Last week Turkish Cargo Talks a three- hour webinar went out worldwide. We watched it. Here is our take. The event opened with about five minutes from host Smilin’ Sam Chui. Chui is a reality star who flies around and eats dinner in first class on everybody’s airline and shares the experience with his large global audience living vicariously every mile aloft. We Remember Boubby Once upon a time in Amsterdam KLM Cargo was operated by a team of people the stars fell on. This group went out and cha...
Feb 16, 2021•29 min
Having launched FlyingTalkers, a weekly podcast every Monday for air cargo 18 months ago, I guess we could only expect that it would just be a matter of time until someone came along and branded Cargo Talks. Turkish Airlines Cargo is putting up Cargo Talks, a first-time webinar that takes place beginning at 11:30 GMT Tuesday February 10. Rates Clobber India Flower Exports The flower farms at Bengaluru, Pune and a few other places are alive with color but this has not brought smiles to the grower...
Feb 06, 2021•37 min
For a while most people in air cargo transportation knew Lionel Van der Walt from the time he served as President of Cargo Network Services (CNS). All of that has changed because for some time now Lionel has served as CEO of fast-rising PayCargo. The thing about Lionel is that he is a genuine good guy. He listens well, is not fearful of tough decisions and standing up for what is right. Most endearing, to us at least, is that he is somebody always willing to lend a helping hand. A money guy with...
Jan 30, 2021•31 min
Last year in early March as the COVID-19 began raging and we were all locked down wondering what would happen next, the tulip beds springing back to life around our home sent their quiet message of life and renewal and beauty. In uncertain times being able to slow down a bit and contemplate the flowers works. Undoubtedly if you work in the flower business whether growing or selling or shipping you have felt that a special affection endures. We spoke to Joost Bongaerts the owner and President of ...
Jan 25, 2021•29 min
In the U.S. on Monday January 18, our nation celebrates the life and legacy of Martin Luther KIng. MLK Monday comes along just as the nation is about to welcome a new President after many months of political acrimony and unrest, and with COVID-19 still the continued threat to lives everywhere. With a tip of our hat to Rev. King always, we continue FlyingTalkers groundbreaking series covering the courageous women of air cargo and aviation with a look back at pioneering aviatrix Bessie Coleman. Ne...
Jan 17, 2021•23 min
When Jan Krems began his tenure four years ago as top cargo executive at United Airlines Worldwide Cargo as President we wrote: “Winston Churchill said of Franklin Roosevelt that 'meeting him was like uncorking your first bottle of champagne,' which is exactly what best describes talking to Jan Krems, President of United Airlines Cargo." Face-to-face or on Zoom, take your pick, Jan comes across as a very broad thinker and a brilliant air cargo mind. But he also seems a very approachable guy who ...
Jan 10, 2021•53 min
There is a celebration this week in New York City. The nearly three quarters of a million people that are mostly commuters going to and from work in New York & New Jersey have been forced to travel pre-pandemic through Pennsylvania (Penn) Station in Manhattan, a daily subterranean dismal railroad encounter since the misdirected destruction in 1963 of the monumental Beaux Arts 1910 version of Penn Station. These commuters will get some relief beginning later this week when a new passenger exp...
Dec 31, 2020•32 min
A moving holiday essay from a loving daughter decorates and drives our holiday spirit this muted Christmas 2020 during COVID-19. Here is how Christmas ought to be, ,once was , and pray will be again, when the Pandemic of 2020 finally moves into the rear view mirror. Florence Arend(we call her Flossie, takes off the gloves and paints a powerful word picture of her Christmas. "Every year around this time, I struggle to find new words to offer to our loyal FlyingTypers’ readers. I am not immune to ...
Dec 24, 2020•13 min
Having spent most of my life in logistics, when we started talking about COVID19 vaccines in the springtime I was anticipating the greatest logistics challenge of our times: delivering COVID19 vaccines as soon as available to thousands if not millions of POU’s all over the world. Famously we recall challenges such as the Berlin Airlift which kept west Berlin alive in times of cold war, perhaps less famously but even more challenging we record the yearly feat of delivering the Beaujolais Nouveau ...
Dec 20, 2020•33 min
Ronald Edward George (REG) Davies is probably someone you may not have heard about. Davies died in England nine years ago at age 90. Simply said, REG Davies was and today remains the greatest and most prolific airline historian that ever lived anywhere in the world. His legacy to aviation, captured in 25 books and other social efforts, are as pioneering and important in scope as many of the subjects he wrote about including Lindbergh, Earhart, Berlin Airlift and almost every major airline in the...
