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"What's Holding Back Air Freight" by Robert W. Prescott, President The Flying Tiger Line Inc. The subject of this paper is the question air freight operators have been asking themselves for years. If the answer were simple, the problem would have been solved long before this. However, the solution must not be easy because this industry is still struggling to achieve a lasting foothold in the transportation network. Many theories have been advanced by writers, researchers, academicians, and airline executives as to the reasons for the relatively slow growth of air freight volume. While the percentage of growth has been impressive, less than 1/20 of 1 percent of domestic freight traffic moves by air. For over 15 years, forecasters have consistently seen their predictions fail to materialize. After 16 years of experience in this industry, I feel that the major issues still to be resolved can be classified into five groups -- service, pricing, equipment, government, and education. Service In air freight transportation, the only product for sale is service. Not only must this service be rapid -it must also be dependable. The shipper can afford to pay the premium price only if he consistently gets what he pays for. Too often in the past, shipments have been lost, off-loaded, or delayed en route. The space available for freight is not consistent. On combination aircraft, freight has the lowest priority and moves only when passengers, mail, express, and excess baggage do not fill the available space or weight capacity. On all-cargo aircraft the problem is similar because no operator is able to maintain reserve capacity to handle traffic fluctuations. If more traffic is tendered than the space available, priorities in loading must be established and some traffic is left behind. Very often the delayed shipments are those of the occasional shipper who becomes disillusioned with the quality of service and does not consider sending more traffic by air. While trucks and trains normally travel only 500 to 600 miles per day as compared to the same distance in an hour by jet aircraft, the dependability of the surface carriers reduces the market for air freight services. Another service factor of annoyance to users of air freight is the quality of door-to-door service and rates. As much as 75 percent of total transit time is spent in pickup, delivery, and ground handling. The shippers and consignees Z2459.1
