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Clearly, it’s the economy which is currently most affecting the industry right now. Everyone is working hard to mitigate those affects – whether it’s capital junkies looking for their next injection, (Jade, anyone?) old-school cost cutting and wage freezes á la Air France, (who, incidentally, firmly denies it is looking to shed KLM), or attempts at world-domination founded on a lower cost base (see Middle East).
The first, tiny peak of the year is nearly ended as China moves next week into the Year of the Dragon and manufacturing comes to a deafening halt.
And then there will be a lull…again. While each company will have its own strategy for dealing with the vagaries of the economy and various holiday seasons, as an industry it’s surely a good time to focus on those things that can be changed and improved, strengthening the air cargo business as a whole.
And there’s no better time to start thinking about it than now, what with IATA gearing up for its industry event. It’s saying that it is there to listen. So what do you want to say? What do you want it to do?
And the industry does want it to do something. Airline Cargo Management is currently running a survey asking what readers think. The Loadstar can exclusively reveal that so far, 88% of you think IATA has an important role to play in helping the industry. And yet just 39% of you think it’s doing a better job than previously, with 23% saying they haven’t noticed a difference.
Half say that IATA won’t reach its e-freight targets, (only 24% say it will), while 54% say Cargo 2000 is in need of modernisation. And despite the fanfare and optimism with which Gacag was launched more than a year ago, 64% don’t know if it’s doing a good job.
ACM will, of course, be taking the final results of the survey to Des and the World Cargo Symposium. And The Loadstar will, of course, be blogging on it.
So if you are going to give IATA a hard time (and yes, we all enjoy it from time to time), at least tell it what it should be doing.
But something is going right in this industry. Happily, so far 76% say they are glad to be in this profession, with only 12% wanting to defect to the passenger business, and another 12% wanting to leave the transport industry altogether.
So, make your voice heard. Participate in the survey at: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22EFCN9BYAX
The Loadstar will be back with some of the results, while the final outcome will be in the next issue of ACM, to be found in Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, Happy Year of the Dragon.
(And if there are any Dragons out there – i.e. people born in 1940, 1952, 1964 or 1976, apparently you should beware suffering gastrointestinal ailments this year, so pack the Imodium for Air Cargo India, but it’s good to travel in March, presumably for IATA’s WCS).
Actually, that brings me on to another point. Is there anyone in your organisation born in 1975 or later that you think is a true asset to your business and the industry? Please let me know at [email protected].
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