b'SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 11, 2020 NOrth AmericAs trANsPOrtAtiON & LOGistics NewsPAPer29air c argoAir CArgoNEWSnewsWhite House wants more airline aid,LATAM Cargo strengthens Meadows says after meeting its positioning in Colombia through a capacity increasePresident Donald Trump would support narrowthe Labor Day holiday, theyve been declining in legislation to provide more financial aid to airlines,recent days. The Latin American trans- toBarranquilla,Bucaramanga, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows saidU.S.airportsecurityportalsscreenedonlyportationcompany,LATAMCali,Cartagena,Medellinand after meeting with industry executives. 30%ofthenumberofairlinepassengersintheCargoGroup,announcedanSanta Marta by using passenger Meadows said the industry needs $25 billionpast seven days compared to the total a year ago,increase in its frequencies fromaircraft bellies.and that 30,000 to 50,000 jobs are at risk. Airlinesaccording to the Transportation Security Adminis- Colombia to the United States ino therm easuresa doPtedhave warned they plan mass reductions after antration. The seven-day average had reached 37%order to satisfy its clients needs existing federal prohibition on job cuts expires atearlier in the month. in that market. It also announcedbylatam c arGod uriNGthe close of business on Sept. 30. American Airlines Group Inc. said last monththereactivationofitsdomes- theP aNdemicExtending payroll assistance for airlines hasthat it would cut 19,000 employees once federaltic cargo operation in 8 routes,During the past five months been backed by members of both parties to avertpayrollaidexpires,cappinga30%workforcethanks to the air operation rees- and in the midst of the pandemic, politically treacherous layoffs a month prior to thereductionsincethecoronaviruspandemictorpe- tablishment in the country. LATAM Cargo has modified its U.S. elections, but so far there has been no agree- doed travel demand. United warned of more thanConcretely, LATAM Cargoitinerary and operation in order ment on how. 16,000cuts,sayingitexpectednomeaningfulGroup increased its capacity byto mitigate the negative effects IneverthoughtIdsay$25billionwasarecovery in demand until a treatment or vaccine is21%fromBogota,goingfromthatbellycapacityrestrictions small number, but compared to $1.5 trillion, its awidely available. 14to17weeklyfreighterfre- mayhaveoncustomers.Like-rather small amount of additional assistance thatDelta Air Lines Inc. said this week it wouldquencies to Miami. This desti- wise, the company is constantly could potentially keep 30,000 to 50,000 workersbe able to avoid most layoffs until the summer ofnationisalsoreachedthroughevaluating its operation in order on the payroll, Meadows said. 2021 at the earliest, although the company remainsthe 5 weekly frequencies origi- to satisfy its clients needs.If were going to get something separate priorin talks with its pilots on ways to reduce or elimi- nating in Medellin that the com- Oneofthemeasurescon-to that deadline, its going to have to happen nextnate furloughs for almost 2,000. panywillmaintain.LATAMsisted of increasing its capacity week, he said of an airline-only bill. That wouldDeltadeclinedtocomment,asdid Ameri- Cargooffers22frequenciesinbetweenSantiago(Chile)and ensure it gets to Trumps desk before layoffs begincanAirlines.Uniteddeclinedtocommentandtotal, thus reaffirming its com- Miami (USA) by using freight-on Oct. 1, he said. referred questions to Airlines for America, the air- mitment to transporting Colom- ers and passenger aircraft exclu-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has opposed doingline lobby, which did not immediately respond tobias flowers to the world. sively for cargo transportation in piecemeal virus relief bills as part of her strategya request for comment. c aPacityr eactivatioN order to offer salmon exportersfor Democrats to win agreement on a large multitril- A pair of aid packages were created earlier thisone of Chiles main industriesa lion relief measure. She violated that stance howeveryear for the industry. One extended loans to theiNd omesticc arGo robust solution. In addition, con-when she called the House back into session duringcarriers, which few accepted. The other providedt raNsPortatioN nectivityfromMiamitoSouth the August recess to vote on a $25 billion Postal Ser- money to pay salaries of employees in exchange forOnce the Colombian Gov- America was increased and daily vice bill in the wake of mail delays. no layoffs until at least October. ernmentgaveitsapprovalandflightsbetweenSouthAmerica In August, 16 Republican senators signed aFive major airlines received the lions share ofpassengerflightswerereacti- and Europe were announced.letter calling on leadership to add $25 billion inthe aid, which Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchinvated,thecompanygraduallyLATAMCargoalsoincor-payroll funds in a package of Covid-19 assistance.approved in May. American Airlines is the largestbegantorestoreitsdomesticporated Los Angeles (USA) and SomeRepublicansopposedthemeasureanditrecipient, getting $5.8 billion in payroll assistance.cargo transportation capacity inMexico City (Mexico) to its cargo wasnt part of a stripped-down bill that failed toThe money was a combination of grants and loans. 