Dec 07, 2020•44 min
This could be the week that the world has been waiting for as that now imminent vaccine is on the boards to begin deliveries. From India to Indiana, the world will be able to breathe a long sigh of relief as air cargo jumps centerstage to commence what could be the greatest airlift in history. But are we ready? Here we talk to some leading transportation professionals of India. The Flying Cool Warehouse "Opticooler protects the most temperature sensitive and risky cargo and is a flying cool ware...
Nov 30, 2020•25 min
Here just for Thanksgiving in America 2020, we step back a bit and widen our scope revisiting one of most famous "airport happenings" in New York City history. The date was February 7, 1964 and the great international airport for New York City John. F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) said hello to the Beatles musical group and the city went wild. Actually the story of that flight has been well documented during the past 55 years in all aspects but one. What about the people that handled the ...
Nov 26, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Stanley Lim Pioneering Singapore-based freight forwarder and Member of the Extended FIATA Board says: “A lot is happening in FIATA: the reset idea is very good, but there are issues. FIATA has gone through a complete overhaul within a few months, in one of the most complex times of our lives due to the pandemic. I am fully committed to assist and my impression is that the new management would have an advantage to count on experienced members who recognize the demanding tasks of the association.”...
Nov 23, 2020•36 min
In less than two weeks the curtain will ring down on a career that has endured at an airline, nearly 46 years or since Gerald Ford was USA President and Helmut Schmidt served as Chancellor of The Federal Republic of Germany. In Frankfurt, when Heide Enfield packs it in and retires on November 30 and says her last farewell, she will also bring to close a family affiliation in the airline business that dates back almost as far as the creation and development of post 1950s modern commercial aviatio...
Nov 15, 2020•30 min
These days more often than not we hear some new language driven by the COVID-19 global pandemic “We are OK, safe inside of our bubble.” I have often wondered how secure some of these perceived ‘bubbles” are. Also think of our Son’ Geoffrey 11 about 20 years ago the day he left Queens New York and headed out to Hollywood where he starred as Flipper Boy in his first big production movie titled Bubble Boy. Today I guess we all live in some kind of bubble and like the Bubble Boy in Guffy’s movie, we...
Nov 02, 2020•30 min
CNS Departures Mean Industry Will Suffer "Now we are witnessing some of the best leadership in our industry departing when this is the time they are needed the most,",former CNS President Warren Jones told Flying Talkers. "With the recent post of Mike White leaving CNS and some other great individuals at IATA like Gordon Wright, our industry, while resilient, will suffer." Kicking The Cans By now unless you have been living on the moon or accidentally got locked up the a cool box somewhere since...
Oct 26, 2020•31 min
“CNS will focus on its core mission on ensuring that the CASS continues to meet the needs of the U.S cargo industry,” came the terse announcement from IATA confirming that our exclusive story of Mike White an icon of change advancing the airline forwarder partnership, departing as Cargo Network Services President at year’s end, is sadly all too true. After finishing 40 years in the airlines and retiring sixteen years ago, Kari Tikkanen is not only still watching but involved with the industry. “...
Oct 19, 2020•25 min
When it comes to air cargo, The International Air Transport Association (IATA) seems to be adapting a bunker mentality in 2020 as top management and other key personnel connected to air cargo are retiring in droves. Glyn Hughes, IATA Head of Cargo departs IATA in January, and Mike White, President of IATA Cargo Network Services (CNS) will depart by year’s end. Add to that the diminishing number of support staff at IATA in Geneva, including maybe all the team at CNS in Miami. Some in air cargo ma...
Oct 12, 2020•33 min
Michael R. White, the well-liked and much respected President of Cargo Network Services (CNS) is retiring December 31, to pursue other interests. Mr. White joins a parade of recent IATA top cargo management retirements... Dr. Jan Hoffmann is Chief, Trade Logistics Branch in the Division on Technology and Logistics at UNCTAD ( http://UNCTAD.org ). In different capacities through our careers, I have been able to meet with Jan Hoffmann several times. Becoming acquainted with Jan has been both a pri...
Oct 05, 2020•40 min
We have been thinking about IATA as air cargo becomes more famous in the mainstream media in regards to COVID-19 PPE flight performance. In the face of all the attention, IATA has shuttered all its cargo expertise in Geneva and Montreal. Glyn Hughes, Head of Cargo, and others in both locations have taken packages and are out. Is Cargo Network Services (CNS) next? Do we stand to lose the expertise of Mike White and his team?
