IN BRIEF - THE LATEST AIR CARGO INDUSTRY NEWS
Swiss WorldCargo and Edelweiss continue partnership
Edelweiss Air which is Switzerland’s main leisure travel carrier, and which is part of Swiss International Airlines, has agreed to continue their partnership with Swiss WorldCargo. The updated
agreement came into effect in early 2019 and means that Swiss WorldCargo will continue to market and sell freight capacity on all Edelweiss flights. Zurich based Edelweiss Air operates a fleet of
16 aircraft of which 6 are long-haul Airbus A330 and A340 models. They have a wide long-haul network to Asia, USA & Canada, the Caribbean and South Africa and offer belly hold capacity for
cargo on these routes.
Swiss WorldCargo top man Ashwin Bhat commented that: “Our partnership with Edelweiss offers great opportunities for both us and our customers, as we are able to complement our already strong
international network with additional routes in diverse markets.”
Delta Cargo rebrands to align with SkyTeam Cargo
In order to give its clients a common SkyTeam product portfolio, Delta Cargo has decided to rebrand its international product line. Delta Cargo’s international product portfolio will now be
simply named as ‘General’ and this applies to all products which the carrier states do not require urgent handling. At the same time Delta Cargo has renamed their urgent goods product from
‘Equation’ in ‘Express.’ The carrier’s cargo president Shawn Cole stated that: “by rebranding our international products to align with our SkyTeam cargo partners, it is now easier for our
customers to do business with all 12-member airlines.”
Virgin Atlantic Cargo and Delta Cargo recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of their trans-Atlantic cooperation. They claim that since the start of the cooperation that they jointly offer 74
daily flights on 28 routes between the U.K. and the U.S. and that this number shows a 20% increase on flights over the past five years.
Brussels Airlines gets new Ops M. D.
Belgium’s Brussels Airlines has announced that Swiss national Edi Wolfensberger will join the carrier as of April 15th in the position of Managing Director Operations. He takes over the position
from Thibault Demoulin who is also an Airbus A330 captain with the carrier.
Mr Wolfensberger will work alongside Brussels Airlines CEO Christina Foerster and CFO Dieter Vranckx. All three report directly to the carrier’s Board of Directors. Edi Wolfensberger who is 37
years of age, will move from his present position as M.D. Lufthansa Aviation Training Switzerland. His areas of responsibility at Brussels Airlines will be for flight operations, ground
operations as well as maintenance & engineering.
CEVA reports 2018 revenue growth
The Swiss-based logistics giant CEVA Logistics has published their fourth quarter and final 2018 results. They show that CEVA grew its revenues by 5.2% compared to the previous year and that net
debt was reduced to US$1,192 million as of 31. December 2018. This was 43% less than the previous year.
The company underwent a considerable restructuring process last year and also entered an important strategic partnership with shipping line CMA CGM which is aimed at boosting both growth and
future profitability. Total revenues for the year were US$7,356 (+5.2%) and the EBITDA margin was 0.6% lower than 2017, with a total of US$198 million. Adjusted EBITDA which includes the 50%
share in the Anji-CEVA joint venture was recorded at US$260 million.
WFS new leadership roles in Americas
Paris-based Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has announced new leadership roles for two of their present top executives based in the Americas.
Mike Duffy has been appointed as Vice President Innovation. Mike who has been with WFS for many years will be responsible for identifying and establishing new ways of working and sharing best
practice throughout the complete WFS portfolio as well as enhancing the use of new technologies within WFS’s handling systems across the globe. He will take up his new position as of April this
year.
Mike Simpson who has acted as WFS CFO Americas for the past three years has moved into the Executive Vice President Americas position. His new assignment commenced on 1. March 2019.
American Cargo revamps management team positions
Dallas, Texas-based American Airlines Cargo has announced various new management changes during the past weeks.
Lorraine Chin who was previously Manager Ramp Operations at Los Angeles now takes up the General Manager, Cargo Operations for American Cargo at LAX.
On the other side of the USA, Brian Cooley was promoted to General Manager, Cargo Operations in Philadelphia and Rich Burkhardt moves into the Sr. Manager, Cargo Field and Mail Operations
position. Mr Burkhardt has served as General Manager, Cargo Operations for American at New York JFK for the past years. There have also been two new additions to American Cargo’s senior
leadership team. Tim Paliganoff who has been with American since 1996 takes up the position of Director Customer Experience. Chris Isaac who has worked for the past twelve years in the Revenue
Management team now takes up the role as Director of Revenue Management for American Cargo.
German ACD demands better safety processes
At the last German Air Cargo Club (ACD) meeting members were given an interesting view on the need for better and more efficient safety processes for air freight handling. Guenter Wachsmann who
at Munich-based car maker BMW is responsible for all Dangerous Goods safety issues in air freight movements for the BMW Group entered into a lively discussion with ACD members on the
possibilities of creating more efficient processes.
His main message to his listeners was that the industry has to seriously look at new ways optimizing present regulations and bureaucratic systems in order to enhance safety without endangering or
reducing the safety aspect within the air transport chain. For example: In Germany there are often differing rules with regards to safety procedures within the individual German states. This
leads to confusion, more work for shippers, airlines, airports and handlers.
India looks at privatising Air India ground handling
Recent reports in the Indian press state that the Indian government is seriously looking at privatising Air India’s ground handling unit. The reports claim that the government wants to sell their
100% shareholding in Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL) and that 98% of the shares should be sold off to a private investor with the remaining 2% being handed over to the ground
handling company’s employees after the deal has been closed. In comparison to the airline itself, AIATSL is said to be making money and that their profit for the past year was in the region of
US$100 million. The company gives handling services to almost 50 airlines in India, alongside those it supplies for Air India itself.
John Mc Donagh
Write a comment