President’s Letter, September, 2014

First, allow me to wish everyone a happy, safe and wonderful Labor Day weekend. May you spend it with family and friends, recalling the memories of a milder-than-usual summer here in Chicago. Not that we're complaining, mind you, although reports of a sequel of the Polar Vortex are particularly troubling. If that's the case, I'm stocking up on firewood, driveway salt and wool sweaters early this year. happy labor day

We're also entering the traditional peak season for air freight shippers. With the unveiling of Apple's new flagship phone in a week and a half, plus persistent rumors they'll also unveil a watch as well, freighter and belly capacity from Asia is disappearing faster than a dropped ice cream cone on a summer day. Longshoremen on the West Coast have reached an agreement on health benefits, one of the alleged stickiest points of the negotiation, a new contract cannot be far behind. Shippers hope, as evidenced in the letter they wrote further encouraging both sides to formally come to an agreement as the holiday peak season ramps up in earnest.

Here at IACAC, we're looking forward to an exciting final four months of the year as well.

Luncheons

  • September 9th: Christel Aliamo, Regional Manager, The Americas, Qatar Airways Cargo. Registration is open for this event here on the site. We've not had a presentation to date on the growing impact the Middle East is having on global commerce. With three national flag carriers flying nonstop to the region from O'Hare now, it's as good a time as any to look at this market and the opportunities it offers forwarders and our shipper customers.
  • October 14th: The incomparable Brandon Fried, Executive Director of the Airforwarders Association, will give us his annual view on what is happening in Washington. In an election year, it's good to also get his perspective on what the scenarios are depending upon the outcome.
  • November 11th : At this meeting we hold elections for your IACAC board. Here from the candidates seeking your vote for the different positions and choose your representatives for 2015.
  • December 9th: Our annual holiday raffle and toy drive. As in past years, we will be partnering with Toys for Tots and holding a raffle benefitting our scholarship fund. I cannot say "thanks" enough for all the support of our golf outing raffle and would love to get an equal amount of participation for this one as well.

Vendor programs

We have mentioned it before, but if your company provides a service to the air cargo community, we would welcome the chance to work with you to be a preferred sponsor or provider of services to our membership. In exchange for offering some kind of exclusive offers to our members, we will promote your participation online as well as at our meetings and through other venues. If you are interested, please contact us to discuss this further.