.”
US/China relations eased
Tyler goes on to say that American saw some softening in the
US-China trade lane during 2019.
“We also adjusted our China routes in late 2018, focusing our
China flying from two hubs, Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles,
which did have an impact on our business, but still allowed us to
meet customer needs. This year is proving to be a different
challenge, however. Our network continues to change because
government restrictions are drastically impacting demand, and at
the same time we have been able to stand up cargo-only flights in
a matter of weeks to get critical goods from Asia to the rest of the
world. From May we’ve grown to 140 international wide-body
weekly operations, in a time when very few people are flying.”
Needless to say, last year posed challenges, in particular
technological ones.
“We’ve been working to modernise every aspect of our business
for the last few years. In the fourth quarter of 2019, we
implemented the majority of the iCargo end-to-end cargo
management system from IBS. As big a technology project as it
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