Allocating sufficient Unit Load Devices wherever and whenever needed to uplift air freight or accommodate the luggage of stranded tourists flying home on board of special charter flights has become a Herculean task in Covid-19 times. All the more since so intercontinental linehaul passenger services have come to a near standstill, greatly limiting the global distribution of ULDs.
Until now, more than 500 cargo and special flights have been carried out, bringing urgently required medication, breathing masks, protective clothing and similar items to countries hit hard by Covid-19 such as predominantly Italy, Spain or the UK, or ferrying stranded EU and Swiss citizens back home. A more than demanding task for ULD providers such as Jettainer, keeping its staff busy 24/7 in search of adequate provisions and finding suitable ways to best manage the supply of its equipment.
Corona evidences the paramount importance of air freight
This enormous pressure is confirmed by Thomas Sonntag, Managing Director of Jettainer GmbH:
"I would like to thank the entire team who have been working flat out for days to meet the high demand for providing suitable short-term solutions,” the executive emphasized.
“Particularly in emergency and crisis situations, air freight is of paramount importance. With our international network, we can provide the necessary loading equipment quickly and
flexibly,” he exclaimed.

The timely allocation of ULDs has become a highly demanding job
A job that often is hard enough because many of the ad-hoc flights are operated to destinations not served by any of Jettainer’s mandate airlines, namely Etihad, American Airlines, Lufthansa,
Oman Air, Swiss, or Air Astana. Which means that Jettainer has to find ways of ensuring that the appropriate ULDs are on site once a charter flight is due to run. A demanding job, which is
currently often determined by short-term planning and ad-hoc changes. The ULD provider closely coordinates with the task forces set up for the purpose of fine-tuning all ULD flows to ensure the
availability of loading equipment required on short notice in the right place at the right time.
The company points out that, in addition to containers, its service also runs to providing pallet stacks and nets to secure cargo on passenger decks, enabling aircraft to accommodate shipments in
the cabins of passenger aircraft which are temporarily stripped of their seats, flying as freighters.
JettLease has proven its operational necessity
According to its management, the company’s global leasing policy for urgent requirements has proven to be extremely helpful in situations such as the current one. This ‘JettLease’ product
provides customers with units at stations located outside of their regular network, giving them quick access to ULD stocks in areas where they would normally not require them.
Especially in China, particularly in Shanghai, demand for JettLease equipment hire has recently increased significantly, Jettainer confirms. The unforeseeable ULD need comes as reaction to the
growing number of charter flights, predominantly transporting much needed sanitary and medical equipment or humanitarian items from the Far East to the West.
Heiner Siegmund
We always welcome your comments to our articles. However, we can only publish them when the sender name is authentic.
Write a comment
Rayhan ahmed (Sunday, 19 April 2020 22:49)
Jettainers are providing pallets stacks
And nets to airlines who have removed
Passenger seats from the cabins to
Operate as freighters then therefore
Must have converted the cabins into
A cargo operation were cargo can be
Built and secured safely .
The point of secured safely is the
Duty of the operating airlines not
Jettainer who is providing the nets ..
Because cargo nets have there own
Lock down pins which would then lock down on the aluminium stack but the
Question is ???? How would you lock
Down the aluminium stack without
Out lock down locks which would need
A conversion to floor of the aircraft
Cabin .., without these locks the cargo with move ie the aluminium stack in flight for example it like putting a pallet into the cargo hold ie full of fruit and
Veg and not locking the pallet in. Now
If this happens the next pallet or ULD you are bringing will not lock ether because you have not locked the first
Row in however this is complex to talk about those who have never worked in
The cargo hold of an aircraft . The same
Goes with the cabins were passenger
Seats have been removed to make way
For cargo .. were cargo is built on the
Aluminium stack then the cargo nets go over and secured this operation is the same as cargo agents do in the cargo shed on there nights shifts building
Pallets by hand or by forklifts . Now in
The passenger cabins you can’t just start driving forklifts the only method is that they are putting the aluminium stack on the floor of the cabin and building pallets inside the passengers cabins were passenger seats have
Been removed question ???? How the
Hell are they locking them down also
If they are building cargo on top of
Passenger seats and putting a cargo net on then are they are locking the
Cargo net down without the aluminium
Stack .
The only way round I can see is putting
Locks into the cabin floors were the
Passenger seats have been removed and if the cargo is being built on passenger seats then locks would run
Along the middle row passenger seats
According to mathematics done by
The aircraft engineers . Now passenger
Seats which are facing the windows and you start building cargo on those seats
You will find lock down of the cargo can
Not happen as common sense has it .
Now to overcome this the passenger
Seats which are facing the windows
Needs to be removed and cargo can secured safely with a conversion to the
Floor of the aircraft .
Now this is a very complex matter and time consuming and airlines can not afford this downtime of fixing locks to
Cabins floor for securing the nets
And aluminium stacks .
There are many questions to
Be Answered ????????
Jettainer (Monday, 20 April 2020 16:01)
Dear Rayhan,
thank you for reaching out.
Indeed, in cargo operation Jettainer is responsible for the provision of the necessary loading equipment and the carrier themselves for securing the cargo. Accordingly, the airlines are the best information source. You may want to consider contacting the respective press departments directly to have your query answered in detail. Furthermore, IATA and FAA have published regulations for cargo transport in passenger aircraft. These guidelines may provide some useful information as well.
Stay safe and healthy.
Kind regards to London,
Jettainer