b'26American Journal of Transportation ajot.comAIR C ARGOAIR CARGONEWSnewsAirbus vows aggressive pursuit of Boeing in freight marketAirbus SE said its considering adding a largelonglaggedbehindinbigger,moreexpensive freighter to its lineup, going after rival Boeing Co.stwin-aisle aircraft that can also be made as dedi-dominance in a segment thats boomed during thecated freighters. The pandemic has seen demand coronavirus pandemic. for cargo planes grow amid an e-commerce boom, AirbusChiefExecutiveOfficerGuillaumehelping Boeing pad deliveries with freight versions Faury signaled the planemaker will look to investof its 777, 767 and outoing 747 jets.more in cargo planes to become a bigger player. HeExpanding in that market could help Airbus told Bloomberg Television the company is lookinginsulate its widebody programs from the collapse at a wide-body freighter, and hinted this would bein demand for international passenger travel, while an A350. encroaching on a niche its U.S. rival has had almost We dont like the idea that were not activeto itself.in that segment and its probably an area where weAirbuscurrentlyhasapassenger-to-freight will be more aggressive and where we will invest,conversionprogram,whichinvolvesremoving Faury said. Customers tell us that they believe thatseats to make space for cargo, for its A320 and our platforms, and the 350 in particular, would beA330 families of aircraft. The company also has a very strong candidate for a good freight version. an A330 freighter model but has delivered just 38 While Airbus has established a decisive leadworldwide, compared with more than 200 deliver- Airlines brace for a longer over Boeing in the market for narrowbodies, itsies of Boeings equivalent 777 freighter. and deeper crisis in 2021IATA, the International Air Travel Association, has warned that 2021 will mean global losses of $47.7bn for airlines, a slightly worse outlook than their December forecast.With air traffic still at a fraction of pre COVID levels, This crisis is longer and deeper than anyone could have expected commented Willie Walsh, IATAs Director General.January and February figures were down 86.6 percent on 2019 levels.A iRlinei nDustRyD ebtc oulD Rise to$550 bn bye nD ofthey eARDespite an estimated 2.4 billion people travelling by air in 2021, airlines will burn through a further $81 billion of cash, IATA notes. Debt levels are up $120bn over the last year, mainly in the form of government loans, deferred taxes and loan guaranteesGovernment aid is helping to keep the industry afloat. The next challenge will be preventing airlines from sinking under the burden of debt that the aid is creating, said Alexandre de Juniac, IATAs direc-tor general and CEO.A m oRep ositiVeo utlook foR thes econDh Alf of they eARIATA suggests that the second half of the year will see improved American proved all of its aircraft offer ideal environments for passive temperature-sensitive shipments passenger levels, as a result of vaccination progress in developed countries.Unsurprisingly, domestic flights will rise more quickly as a result of accumulated savings by many families during the pandemic. American Airlines Cargo expands temperature- Domestic flights may even reach 96% of pre-COVID levels by the end of the year.controlled shipping capabilities, nearlyCargo flights will continue to do welltheyve been outperform-ing the passenger business since the beginning of the pandemic. Air doubling cold chain flight options cargo demand will actually grow by 13.2% during 2021, reaching 63.1 million tonnes in volume. Cargo revenues are expected to reach American Airlines Cargo has furthered its com- It was a privilege to work with American to$152 billion, a historic high.mitment to reliable temperature-controlled shippingconduct these trials and leverage our innovative by expanding its solution for transporting tempera- thermal shipping solution technologies to ensure ture-controlled shipments to its entire mainline fleet. evenmoretemperature-criticalshipmentscanWFS and Air Canada join forces This expansion follows a number of tests andtravel effectively, said Tom Weir, CSafe Global trials conducted in partnership with CSafe GlobalCOO.Manysensitive,oftenlife-savinggoodsto support Canadas Covid-19 and CargoSense. Through the use of CSafe Globalstraveltheworldthankstoeffectivecold-chain industry-leading packaging and Temperature Log- networks, and we are proud to play a part in thatvaccine campaigngers provided by CargoSense, American proved allalongside American Airlines.of its aircraft offer ideal environments for passiveWhen American Airlines presented us withWorldwideFlightServicesInParis,WFSteamof temperature-sensitive shipments. the opportunity to help demonstrate the efficacy of(WFS) and Air Canada are work- pharmaspecialiststhenuse The successful trials allow American to nearlytheir fleet for the transportation of pharma prod- ingcloselywiththeCanadiantemperature-controlledpallets, double its capacity for handling ExpediteTC solu- ucts,weworkedtoquicklyprovidethemwithgovernmenttotransportvialcontainers,dolliesandtrailers tions and extend the airlines cold-chain solutionvalidatedsensors,ourstate-of-the-artlogisticscaps for doses of the COVID-19tocarefullypreparetheship-network to 30 new stations, including in-demandvisibility software platform, and custom analyticsvaccine to support the countrysmentsandloadthemonboard cities like Cincinnati, Memphis and Pittsburgh. needed to show their reliability in real-world sce- immunization program. Air Canada flights to Montreal. When it comes to cold chain shipments, reli- narios,saidRichKilmer,CEOofCargoSense.Since December 2020, thou- Once in Canada, the all-plastic ability is crucial for our customers, said RogerWe are excited the pharmaceutical industry cansands of innovative plastic Ray- push-fitcapsareretrievedby Samways, Vice President of Commercial for Amer- now leverage Americans full fleet at a time that isDyLyovialcaps*weighingthePublicHealthAgencyof ican Airlines Cargo. By expanding our offeringcritical for all of us. over 20 tonnes have so far beenCanada, based in Ottawa, where oftemperature-criticalshippingonallmainlineAs the world continues to fight the coronavirustransported by WFS from Lyonthey are being used in the manu-flights, we are able to provide our customers with(COVID-19) pandemic, this expansion will furtherAirport to its 10 million Pharmafacture and capping of vaccines access to more than 180 markets, marking the larg- support the airlines already important role in dis- Centre at Paris Charles de Gaullefor the local population.est cold-chain network in our history. tributing temperature-critical cargo like vaccines,Airport. To ensure these essentialWFS is proud to be work-American,CSafeGlobalandCargoSensepharmaceuticals and other life science products. vaccinecomponentsaremain- ingwith AirCanadatosupport placed sensors into passive cold chain packagingAmericans ExpediteTC solution, founded intained at the correct temperature,theCanadiangovernmentsvac-for the trials. The sensors monitored internal pack- 2009, offers both active and passive shipping solu- theytravelbetweenLyonandcination campaign. Our specialist age temperatures while aircraft operated in a vari- tions as well as a global network of temperature- ParisusingWFStemperature- teamsinLyonandParisunder-ety of climates. Results proved that temperaturescontrolled facilities, including a 25,000-square-footcontrolled, GDP-certified (Goodstandtheimportanceofthese of each package stayed constant, despite changingtemperature-controlled center in Philadelphia thatDistributionPractice)pharma(SUPPORTcontinued on conditions during transit. specializes in pharmaceuticals.trucks. page 27)'