NEWSWEEK Evans departs Swiss to promote change S


wiss International Air Lines’ chief cargo officer, Oli- ver Evans, is to step down at the end


of September 2015, after 13 years, to offer to the industry his services and advice about people development and other future challenges. Evans, speaking to Air Cargo


Week (ACW), explains that he sees the world as changing at an ever faster pace, driven by new technologies, and he cites the Internet as a disrup- tive technology. “People need to fundamentally change their mindset, governments need to change their mindset, com- panies need to change their


mindset. And as an experi- enced leader with a lot of ideas I have something that I can give back to our industry, which I love, from a position of self employment.” He adds that he likes to write,


and while there will be no book, he might continue blog- ging. Evans has had a regular blog with Swiss WorldCargo called Blogistics. Evans, however, does not see his new direction as working in consultancy. “I don’t like the term comsultancy, but exactly what shape my engagement will take, I


don’t yet know. I


want to be self employed and serve the industry. I want to follow my passion of the future


down from Swiss in September. Talking about TIACA, Evans tells ACW: “I remain convinced [that] the industry needs an association that is open to all of the stakeholder groups, having an equal voice in the develop- ment of the industry.” Evans has been Swiss’ chief


and people.” Evans is also chair-


man of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA). an organisation that has put a lot of emphasis on training under his leadership. His term of office comes to an end in May, another reason Evans gives for why he was stepping


cargo officer since the end of 2002. According to the airline: “He has been instrumental in realigning Swiss’ airfreight division to specialise in high- value and care-intensive consignments for the industry and pharmaceuticals sectors. Swiss’ air cargo activities make a major contribution to the company’s present business success.”


Swiss shakes up regions


SWISS WORLDCARGO has created a new regional manage- ment structure after two staff moved to new roles. Lâlin Sabuncuoglu-Janssen, who led area management for Europe and Africa, is to be vice president for ground services at parent airline Swiss International Air Lines. While, Ronen Spira, former regional manager for Africa and Near East, is leaving Swiss altogether. The new structure retains Jack Lampinski as the senior director, head of cargo Americas. Under the new structure, Adolfo Liguori becomes senior di- rector, head of cargo Switzerland, France and BeNeLux, and leads Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxem- bourg. Jochen Leibfritz has been appointed director, head of cargo, central and Northern Europe, responsible for Ger- many, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Also appointed director, Angelo Toffanin, is now head of cargo for South and East Europe, UK. His region covers Italy, Spain and Portugal, UK and Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Romania and Balkans, Russia and Turkey. Shankar Iyer is now director, head of cargo Africa, Middle East and India spanning South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Israel, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangla- desh and India. Tod Mawhinney becomes director, head of cargo Far East, covering China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.


Safer lithium ion batteries


SHIPPING lithium ion (li-ion) batteries when they are not fully charged could be one way of reducing the risk of fire that is feared by the industry, according to the Interna- tional Air Transport Association (IATA). As of 1 January, li-ion batteries will not be carried in bellyholds unless they are part of equipment, for exam- ple the power source for a machine. Further industry meetings over the next two years hope to find further solutions, says IATA’s head of cargo safety and stan- dards, David Brennan. Speaking at IATA’s cargo media day on 9 December, Brennan says that if the batteries are not fully charged they could be safer, but giving them a low charge can affect durability. He also warns that Halon gas, which has been a common fire extinquisher, has been found to be ineffective against li-ion battery fires by the US government’s Federal Aviation Admin- stration. According to IATA’s first edition of its Lithium Batteries Risk Mitigation Guidance for Operators man- ual, published last week, billions of lithium batteries are shipped annually in bellyholds and freighters. “It is estimated that, on some routes, lithium batteries are present in at least 25 per cent of cargo shipments; but this figure only takes into account,” declared lithium bat- teries, not undeclared shipments, “the exact volume of which is unknown”.


2 ACW 15 DECEMBER 2014


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