President’s Letter: April, 2020

There are few words to really capture what is happening in the world at the moment. It's more a never-ending series of days that seeming run together into "day-that-ends-in-y"day, because time is passing far from linearly.

I've said half-jokingly that given what air cargo has gone through in 2020, first in China and then moving into Europe and finally here in America, I feel as if I'm aging at the same rate of speed as my dogs. 7 of their years to one of mine is about where we're at right now.

Remember when the biggest concern was low-sulfur fuel? I mean, I'm old enough to remember the signing of a Phase 1 agreement with China.

But that's not where we're at now.

The past month has seen a 97% year-on-year drop in passenger air travel, millions of people out of work shelter-in-place orders and the global economy vaulting off a cliff, Thelma and Louise style. Our industry is certainly not immune as layoffs have gripped logistics companies as they and their customers try best to forecast when and how we come back and what it looks like when we do.

The IACAC is here for our members just like we have for the past sixty-plus years.

We know this isn't an easy time, but as we all ride through this together, I can't help but think that as we work to be valuable to our customers, to maintain our networks and find ways to come together by remaining apart, we will have a refreshed appreciation as we take those first tentative steps back to coming back into offices after scanning our closets for "work" clothes.

Me personally? I've become my grandfather, wearing the same shoes around the house every damn day. I miss footwear.

While we've had to make changes in our early 2020 programming, rest assured that we're still looking forward to a number of exciting events as we move into the rest of the year, including our annual golf outing and a our holiday party - which we are excited to announce will be moving to Coopers Hawk Restaurant & Winery in Arlington Heights.

So, stay tuned, stay safe and keep #flatteningthatcurve. The doubling statistics continue to grow longer in Illinois, a sign that things are improving. But like an athlete that tries to rush back to the game too soon after rehabbing an injury, we need to carefully evaluate how we begin again, but only with proper testing, tracing and identification.

Share your stories with us.

If your company is out there doing amazing things to help through this pandemic, we'd love to know about it and tag and amplify it. In case you didn't know where to find us on social:

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