There are few greater joys that I have as President of this association than having the opportunity to attend events in other cities held by their local air cargo or freight forwarder associations to listen, learn and participate in their discussions.
Last week I was in Los Angeles, listening to forwarders, airlines, truckers, ground handlers and the airport authority talk about their situation and how they're trying to solve their problems. Like Chicago, Los Angeles has embarked on a major overhaul of their passenger terminals and surrounding infrastructure. Unlike Chicago, they don't have the Phase 3 that we recently had delivered ("Northeast Cargo") that brought additional capacity online. In fact, Los Angeles missed out on the chance for a new facility near Century Blvd. which would have replaced and/or supplemented the existing facilities, many of which have been in existence - and use - since World War II.
We may not fully like our situation, but I can guarantee you that in places like Los Angeles and JFK, they've got it a lot worse.
Next week, I'll be in Honolulu at the invitation of Hawaiian Airlines Cargo to cover Air Cargo Day, the annual major event put on by the Air Cargo Association of Hawaii - their local association representing the air cargo community across the islands. Candidly, I've not been to Hawaii since I was in grammar school, so aside from seeing the modern new cargo facility that Hawaiian Airlines operates, I'm looking forward to learning about the issues that affect their members and community.
Don't miss the chance to attend our event later this month, either. After attending the CBP Trade Symposium in Chicago this summer, the importance of e-Commerce and the sheer volume of what passes through Chicago was made apparent and the chance to see what happens between "envelope introduced into foreign post" and "delivery to US address" was one that I felt our members would benefit from.
With thanks to CBP for making the tour possible and Anna Ma and Rod Zimmerman of Farro and United, respectively, for offering their facility, we've put together a great event on October 29th.
But you've got to register now. We need to give names and copies of ID's to Customs to vet by early next week, so don't delay. We've also only got 30 spots and while we limited it to one person per member company at the outset, we're opening it to additional members from a company and non-members alike on Friday, October 4th. We'll follow up as well to get a copy of your ID to submit to CBP.
Finally, if you're interested in participating in the IACAC Board of Directors, our elections will be held next month. We've done some wonderful things and have a strong, dedicated group of board members and are looking to grow. We've got spots available because of attrition of board members who had to step away because of opportunities at their companies or moving out of the industry.
There's no better time to join the board and learn more about this amazing and vibrant port in which we all work.
As for me? I wish everyone "aloha" and will report back on Air Cargo Day next month.