fronting his group’s members.
QHow did you find your way into the aviation world?
AI had two choices coming out of law school. I was offered a job in the enforcement division of the Civil
Aeronautics Board, and a job at a law firm in Boston. I
decided I didn’t want to sit in the back room of a law
firm writing briefs for partners for seven years, working
until 10 o’clock every night. I was always interested in aviation, even though I never worked in it. So I came here.
QDo you know anyone who’s been doing this longer?
AI don’t know anyone who’s been doing the same job as long as I have. I left the government in 1975 to basically do this. When I started, we were the Air Freight
Forwarders Association. After Congress deregulated the aircargo portion of the airline industry in 1977, we decided
our future lay more with those flying the planes. So we
began letting airlines into the association, and we eventually morphed into an airline group.
QBy the time this interview is published, the industry will be required to screen
or inspect all cargo moving in the bellies of
passenger planes on both domestic and
international flights out of U.S. airports. Do
you think the industry will meet the deadline without disruptions?
ANot internationally, and I don’t know about domestically. Our members are
all-cargo carriers and not affected by the
mandate. However, we do use passenger airlines for lift when necessary, so we are interested in the issue.
From an observer’s perspective, the TSA has come up
with a good idea in theory. But not enough shippers have
signed up for the Certified Cargo Screening Program [a
voluntary government initiative that authorizes various
supply chain participants to screen cargo], so it will put a
lot of pressure on freight forwarders to handle the screening if shippers simply turn over the shipments and tell
them to do it.
QDo you think the screening
mandate is overkill,
given that for nearly a
decade, there has been a risk-based security program in place that has
seemed to work effectively?
AI wouldn’t phrase it as overkill. But I’m not sure if 100-percent inspection of all freight is
necessary. I would say that it would help if there were
provisions allowing for [more] K-9s to serve
as screeners and take some of the burden off
of the individuals. The problem is there aren’t
enough “government dogs” available and the
mandate doesn’t call for [private-sector dogs]
to be used.
I am very concerned that at some point
shippers, who are already paying a premium to
ship by air, will look at the compliance edicts
and say it’s not worth using air freight. And
what about the shipment that’s booked to fly
at 10 p.m. that night but can’t be flown out
until the next morning because the carrier
didn’t have enough time to screen it? It defeats
the purpose of using air freight, which is speed and reliability. That’s more of a danger than the cost of compliance.
QYou’ve worked in D.C. since 1968 and have seen administrations come and go. How does this one
compare with regard to transportation?
AIf you define transportation very broadly, they seem very interested in it. But I don’t think that interest has
translated into any benefits for air freight or the airlines. In
