Chris Coppersmith, president and chief executive officer of Target Logistic Services, an international and domestic air freight forwarder and logistics provider based in the US and with offices in Sydney and Melbourne, says the air cargo industry next year will continue to grapple with the challenge of finding new, sustainable and profitable business.

"I believe the urgency will be even greater next year," he said. "Massive capacity will come on line in 2007 through, fledgling carriers, primarily based in Asia, who will spread their wings. Also, greater lift will occur as Boeing, and to a lesser extent Airbus, produce new cargo aircraft for the world’s airlines while older aircraft will continue to fly.

"To put it bluntly, air freight needs new business to fill the bellies of passenger aircraft and for the main decks of all cargo aircraft. We need new business on international routes. We decidedly require new business on US domestic lanes. Internationally, we are facing an unprecedented amount of cargo capacity."

Coppersmith said air freight currently has some 31.5 million kilograms (70 million pounds) of lift per week available between the US, Asia, the South Pacific and Europe. "This figure will rise as new capacity comes on line and the legacy carriers increase their international flights. Within both the US and Australia, LTL truckers are taking an increasing share of business that was once exclusively the domain of air cargo. All indications point to further growth by the truckers," he said.

"Internationally, our industry has become hypnotised by China. Almost all of our industry’s growth within the past few years has emanated from that single nation. Air cargo volume between the US, Europe, the Middle East and the South Pacific has remained essentially flat. We must relearn geography. China — despite its enormous size and growth as a trading partner with the US - is not the only game in town," declared Coppersmith. "We must aggressively seek business destined for nations beyond China."

He argued that the air cargo industry also required fresh sources of business in 2007 to convince domestic and international shippers that air was the transport method of choice. "To assure customers in an increasingly global economy, moving goods by air is the most productive, efficient and, ultimately, the most profitable method of transport," he said. "We must convince customers to look beyond initially higher rates to the ultimate benefits of transporting their products by air. Cost effective benefits that include less inventory and allow fresher merchandise to be marketed and sold."

Coppersmith said the air freight business today existed in a world of logistics management, outsourcing, intermodal traffic, an information explosion and technology run amok. "The year 2007 will usher in not a diminution of these trends but an expansion of them. These powerful forces call for closer alliances between forwarder and airline. Despite all the talk about forwarder and carrier becoming ‘partners’ too often in the past there was ample evidence that deep differences separated the two principal players in our industry. We must transform an often dysfunctional, adversarial relationship between forwarder and carrier into one of mutual trust and confidence."

Coppersmith said that for the forwarder and his customer, the integrity of airline schedules was an absolute requisite. Companies like his must be assured that published and promoted schedules would be adhered to as much as humanely possible. "For the airline, a forwarder’s commitment to placing cargo with the carrier should be honoured unless extraordinary conditions occur. There must be greater truth and less obfuscation in airline pricing."

The Target Logistics Services chief said his company’s shippers — as well as its own people — had become exasperated with an array of fuel surcharges "which bounce up and down like a yo-yo".

Also, he said, hidden costs built in many airline rates should be open and above board. Both forwarder and carrier deserved a reasonable profit on their services.

"The new year can be a successful one for our industry. But success will require new thinking, the ability to respond effectively and quickly both to old and new challenges and for a greater degree of co-operation between airline and forwarder. We must take decisive action to resolve our problems. What we must not do is dither about them endlessly at the interminable series of air cargo conferences and seminars to be held next year in every part of the world from Borneo to the Bahamas," added Coppersmith.