Covering all the Bases October 20th was a red letter day for Consolidators International. On that day, our new JFK facility opened to serve shippers in the Mid-Atlantic and New England States with CII's unique blend of competitive pricing and high standards of service. With our new facility adjacent to JFK, CII is covering all the bases. We now are located at the four major U.S. gateways to the world; Los Angeles for west coast customers, Chicago for Middle America, Atlanta for the Southeast and now New York. CII is the only international cargo wholesaler with company owned and operated facilities at the four corners of the U.S. diamond. We're bringing a level playing field to Atlantic Coast mid-sized and smaller forwarders. Far too long has JFK been the private playground of the "big boys," those forwarders whose names we won't mention but who give all their attention to their big transnational customers. The little guy is left holding the bag. CII expects to change all that. We now are offering a complete mix of delivery options for east coast shippers of every category and size to every corner of the globe—at great rates and with great service. In addition to our forwarding services, CII now is operating a good-sized warehouse with full security. Heading up our new operation is an old friend to many forwarders around JFK. He is John Rosino, who was regional manager for the now defunct GeoLogistics wholesale operation. His experience, spanning over two decades in the airfreight industry, will assuredly give CII the edge over any competitor. John along with our already experienced and skilled staff throughout our global network is standing by to take your calls as we speak!! The address of the new facility is: 152-21 Rockaway Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11434. Telephone number is (718) 525-6848, Fax is (718) 525-3675 and E-mail address is: johnrosino@ciilax.com. Back to Top

Is Qantas & Air New Zealand Getting The Shaft? I have been following closely the bureaucratic twists and turns of the proposed Qantas/Air New Zealand partnership. Born in New Zealand, then working in Australia for many years, I naturally maintain a keen interest in the airline situation down under. Even more importantly, a major portion of CII's cargo business remains in the South Pacific. How the airlines are handling Australian and New Zealand destinations has a major impact on CII's own operations. Unfortunately, what I see and hear is not encouraging. What the cargo industry needs is a Qantas/New Zealand alliance that will strengthen both parties and provide a solid platform for cargo. As separate airlines, particularly in NZ's case, it will be very tough going. Economic justification for merger is overwhelming. But standing in the way is the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, whose decision has blocked the merger. This regulatory decision is equivalent to driving while staring in the rear view mirror rather than watching the road ahead. The ACCC is living in the past, remembering when airlines were strong and could price passenger and cargo tariffs pretty much as they please. Those times have long since vanished. Airlines today are fighting for their very existence. In protesting the decision, Qantas' CEO Geoff Dixon was right on the money when he said, "the ACCC took a very narrow view of competition and consumer interests . . .either ignoring or underestimating the significant structural changes facing airlines around the world." By blocking the merger, the ACCC is allowing new entries into the Australian/New Zealand market to have a field day. Virgin Blue, in business only a few years in the Australian market, already generates 30 per cent of all passenger revenues and expects that figure to jump to 50 per cent by 2005. Competition and free markets are all well and good when the players are healthy and can provide service customers expect. When weakness replaces strength, when hemorrhaging of men and money supplants vigor and vitality, theory flies out the window. Reality sets in. There is no doubt in my mind that shippers and their agents will be far better served in the South Pacific with one healthy, financially solid airline rather than two weak and struggling ones. Back to Top

CII Gearing Up For More Business In Israel We have chosen a new agent in Israel, one of the largest in that country, to be CII's exclusive representative there. The agent is Plascow Logistics, Ltd., who not only is a current leader in the Israeli cargo community, but one of the oldest forwarders in that country. Plascow has been in continuous operation since the Israeli State was founded in 1948, and now is under its third generation management. While the world's attention has been focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Israeli economy has shown surprising vigor—particularly in overseas trade. The tiny nation is by far the largest exporter of electronic and biotech equipment in the Middle East. Some 23 public Israeli companies are traded on the NYSE and NASDAQ. Less well known is the vigorous textile market in Israel. Plascow particularly is active in this field. The company's headquarters are in Tel Aviv, with an office at Ben Gurion Airport and facilities in Haifa and other major Israeli centers. Plascow is closely linked with EL AL and is one of the top ten forwarders utilizing Israel's national airline. Of course, Plascow deals with all the other carriers serving Israel and maintains excellent relationships with each of them. Another advantage to the CII-Plascow hookup is that the Israeli agent is both a forwarder and wholesaler. Plascow can deal with all Israeli forwarders in a fair and impartial manner. We believe our customers with Israel destinations will be very well served by this new CII-Plascow alliance. Back to Top

Airports & Cargo; Still In The Dark Ages we in the air cargo business often forget that our industry is a four-sided square. Three of the four sides are well known; shippers, airlines and forwarders. But we generally take for granted the fourth element in the equation--airports. As my grandmother would say, "if you don't have airports, you don't have an air cargo business." Just how important is cargo to airport management? One indication certainly would be airports' web sites. How much space and emphasis do they give to cargo? We had one of CII's intrepid staffers check the web sites of major U.S. and overseas airports to ascertain just what airports say about their cargo operations on these sites. Are airports enthusiastic cargo champions? Not if you judge them by their web sites. Our staffer had to scroll almost forever before any mention of cargo was made. The airports even at U.S. gateways including LAX, JFK, ORD, DFW gave short shrift to their cargo operations. They focused almost wholly on passenger operations, with cargo no more than a by-product of their activities. While airports' web sites have beautiful color photos of their passenger terminals, try and find comparable pictures of their cargo facilities. You won't. We made an exasperating search for any cargo promotional material or even the names of airports' cargo managers. They were an invisible bunch. Ironically, cargo volumes are growing faster at almost every U.S. airport than their passenger operations. You would never know this, however, by reading the airports' web sites. Cargo management at overseas airports, particularly those in Asia, fare much better. Airport management at airports in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok are far more conscious of their freight operations and their web sites reflect this greater interest. There are one or two things our arrogant U.S. airport operators can learn from their Asian counterparts. Passenger terminals may be architectural showplaces, but cargo at many airports pays the bills. As a start, airports should upgrade their cargo web sites and devote more print material to freight. Back to Top