在日本海啸的冲击下，航空货运的多位高管都认为2011年时非常动荡的一年，一年以来他们是如何回顾过去、做出今年的总结的呢？
As 2011 draws to a close, a handful of air cargo leaders have taken the time to reflect on a tumultuous year. From supply chains ravaged by the Japanese tsunami to economic instability permeating the U.S. and the eurozone, the airfreight industry has taken numerous hits throughout 2011. But can the lessons gleaned from these difficult times be used to avoid similar fates in the future?
In the final installment of the three-part series (view parts one and two here), Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. Managing Director Mark Whitehead and Emirates Airline’s Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, Ram Menen discuss the past year and their projections for 2012.
What was the most significant storyline of 2011?
Mark Whitehead: Amid the Japanese tsunami and its commercial aftershocks, the New Zealand earthquake, squabbles with the Transportation Security Administration over deadlines to meet their heightened security requirements and the ongoing saga of surcharges, the dominant storyline for us in 2011 was falling tonnages on major routes — particularly those out of Hong Kong.
But we are not convinced that this swath of negative coverage is really justified — we feel there have been too many comparisons to 2010, leading to the impression that 2011 has turned out to be much worse than it should. In Hactl’s own case, we could fall farther and yet still beat our previous peak of 2007, which would be no small achievement.
2010 was a post-recession bounce fueled by global restocking, so it was always going to be hard to beat. But many in the air cargo industry thought 2010 was a sign of even better things to come and budgeted for incremental growth in 2011. They now have a major problem.
Ram Menen: The market slowdown is, obviously, the topic that has dominated the industry. But what is most remarkable about 2011 is the number and diversity of factors that contributed to the s