Vol. 38 No. 4 Serving New York Airports April 2016 Left to Right: Joseph Badamo, President JFK MOBILE AIR TRANSPORT, INC. AIr Cargo Association; Panelists: Chris Connell ANNOUNCES THE ASSET - President - Commodity Forwarders Inc; Brandon ACQUISITION OF KINGS EXPRESS Fried - Executive Acquisition to increase fl eet size by riety of transportation services. The acquisi- Director, Air Forwarders over 40% tion strengthens the company’s long-stand- Association (Moderator), Mobile Air Transport, Inc. (“Mobile ing reputation of quality service, integrity and stability in the air cargo industry by ex- Pawel Borkowski - Product Air”) announced the asset acquisition of Kings Express, a full-service delivery, panding its footprint in Western NY and the Developm ent Manager - Midwest and enhancing its Canadian pres- Delta Cargo trucking, distri- bution and ware- ence with the seamless addition of trans- Ron Schaefer - border freight service in and out of Ontario, Project Leader - IATA house services company based in Canada. Pharmaceutical Logistics. Buff alo, NY. With “Kings Express has been a quality ser- this acquisition, vice partner of Mobile Air for more than 30 JFK AIR CARGO ASSOCIATION Mobile Air will years, feeding our hub as an intrinsic part absorb the entire business and operations of of the Mobile Air system in Western NY,” ANNUAL EXPO HOSTED AT RUSSO’S Kings Express and rebrand them as Mobile said John J. Ingemie, CEO of Mobile Air. Air Transport company-operated stations. “This acquisition is of great benefi t to our ON THE BAY Mobile Air Transport is a locally owned combined customer base and all of our em- and operated LTL carrier focusing on a va- The JFK Air Cargo EXPO 2016 was held The EXPO’s Exhibition portion featured See MOBIL AIR page 2 on Thursday, March 31, 2016 at Russo’s over 40 exhibitors from all segments of the on the Bay in nearby Howard Beach. This air cargo industry displaying their prod- year’s EXPO theme is “Air Cargo Indus- ucts and services. Typically sold-out well AIR FARE REGULATION: ANOTHER try Transformation & Specialization: JFK in advance, the EXPO Exhibition provided EXPO 2016”, featured top-level executives direct face-to-face interaction and network- BRILLIANT IDEA FROM WASHINGTON from key segments of the air cargo indus- ing with airline, freight forwarder, and other try. EXPO 2016 attracted over 350 industry industry key decision-makers in a dedicated Joe Alba professionals. and focused environment. Some of the material for this article has Opening remarks were made by Thom- EXPO Sponsorship opportunities sold sourced from Motley Fool blog. as Bosco, Director of aviation for the Port out quickly and fi lled the exhibition hall and Two senators are sponsoring a bill to reg- Authority of New York & New Jersey. The rooms. ulate airline fees. But forcing airline fees EXPO Panel Session entitled “Cool Chain EXPO 2016 culminated with the EXPO down would cause service cutbacks, while Dynamics: Hot Topic, Cold Facts” followed Luncheon featuring keynote speaker Mr. driving up base fares. that features top industry professionals dis- Jim Butler, President of American Airlines Earlier this month, Senator Richard Blu- cussing this important topic. Cargo. menthal of Connecticut and Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced the cleverly named “Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous (FAIR) Fees Act.” JFK CHAMBER LUNCHEON AT THE See AIR FARE page 2 CRADLE OF AVIATION ON FEB 24, 2016 inside . Left to Right: Airport Press Rudy Auslander, Airport News..................2 Classifi ed.....................17 JFK Chamber of Commerce, Arthur Airline News.................11 Comic............................14 Molins, General Aviation News................8 Names in the News......16 Counsel, Lufthansa Cargo News....................5 Security News..............15 Group for the Americas, Joseph April 2016 • Vol. 38 No. 4 Clabby, President, JFK Chamber of airportpress.us Commerce. 2 • April 2016 • Airport Press Metro Edition Airport News MOBIL AIR From Page 1 Kings Express President Mike King ward-thinking company like Mobile Air.” voting my time to developing Crown Data agreed, “This acquisition is a great fi t for Subsequent to the acquisition, King will Systems and its products for the industry to ployees. I welcome everyone to our team Mobile Air and will enhance their system focus his attention on Crown Data Systems, their fullest potential, said King. “I’m look- and look forward to our future success and throughout New York and Southern Ontar- a freight management and tracking system. ing forward to working together with Mo- growth, as we work together serving our io. I’m extremely happy that my employ- “Although I am retiring from trucking, I will bile Air, to advance both or our companies customers and community.” ees have the opportunity to work for a for- remain in the transportation