Airliner Suspends Air Cargo Flights and Port of Los Angeles Threatens Large Charges Once more

There are two information tales worthy of shippers’ consideration in the present day. The primary pertains to air freight whereas the second has to do with ocean freight. On the air aspect, we’ve a narrative about suspended air cargo flights by a serious airline whereas on the ocean freight aspect, we’ve the Port of Los Angeles threatening huge new charges. Sure, for our common weblog readers, this can be a right here we go once more state of affairs. As you’ll see, these charges are similar to ones they saved threatening and delaying by means of the ultimate months of 2021.

Air Freight Story: Cathay Pacific Suspends Cargo Flights for a Week

The air freight story is larger (in all probability), so we’ll begin with it. Cathay Pacific, a serious airline for transporting cargo, has suspended all cargo flights for per week as a result of Hong Kong prolonged the quarantine interval for air cargo crews, decreasing the variety of obtainable pilots for the corporate.

Eric Kulisch offers particulars in an American Shipper article:

Cathay Pacific has suspended all long-haul freighter and cargo-only passenger flights for per week after Hong Kong authorities prolonged the quarantine interval for arriving air cargo crews from three to seven days, the airline confirmed.

The choice is one other intestine punch to an airline reeling from a large contraction in passenger enterprise due to strict COVID-19 measures within the semiautonomous metropolis and represents a lack of important cargo capability for shippers confronted with tight provide approaching the export rush forward of Chinese language New 12 months in a single month. 

The additional quarantine interval reduces the variety of obtainable pilots, making it troublesome for Cathay to function its regular flight schedule. 

The South China Morning Publish, which broke the information about Cathay’s grounding of the cargo fleet, mentioned well being officers tightened the quarantine necessities for air crews after a Cathay pilot examined constructive for the coronavirus 5 days after returning to house base. Below the well being protocols, crews should now keep in a chosen lodge for seven days. 

“In mild of extra and extra stringent quarantine necessities for Hong Kong-based cargo crew, Cathay Pacific Cargo will pause all long-haul (trans-Pacific, Europe, Southwest Pacific, Riyadh and Dubai) freighter and cargo-only passenger flights with quick impact for a interval of seven days, as much as Jan. 6,” Cathay Pacific mentioned in an announcement shared with FreightWaves. “We sincerely apologize for the disruption prompted. We shall be working with prospects to mitigate the disruption as a lot as potential.”

The airline didn’t rule out the likelihood that the suspension of cargo operations could possibly be prolonged, relying on what stance authorities take within the coming days.

Continuation of Covid Worry Interrupting Worldwide Delivery

As soon as once more, that is an occasion of response to a constructive Covid check creating disruption like we noticed when Chinese language authorities shut down a serious terminal on the Port of Ningbo after a single constructive Covid check.

Whereas the extension of Hong Kong’s quarantine interval looks like overkill to many, this case might be not as egregious an overreaction as was the Chinese language terminal shutdown. Neither is it as excessive as China’s unhelpful Covid Zero insurance policies usually, which have had returning Chinese language seafarers caught in quarantine for 2 month intervals.

Cathay Pacific has lately had different constructive Covid exams round flights to Hong Kong – even resulting in the corporate firing a few its aircrew – so it appears there may be extra taking part in into the state of affairs of the airline suspending cargo flights than Hong Kong’s prolonged quarantine and one lone constructive check.

Kulisch continued in his article:

In a separate assertion issued early Friday morning, Cathay Pacific mentioned 5 of its aircrew lately examined constructive for the omicron variant throughout their testing and isolation interval following their return to Hong Kong and shall be penalized for violating firm security guidelines. Two people had been subsequently terminated on Saturday.

“Regrettably, our investigation into these circumstances has indicated a critical breach of protocols by a few of these people. Failure to adjust to medical surveillance rules will result in disciplinary procedures,” the assertion mentioned. “The actions of those people are extraordinarily disappointing, as they undermine the in any other case exemplary dedication and compliance proven by our over 10,000 aircrew. Cathay Pacific is conscious about the essential significance of complying with anti-pandemic measures each in Hong Kong and abroad, and apologizes for the inconvenience and disruption attributable to these noncompliant circumstances. Cathay Pacific will proceed to work intently with the Transport and Housing Bureau in addition to the well being authorities to bolster public well being safety.”

