Experience 041. What are you Shipping? The Complex World of Air Cargo. The Seat 1A Podcast.

The Seat 1A Podcast

In this experience we look at the complex world of air cargo. Though there are not a lot of passenger flights happening so far in 2021, the need for air cargo continues.

Large planes are still landing at airports around the world as airlines need the high revenues from cargo. If airlines still had combi freighters, now would be a good time to use them. Vinod shares experiences of flying with combi freighters in northern Canada.

We explain what's going on underneath the plane – Geoff shares how the plane baggage holds are laid out. He also shares stories of what sometimes happens to skis when the load is really large. The space is not forgiving and in narrow body planes the bags are often hand loaded like a three-dimensional game of Tetris. Wide body planes utilize specialized containers. Vinod shares a story of how his bags were checked through, but he wasn't, and how ground teams in Amsterdam had to go deep into the plane to find them. Vinod shares the experience he had with sports teams – particularly wheelchair basketball and the challenges they caused with cargo loading.

We discuss other unique cargo items – like coffins, human ashes, or firearms. The pilot needs to know what's in the aircraft – especially if it is hazardous. IATA has classified nine different categories for Dangerous Goods. Vinod shares his experience of tourists who were camping and who couldn't fly back with their stoves. Lithium-ion batteries are a huge risk when packed as cargo. Vinod shares his experience seeing a very famous Formula 1 car as cargo in Barbados.

In addition, there are numerous living things that are shipped as cargo. Crickets, chicks (Geoff shares a story of chicks escaping the cargo hold in Calgary), and pets.

Some pets fly really well, others unfortunately not. Vinod shares his logistics experience of shipping rescue dogs to Canada from Taiwan. Meanwhile, Vinod shares a story of dealing with horses as cargo.

We look at the current situation for vaccine shipping – and the unique challenges of cold temperatures and physics of dry ice. Remember that the majority of cargo planes are older, and some may need to be retrofitted with current technology. Hats off to all in the industry at this critical time.

News Items:

• airwaysmag.com article "Anchorage International Cargo Haul Sets Record."
• ainonline.com article "Air Cargo Saw Record Decline in Demand in 2020."

If you have a story about transporting air cargo, a question, or other experience that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/