Sky Sires
As LM’s Karen Thuermer reports in our Quarterly Transportation Report this month, the globalization of manufacturing has certainly pressed industry analysts to set some fairly optimistic projections for the air cargo industry.
By Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2007
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Quest For Quality Awards
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As LM’s Karen Thuermer reports in our Quarterly Transportation Report this month, the globalization of manufacturing has certainly pressed industry analysts to set some fairly optimistic projections for the air cargo industry. In fact, Thuermer reports that Boeing and Airbus, two keen observers of the market, project about 6 percent growth per year through 2025.
While this is great news for air cargo carriers, there are a couple factors that may put a bit of a damper on this positive projection—namely fuel costs and the fact that capacity is growing faster than tonnage. While shippers will need to keep an eye on how carriers manage these challenges over the next year, they were eager to award 13 of the world’s top air carriers with Quest for Quality honors for first-class service over the course of last year.
Even though the overall weighted average lost a little altitude for the third year in a row (31.81), it’s good to report that the weighted average in On-time Performance (10.53), Customer Service (6.21), and Equipment & Operations (3.49) all increased this year over 2006—great news considering these may be the most critical criteria in the category.
Southwest Airlines led the pack for the second year in a row, posting an impressive 35.93 overall weighted score and taking first place in On-time Performance (12.00), Value (8.70), and Customer Service (7.25).
Shippers welcomed back Singapore Airlines (35.06), Cathay Pacific (34.84), KLM (34.67), Japan Airlines (32.96), and Korean Air (32.45) for the third year in a row—an impressive showing considering the stiff competition in the market.
It’s also interesting to note that shippers voted Virgin Atlantic Cargo (34.98), Alaska Airlines (33.30), and British Airways (32.37) back into the winners circle after all three of those carriers missed the cut in 2006.
In the two horse Air-Express race, FedEx Express (36.14) beat UPS (34.43) by a nose for the fourth year in a row. This year’s weighted average, 33.08, is a drop of more than five points since our 2005 survey. This is a somewhat alarming development in this critical category. However, both FedEx Express and UPS saw their Customer Service scores improve this year over 2006.
Air Cargo Carriers
| On-time Performance | Value | Information Technology | Customer Service | Equipment & Operations | Weighted Score | |
| Southwest Airlines | 12.00 | 8.70 | 4.33 | 7.25 | 3.65 | 35.93 |
| Singapore Airlines (SIA) | 11.79 | 8.10 | 4.62 | 6.83 | 3.72 | 35.06 |
| Virgin Atlantic Cargo | 11.58 | 8.40 | 4.27 | 7.00 | 3.73 | 34.98 |
| Cathay Pacific | 11.56 | 7.94 | 4.41 | 7.15 | 3.77 | 34.84 |
| KLM | 11.70 | 8.12 | 4.42 | 6.68 | 3.75 | 34.67 |
| Emirates SkyCargo | 11.63 | 8.14 | 4.33 | 6.65 | 3.71 | 34.46 |
| Lufthansa | 11.53 | 7.55 | 4.47 | 6.80 | 3.71 | 34.05 |
| Alaska Airlines | 11.38 | 7.62 | 4.15 | 6.58 | 3.58 | 33.30 |
| Japan Airlines | 11.14 | 7.47 | 4.23 | 6.44 | 3.67 | 32.96 |
| Korean Air | 10.80 | 8.08 | 4.05 | 6.08 | 3.44 | 32.45 |
| British Airways | 10.40 | 7.66 | 4.29 | 6.30 | 3.71 | 32.37 |
| Cargolux | 10.72 | 8.06 | 3.85 | 6.29 | 3.36 | 32.27 |
| Nippon Cargo Airlines | 10.42 | 8.15 | 4.00 | 6.17 | 3.50 | 32.24 |
| AVERAGE | 10.53 | 7.49 | 4.10 | 6.21 | 3.49 | 31.81 |
Air Express Carriers
| On-time Performance | Value | Information Technology | Customer Service | Equipment & Operations | Weighted Score | |
| All scores are weighted. Weighted scores are determined by multiplying the average raw scores by the average importance of each attribute (1= least important; 5= most important). To find the attributed weights for this category, see the introduction to the Quest for Quality report. Source: Logistics Management, Reed Research Group |
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| FedEx Express | 12.33 | 7.79 | 5.14 | 6.82 | 4.06 | 36.14 |
| UPS | 11.38 | 7.81 | 4.95 | 6.37 | 3.91 | 34.43 |
| AVERAGE | 10.90 | 7.76 | 4.56 | 6.15 | 3.71 | 33.08 |
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