business, de- going forward.” rier’s website. to the point where they can start raising ticket prices again. AIR FARE From Page 1 If airlines have to justify each fee, they will presumably Otherwise, they won’t be able to earn enough money to cov- This proposed legislation would essentially regulate airline charge passengers who “cost more” a higher price. For ex- er their cost of capital, particularly in down years. fees to ensure that each fee is commensurate with the cost of ample, the cost to an airline of checking a bag depends on whatever service it covers. its weight, its dimensions, whether you reserve a spot for Bad consequence No. 4: less competition The senators lament that airlines -- led by American Air- the bag in advance, and how much help you need to check Finally -- and most importantly -- regulating airline fees lines), Delta Air Lines), and United Continental) -- have your bag in at the airport. If bag fees vary depending on all would hurt competition. In the past year or two, the growth introduced or increased numerous fees since 2009. Indeed, of those criteria, it would be a lot harder to fi gure out in ad- of ultra-low cost carriers like Spirit Airlines and Frontier U.S. airlines made $6.5 billion just from baggage and change vance how much checking a bag would cost. Airlines has helped keep airfares low. These carriers rely on fees in 2014 (the most recent full year for which data are charging high fees to make up for their extremely low base available). Bad consequence No. 2: rising compliance costs fares. (Spirit Airlines’ average fare was less than $60 last On the surface, the FAIR Fees Act seems to be a piece of Calculating the cost attached to an airline fee is not al- quarter.) consumer-friendly legislation. Not surprisingly, numerous ways straightforward. Take seat assignment fees, for exam- Forcing Spirit, Frontier, and other ULCCs to cut their consumer groups have expressed their support for this bill. ple. What’s the cost of allowing customers to choose their fees would blow up their business model. At best, this would However, regulating airline fees would not be good for most seats for free? It might seem like there’s no cost at all. cause them to raise their base fares and signifi cantly cut back travelers in the long run. The FAIR Fees Act would force airlines to quantify costs their growth plans. Without the threat of being undercut by like this to prove that their fees are reasonable. The cost of Spirit or Frontier, airlines like American, Delta, and Unit- The bill in a nutshell doing so could become a signifi cant burden, especially for ed would have that much more freedom to raise their own The FAIR Fees Act would “prohibit airlines from impos- smaller airlines. And high compliance costs would undoubt- prices. ing fees, including cancellation, change and bag fees, that are edly get passed along to passengers, one way or another. Let me remind Airport Press readers that both Senators not reasonable and proportional to the costs of the [services] Blumenthal and Markey have never started, owned or oper- provided.” The bill calls for the DOT to establish standards Bad consequence No. 3: service cuts ated any business, but have spent their entire career in poli- for determining whether a particular fee is “reasonable and The three big carriers that Sens. Markey and Blumenthal tics. So how is that for a resume to set rules for a multi-bil- proportional to the costs.” It would then use these standards singled out -- American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Unit- lion dollar industry. to enforce the ban on unreasonable fees. ed Continental -- have all reported declining unit revenue over the past year. Indeed, airline ticket prices have fallen VAUGHN CAREER FAIR A ONE OF A Bad consequence No. 1: less transparency dramatically in many markets: a fact that advocates of the While Sens. Blumenthal and Markey may be trying to FAIR Fees Act have conveniently ignored. Big airlines like KIND RECRUITMENT EVENT protect consumers, the FAIR Fees Act would make things United Continental wish the airline industry was as uncom- Joe Alba even worse for most travelers. First, tying airline fees di- petitive as consumer advocates seem to think. On Thursday, April 14th, Vaughn College of Aeronautics rectly to costs could lead to less transparency for customers. Ancillary fees represent one of the few steady sources and Technology will be con- Today, airlines may have high fees for certain services, but of revenue for airlines in this environment. If fee revenue is ducting a Career Fair from they are usually standard fees that are disclosed on the car- undercut by new legislation, airlines will have to cut fl ights See Airport News page 3 Airport Press airportpress.us Publisher: William R. Puckhaber Editor: Joe Alba Creative Director: Chris Thorn Reporter-Photographer, Asst. to Publisher, Office Manager: Diane D.