Weekly recap of news in air cargo, clean tech, drones and sustainability.
Shockwaves as IATA cargo chief Glyn Hughes announces he is to leave
The Global Head of Cargo at IATA Glyn Hughes will leave the association in January 2021, at the time when the aviation industry is going through an unprecedented crisis due to COVID-19.
A prominent and much liked air cargo figure, Glyn Hughes and his immense exertise will surely be missed, as the industry is busy preparing for the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine transportation.
The Covid vaccine distribution challenge facing supply chains
Although many governments are touting to have reserved thousands of upcoming COVID-19 vaccines for their citizens, the challenges of storage and transportation of these vaccines in large quantities remains to be tackled:
"Aviation has solid experience with refrigerated cargo, but not with freezing temperatures and definitely not for that massive volume.
Only a limited number of airports worldwide are suitable to guarantee the cold chain of at least -18 ° C.
There is hardly any monitoring of temperatures across the entire chain.
The last mile distribution: the potential quality killer…"
Amazon Air booms as worldwide air cargo falls
Although the air cargo market has been volatile during the pandemic, Amazon, has seen an increase in sipping orders. To surpass the crunch in capacity the company has expanded its Amazon Air fleet reaching 108 daily flights in mid-August with even larger plans ahead:
"By the end of 2021, Amazon Air could cross the 200-flights-a-day threshold, making it about twice the size it was in early 2020."
Walmart, Zipline team up to bring first-of-its kind drone delivery service to the US
Walmart is joining forces with a drones company Zipline to launch a first-of-its-kind delivery operation in the US, with trials scheduled to start shortly.
Zipline started its drone operations in 2016 in Rwanda with a focus on the on-demand delivery of medical supplies:
"To date, they’ve safely delivered more than 200,000 critical medical products to thousands of health facilities serving more than 20 million people across multiple countries."
Boeing appoints Chris Raymond as its first Chief Sustainability Officer
The Boeing Company appointed B. Marc Allen as as the company's chief sustainability officer, a newly created position. This is a positive sign showing company's growing commitment to sustainable practices.
The sustainability chief will focus on "further advancing Boeing's approach to sustainability that is focused on environmental, social and governance priorities, stakeholder-oriented reporting and company performance."
Swissport launches pharma center quality label for its warehouses
Swissport is launching a Pharma Center, a warehouse capable of storing temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals. This move shows company's ambition to expand the volumes of pharma handling and prepare for an even stronger increase in pharma transportation needs once the COVID-19 vaccine is ready.
These 10 new 'Lighthouse' factories show the future of manufacturing is here
The World Economic Forum, together with its Global Lighthouse Network and McKinsey & Company, have layed out four key shifts in manufacturing and supply chain that have emerged during the global pandemic this year:
Ten large corporations illustrate the shift across Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Facebook and Google announce plans to become carbon neutral
The two firms join Apple and Microsoft in comitting to become completely CO2 neutral:
Google has declared success in retroactively offsetting all carbon it has ever emitted, since its foundation in 1998 and committed to being powered exclusively by renewable energy by 2030.
Facebook will become "net-zero" this year, when the company becomes 100% supported by renewable energy. Facebook has also announced a further goal for itself, committing to net-zero emissions for its entire “value chain” by 2030, including its suppliers and users.