As announced last Wednesday, LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America's largest airline company, has awarded the management of its containers and pallets to CHEP Aerospace Solutions.
LATAM and CHEP contract signing ceremony (from l > r): Julian Diaz (VP Operations Planning and Continuous Improvement, LATAM), Dr. Ludwig Bertsch (President, CHEP), Carlos Larrain (Senior VP Operations and Services, LATAM), Orlando Gaete (Senior Manager Operational Support, LATAM), Adam Barrington-Spencer (Head of Sales and Account Management, Americas, CHEP), Don Jacobs (Director, Sales, Marketing and Account Management, CHEP)
According to the new agreement, CHEP will manage one of the largest outsourced ULD fleets in the industry. This way, the Zurich-based service provider will meet LATAM's ongoing objective to
deliver operational efficiencies. Following the acquisition of LATAM's existing 13,000 ULDs, CHEP will start operations on the 1st September 2016. As part of the five-year agreement, CHEP will
have ULD management staff in Santiago, Chile, and São Paulo, Brazil, as well as open a regional operations centre in Miami, USA, to support ULD management functions across the Americas.
Two decisive factors convinced LATAM
"The management of the company's ULDs is a critical business activity, and the decision of LATAM Airlines Group to outsource to CHEP has been preceded by an in-depth due diligence process and
detailed analysis of several ULD management options offered in the industry,” commented LATAM Cargo Senior VP Operations and Services, Carlos Larrain. The manager went on to say: “The unique
capability of CHEP to combine ULD management with its global ULD repair services was the decisive factor. We chose CHEP's hybrid ULD solution given that the containers are part of a dedicated,
co-branded fleet retaining weight savings, and the pallets being supplied from CHEP's pool.
Outsourcing the ULD business will enable LATAM to leverage considerable synergies, cutting down the number of ULDs needed for air transports by approximately 30 percent, predicts the carrier.
This cuts down operational costs significantly and improves efficiencies, enabling the airline to focus further on its clients' needs and providing the highest level of service in the
industry.
LATAM is a big fish in CHEP’s net
While signing the contract CHEP Aerospace Solutions President Ludwig Bertsch emphasized: "With great honor comes great responsibility and we are committed to providing the highest level of
service to LATAM as well as to all our customers. With LATAM's dense network in South America, CHEP now serves even more airports on all continents. The participation of such a strong airline in
our unique ULD pooling model will provide further synergies and more benefits for all our customers which confirms that sharing standardized assets across the industry drives cost savings and
improves efficiencies.
Lidwig concluded his statement by saying: “We look forward to building a successful partnership with LATAM for many years to come."
Heiner Siegmund
Write a comment