Air shippers may have grumbled in the past when their expedited cargo was transferred from airplanes to trucks. But the integration of ground and air operations by most transport providers allowed for continued freight deliveries in the days immediately following the terrorist attack on America.

"When [the government issued] restrictions that kept packages from moving on airlines, the net impact was that transportation folks put up significant surface capabilities," says Theodore R. Scherck, president of the Colography Group Inc., an Atlanta-based research firm specializing in the aircargo industry. "Although moving freight was slower, they did move it."

A three-day national shutdown of the nation's airways in the aftermath of unprecedented terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C., and the World Trade Center in New York City forced many transportation providers to shift freight from aircraft to tractor trailer. During the period when U.S. airports were closed to flights, for instance, integrated carrier FedEx says it employed triple its regular number of tractor trailers to handle the volume of freight switched over from air to ground. UPS likewise moved freight from the sky to the highway to maintain shipping commitments. "We kept our system running with our ground network Tuesday [Sept. 11] and Wednesday," says UPS spokesman Norman Black.

Other carriers did the same. A representative for heavy-freight forwarder Emery Worldwide says that provider continued to pick up all freight tendered and moved it through its extensive ground network after the attack. David Wirsing, executive director of the Airforwarders Association, says even small forwarders took advantage of alliances with motor carriers that allowed them to switch cargo to truck.

Freight forwarders that rely on commercially scheduled airlines for lift found themselves most affected. Although the Federal Aviation Administration began allowing freight and mail on domestic passenger airlines five days after the attack, the federal government was reportedly still in the process of lifting a similar ban on international carriers at press time.

Passenger airlines, however, have been ordered to comply with strict new security requirements in the wake of the attack. An FAA spokesman declined to elaborate on new security requirements on the airlines. "The security directives are confidential," commented Wirsing, "but it's safe to say any one of our members can only accept and tender cargo from known shippers." Danzas AEI spokeswoman Candace Bouchard adds that scheduled air carriers "are not taking cargo from the general public."

Frank Perri, a senior vice president of sales and marketing at forwarder Pilot Air Freight, acknowledges that shippers unknown to the carriers will now be required to fill out special paperwork before being allowed to send a shipment but dismisses speculation that the new requirements will have a significant effect on operations. "Right now, we don't anticipate anything that's overly burdensome [to air shippers]," he notes.

Like Perri, some carrier executives do not expect new security restrictions to hamper their operations. "We do not see much increase in security on the aircargo side as compared to what will be happening on the passenger side," says Jerry Levy, vice president of marketing at BAX Global. "Cargo consignment security was increased after TWA 800 [the explosion that downed TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, which was initially suspected to be a terrorist attack], and we believe if the FAA increases security again, it will be after careful study."

Though delays associated with the heightened security checks raised concerns for shippers with lean supply chains, the problem appears surmountable. Industry observer Scherck says the ability to switch freight from air to the ground mode should minimize the degree of disruption in the United States itself. "The impact of any restrictions on packages on passenger aircraft will be less severe than the last time it occurred during the Gulf War [in 1991]," he notes. "Virtually every competitor in the business has put up significant surface capabilities that feed or [distribute freight from] their aircraft, which didn't exist with anybody other than UPS in the early '90s."

The financial health of the commercial airlines appeared to be more worrisome to shippers than the new security requirements were. Five of the top 10 carriers on the Air Transport Association's list of cargo haulers are passenger airlines. If some of the financially strapped passenger carriers cease operations, as some analysts warned at press time, then shippers could see an impact on service. To head off that possibility, Congress has adopted a Bush administration proposal that includes $3 billion to airlines to offset the costs of new security requirements and $5 billion in direct payments to airlines, as well as some limits to the airlines' liability regarding the attacks.

Scherck notes that ultimately, some shippers accustomed to overnight service in certain U.S. markets might have to settle for second- or third-day truck delivery. He adds that the loss of carriers could prove more "problematic" to international shippers if they face fewer alternatives for overseas movements.