8 of the countrys cities. network, becoming the only air-pass the chamber. Still, airlines including cargo carriers have soDuring the pandemic, LATAMlinethatoffersastableitiner-Carriers have been badly damaged by the coro- far left $29 billion in federal pandemic relief loansCargo Group maintained its ser- ary and capacity between South navirus pandemic, which led many Americans tounclaimed as they wait to see whether consumervice in order to supply LeticiaAmericaandWesternNorth abandon air travel. After airline passenger countsdemand recovers as the economy reopens. Compa- and San Andres through cargo- America.Additionally,forthe surged somewhat around the close of summer andnies including American are in talks for the loans. exclusive flights carried out infirst time in its history, LATAM Airbus320passengeraircraft.GroupreachedtheAsiancon-Additionally,asofSeptembertinent in order to bring medical Airbus set to unveil Made-in-America A220,1,servicecoverageextendedsupplies to South America.cutting in on Boeings home turfAirbus SE is preparing to deliver its first U.S.- kets. It produces A320 aircraft in four countries: made A220 jetliner to Delta Air Lines Inc. as soonGermany, France, China and the U.S. The A220, as this month, underscoring the European planemak- which Airbus acquired from struggling Bombardier ers growing presence on Boeing Co.s home turf. Inc., is made in Quebec and Mobile.Since opening a plant in 2015 in Mobile, Ala- Airbuss expansion anticipated a new phase bama, Airbus has used it to make more than 180 planesin globalization, marked by increasingly national-from its other narrow-body familythe A320foristic policies and trade restrictions, said aerospace U.S. customers, Jeffrey Knittel, chief executive officeranalyst Richard Aboulafia. Thats the big picture, of Airbus Americas, said in an interview. one that requires a greater in-country presence.Doubling down on the Alabama site with a newThe strategy has its downsides. With its facili-assembly line building A220s, an advanced Cana- ties spread out in different countries, Airbus wasnt dian-designedjet,enablesAirbustoavoidU.S.- able to move as quickly as Boeing to pare output imposed tariffs for the planes it delivers to Americanand costs after the coronavirus pandemic causedAntonov and Bollore deliver ANASIS satellite to Space X.carriers. As trade tensions flare and a long-runningdemandfornewjetlinerstoplunge.InMobile, dispute nears its resolution in the World Trade Orga- Airbus is pausing plans to speed up A320 produc- Bollor and Antonov accompany nization, the U.S. outpost shores up the global reachtion as it cuts global output for the jetliner family to of the worlds largest planemaker. 40 planes a month, Knittel said. the last Airbus Defense and MobilewillnotbeaffectedrelativetotheDelta has only taken three of the 17 of the WTO strategy, Knittel said by phone. As a mattersmaller A220-100 jets it was originally scheduledSpace satellite to SpaceXof fact, Mobile has proven the logic of a broad- to receive this year, and its plans for the Mobile-based industrial footprint. made A220-300modelsarentclear. ThecarrierBollor Logistics partneredThe satellite container used Over the coming weeks, a panel of three WTOhas been working with Airbus to minimize deliver- with Antonov Airlines to deliverto deliver ANASIS-II measured arbiterswilldeterminewhethertheEuropeanies over the next 18 to 24 months. AirbusDefenceandSpaces11 meters in length and weighed Union can retaliate against the U.S. for any illegalStill, to avoid larger-scale layoffs in its U.S.newestsatellite,ANASIS-II18 tons. Including launch equip-subsidies provided to Boeing. The trade body hasoperations, Airbus plans to shift some employeesto the US. It was carried fromment, it was part of an overall already awarded $7.5 billion to the U.S. in a paral- fromA320productiontotheA220line,whereAirbusDefenceandSpacespayloadof36tons.Also,the lel dispute about European subsidies to Airbus. Thework is still ramping up, Knittel said. Airbus plansfacilityinToulouse(France)operation gave Bollor Logistics latest ruling could spur the two sides to settle theirtobuildfour A220amonthinMobilebymid- byoneoftheairlinessevenand Antonov Airlines the oppor-15-year-old trade battle. decade, which would double its current output. Antonov-124-100 of the Ukrai- tunity to trial a new lightweight, Were working through the issues. Weve basi- nian airline. The aircraft landedlowprofileloadingequipment i NterNatioNale xPaNsioN cally flattened the production rate, Knittel said of theatFloridasCapeCanaveralspeciallydesignedandmanu-While Boeing confines its jet assembly to theMobile sites response to the market turmoil. WereKennedySpacecenterfromfactured by Antonov Company U.S., Toulouse, France-based Airbus has extendedhopeful that in the future things will pick back up, butwheretheSpaceXteamstookto transport largest satellite con-its industrial footprint into key international mar- we have to prepare for the climate were in. the lead for the next stage. tainer in the near future.'