AIRLINES and forwarders faced worldwide stagnation in the airfreight industry between 1988 and last year. It is now time they worked together to improve productivity.
This is the view of Mr Jean Godart, Kuhne & Nagel's executive vice-president, airfreight development and products, as expressed in a report on the airfreight industry.
According to figures from the Europe-based International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the worldwide airfreight business was 10.9 million tonnes in 1981. It rose to 17.3 million tonnes in 1988; 18.1 million tonnes in 1989; 18.3 million tonnes in 1990; and fell to 17.3 million tonnes in 1991.
And last year, ICAO estimated airlines carried about 17 million tonnes of freight.
The problems facing the airline industry have been compounded by Boeing's recent announcement that it will cut 28,000 jobs - nearly 20 per cent of its work force - by mid-1994, as the world's largest airline seeks to economise in the face of slumping orders.
Workers have been bracing themselves for the bad news since the company announced in late January that it would be slashing aircraft production by a third during the next 18 months.