It’s laborious to evaluate these fired people’ actions with out figuring out the small print. The foundations imposed upon them might have been unreasonable or unjust. It’s potential they’re getting used as skapegoats of their firings or being made examples of to induce worry in different workers to adjust to unreasonable or unjust guidelines. It’s additionally potential they egregiously broke affordable guidelines not solely of the airline but in addition of Hong Kong authorities that would have contributed to Hong Kong extending the quarantine interval for cargo crew members.

We do know Cathay Pacific is forcing workers to make mandated medical choices with regards to Covid vaccines at the specter of dropping their jobs, which might even have contributed to their scarcity of accessible pilots. Kulisch studies:

All Cathay crew members are totally vaccinated and subjected to a number of exams after each flight. The corporate mentioned it’s also requiring all eligible cockpit and cabin crews to obtain a 3rd dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Omicron Response Worse than Variant

Sadly, the media and lots of in positions of governmental energy proceed to ratchet up worry with the omicron variant of Covid. Whereas they emphasize the elevated transmissibility of the variant, they have a tendency to go away out or bury its a lot, a lot decrease virulence. Experiences put omicron at 65-80% much less prone to trigger hospitalization than earlier strains of the virus. Omicron is extraordinarily unlikely to land somebody who contracts it within the hospital, not to mention kill them.

The Wall Avenue Journal (WSJ) studies the dying fee of omicron is just like that of the flu when taking a look at numbers in South Africa, the place the variant possible started. In fact, that’s not even the actual dying fee however taken from solely precise recognized circumstances of the variant. Greater than 90% of people that contract omicron could present no signs in response to the Institute for Well being Metrics and Analysis on the College of Washington’s College of Drugs Director Dr. Chris Murray, that means the precise dying fee is extremely smaller than the 0.2% fee the WSJ known as “barely larger than the flu.”

Nonetheless, so long as the media and leaders emphasize the worry finish of the spectrum, we are able to anticipate continued disruptions to companies and folks’s lives. As we’ve been seeing for the final two years, worldwide delivery and logistics get significantly negatively impacted.

Ocean Freight Story: Port of Los Angeles Threatens Enormous Charges on Empty Dwelling Containers

The Port of Los Angeles is again to threatening charges on delivery containers sitting on its congested docks. This time, nevertheless, the main target is on empty delivery containers which have been returned to the port somewhat than the complete ones ready to go away it. That, and it seems to be solely the Port of Los Angeles as a substitute of along side its sister port of Lengthy Seashore threatening the charges this time, appear to be about it with regards to variations.

Common Cargo’s weblog printed a number of posts in regards to the beforehand threatened charges – which had been of an an identical quantity to those new ones being threatened. Over and over, the ports held off on really implementing the charges, citing a discount in long-dwelling containers. Whereas they did appear to be having an impact in decreasing dwelling containers at first, because the threats turned much less and fewer prone to ever materialize, their results stalled and turned out to be much less efficient than marketed by the ports and the Biden administration.

Sadly, the impact of no matter discount of long-dwelling containers the specter of insanely excessive charges had on general congestion on the ports was minimal at greatest.

Nonetheless, the Port of Los Angeles appears decided to undergo this entire charge menace course of once more with empty containers. Eric Johnson studies in a Journal of Commerce (JOC) article:

The Port of Los Angeles on Thursday mentioned it plans to start charging container strains a charge subsequent month for any empty packing containers that dwell on the port’s terminals for 9 days or longer.

…

Below the brand new empty field coverage in LA, ocean carriers can be charged $100 for an empty container dwelling for 9 days, growing in $100 increments per container per day till the container leaves the terminal. Implementation of the charge can be on the discretion of the port’s government director, Gene Seroka.

The Los Angeles Harbor Fee will vote on the empty container charge proposal at its Jan. 13 board assembly.

We’ll see if the Port of Lengthy Seashore joins in on this menace of charges. If the charges ever do grow to be greater than threats and are carried out on carriers, you’ll be able to make certain that carriers will discover a option to cross these prices off on shippers.