Sep 27, 2020•37 min
A 2020 reality check is in order, with China having unleashed COVID-19 earlier this year and now ending One Country Two Systems in Hong Kong, and also apparently up to a lot of other less than glamorous things. As the pharmaceutical industry dedicates its resources to the creation of an effective vaccine, one of the greatest challenges will be the design and implementation of an efficient distribution system that will address the demanding logistical requirements. Airports and their partners wil...
Sep 21, 2020•29 min
If you count up the years Wally Devereaux, Southwest Airlines Managing Director Cargo and Charters, and a 28-year veteran of the carrier has been a force in air cargo for 14. But to look at him you might think he is a new kid on the block. Wally is a youthful and energetic "Mohair Sam" which is language from the 1940s that was often used to describe someone who is smart, easy going and always comfortable in his clothes. Here the Texas born and bred native talks about Southwest Cargo at full stre...
Sep 13, 2020•25 min
Sorry, this move toward laptop webinars with six people on a screen has gotten old in a hurry. I think that split screen face to face from a distance with family and loved ones works with Uncle Claude, young Obishek, Nilu and Zahir. But for business, while going thumbnail face-to-face did serve to open up our COVID-19 closeted world a bit, today that contact at times feels like what used to be said about sitting in an audience watching a burlesque show. You've seen one, you've seen them all. May...
Sep 08, 2020•26 min
Labor Day 2020 and unofficial end of Summer in the USA: we step back a bit to the black and white world of 1942 and spend some moments recalling the outstanding cargo movement of WW II by sharing with you dear reader the exact time period when our industry as we know it today, (albeit the modern version) was born. The China India Burma Hump flights that moved cargo from Assam, India to Kunming, China above the Himalayan Mountains paved the way for air cargo to come to the rescue of Berlin post-w...
Sep 04, 2020•30 min
Something I learned early on in our early effort 45 years ago to create a publication quite unlike any other for the air cargo industry: In order to have a clearer vision of what lies ahead be sure and gather as much information as possible that deals with what has already happened. So, the first order of business at Flying Typers has always been to cast a clear line to the history of air cargo. Now with COVID-19 touching every part of the world with every person that you ever met part of a comm...
Aug 24, 2020•33 min
As the world awaits a COVID-19 vaccine, reportedly a two- shot sequence, delivery to 8 billion people alongside other therapeutics that might add another two step that would see that dreaded one-way trip to the hospital turn into a roundtrip.Meantime waiting in the wings is the technique of freeze drying vaccines in a process mostly under wraps for now at Pfizer and others promising big changes are ahead in global medicine, Covid-19 has no immediate of going away. But across India amidst lifting...
Aug 17, 2020•44 min
Workers in the fields of life sciences and transportation are laboring diligently to discover a COVID-19 vaccine and researching the means of moving that vaccine to restore the balance of normal life all over the world. Voices Behind a Mask The word from our pharma sources is that “deadlines to save lives is uppermost as companies have committed vast resources to develop not only serums but also to secure the vials to carry the precious liquids to people everywhere.” So, in terms of getting read...
Aug 09, 2020•27 min
American Airlines Cargo is opened wide & declaring it is “ready to deliver”vaccine and therapies to combat the demon global pandemic. “While the production of a COVID-19 vaccine remains unclear, we are inspired that experts and scientists around the world are working together to beat COVID-19,” Jessica Tyler President of American Cargo told Flying Talkers in an exclusive interview. Forwarder Confident Jo Frigger EMO Trans Chairman told Flying Talkers: “Much will depend on which manufacturer ...
Aug 03, 2020•22 min
Flying Monkeys Delivers Hope For COVID-19 In most parts of the world where research is being conducted to defeat COVID-19 and we hear that test vaccines are in Stage Two or Three, the research animal being tested closest to a human being is the Rhesus monkey. Recall it was the Rhesus that accelerated Dr. Jonas Salk’s search in developing and then perfecting a vaccine for Polio in the 1950s. Zaha Could Hit The Curve With some time perhaps for summertime reading, Zaha Hidid comes alive in a new bo...
Jul 27, 2020•31 min
There is no question that when purpose is attached to power, magic can happen. Right now, Doha-based Qatar Airways Cargo is the largest carrier in the region, having surpassed the likes of Emirates and others in the Middle East who by comparison seem as if they are moving in the slow lane. In Fact right now Qatar Airways Cargo is the number one cargo airline in the world. Last week we expressed our opinion that TIACA Air Cargo Forum slated for Miami this November should be cancelled. Here we add...
Jul 20, 2020•30 min
