b'SePTemBeR 14 - 27, 2020NOrth AmericAs trANsPOrtAtiON & LOGistics Ne wsPAPer 25Air C ArgoAir CArgoNEWSNEWSUnited Air to cut more than 16,000 jobs(BATTLEcontinued from page 19) deliverygrow. apparentasdemandsforimmediate On-demand delivery that supports same day and next on weak travel demand day delivery is not usually structured within a route that allows you to gain efficiencies, explained Maciuba.UnitedAirlinesHoldingsInc.willeliminateof government financial aid to the industry thatsTake crowd-sourced delivery services, just one way 16,370 jobs next month as the carrier shrinks opera- being debated in Washington. retail businesses are trying to counter Amazon. Dozens tions in response to the steep decline for air travelLast month, United notified 36,000 of its nearlyof startups compete for business including AxleHire, demand amid the Covid-19 pandemic. 92,000 employees that their positions were at riskDoorDash, Roadie and PostMates in the US. The furloughs will take effect as soon as Oct.once the U.S. payroll support program ended. ThatFraytisonesuchoperation.Itofferspickup 1, the expiration of a six-month restriction on jobnumber was reduced for most work groups throughwithinanhouranddeliverythesameday.Now cutsimposedasaconditionforgovernmentaidvoluntary programs, Kate Gebo, Uniteds executiveactive in 35 major markets across the US, the com-undertheU.S.Cares Act.Todate,about7,400vice president for human resources, said. pany expects a fleet of available delivery vehicles Unitedemployeeshavechosentoexitthecom- The workers who are placed on furlough may be mostly vans, but also trucks and carswill top pany voluntarily, while another 20,000 are on tem- called back when demand improves, the company8,000 by mid-September. These are mostly small, porary leave programs.Uniteds reductions add tosaid. Chicago-based United has said that it doesntindependent commercial van operators, whose vehi-the 19,000 job cuts planned by American Airlinesexpect any meaningful recovery in travel demandcles are often idle half the day. Group Inc. Both carriers said the only thing thatuntil a coronavirus vaccine is developed and widely would avert the reductions would be an extensiondistributed and administered. r etaiLerr esPonseTo survive, more national retailers are turning to this kind of service, McCord said. He cited the case ofMenards,theMidwesternhomeimprovement chain. Menards is competing directly with Amazon for the same things, McCord said. Theyre using Frayt for not only same-day delivery, but in many cases the same hour delivery. Covid has accelerated the necessity of retailers promotinghomedelivery.Therewasamassive shift already in place. We were going 20 to 30 per-cent month over month, said McCord. Now, its just off the tracks. Frayt has grown some 500% since the outbreak of Covid, according to McCord. Frayt works like ber or Lyft, offering an app thatmatchesdeliverieswithavailabletransport. But, theres one big difference. The shipper, usually a retailer, is Frayts client, not the consumer. Were atechnologycompany,explainedMcCord.We connectretailerswiththepeoplewhoalreadydo deliveries to maximize their capacity.Individualsarefreetodownloadtheapp and get an instant quote on how much a delivery would cost. So, for example, you buy something at Lowes and it wont fit into your car. Frayt can pro-vide delivery, usually at a much cheaper rate and Antonov Airlines AN-124-100 direct flight landed at Floridas NASA Shuttle Landing Facility to deliver the Airbus Defence & Spaceswith immediate results. We can probably beat you satellite for its first launch with SpaceX. home, he quipped. According to McCord, Frayt, which launched in Antonov Airlines delivers Airbus Defence and Spaces2017, now has more than 800 customers, although newest satellite for its inaugural launch with SpaceX onecustomermaybookthousandsofdeliveries every month.Compared to line-haul, a lot is still unknown AntonovAirlineshaspartneredwithBollorII measured eleven metres in length and weighedabout last-mile transport. The complexity of how LogisticstodeliverAirbusDefenceandSpaces18 tonnes. Including launch equipment, it was partthese goods move around and shift vehicles in cities newest satellite, ANASIS-II to the USA. It was car- of an overall payload of 36 tonnes. The operationisnottransparentatthispoint,saidGoodchild. riedfrom AirbusDefenceandSpacesfacilityingave Antonov Airlines and its partner the opportu- Ive spent the last decade trying to uncover that.Toulouse by one of the airlines seven AN-124-100s.nity to trial its new lightweight, low profile loadingOneofthebiggestconundrumsinlastmile The direct flight landed at Floridas NASA Shuttleequipment. The equipment is the only type of itslogistics isnt transport at all. The bulk of the cost Landing Facility to deliver the satellite for its firstkind and has been specially designed and manufac- of the urban delivery system is not about moving launch with SpaceX. tured by Antonov Company to transport almost anythat vehicle around, its about what else is happen-The satellite container used to deliver ANASIS- satellite container. ing, Goodchild explained. The driver is finding the package in the back of the truck. Hes finding a parking space. Hes walking across the sidewalk. US Transportation Secretary Chao announces overHes taking an elevator. Hes finding the customer. Hes getting a signature.$1.2 billion in infrastructure grants to Americas airports A few years back, Goodchilds lab coined the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chaoon the FAA website. term for this logistics head-scratcher. They called it announcedthattheTrumpAdministrationwillThe total includes over $1 billion from the Airportthe final 50 feet.award more than $1.2 billion in airport safety andImprovement Program (AIP) and $152 million in Coro-infrastructuregrantsthroughtheFederal Aviationnavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)(STEPcontinued from page 19)Administration (FAA) to 405 airports in 50 statesAct grants to equal a 100 percent federal share. shelves, which were low or empty for weeks, were and the Federated States of Micronesia, the Mar- The 434 AIP grants will fund critical airportreplenished,andweremainedlaser-focusedon shall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puertoinfrastructureprojectsaroundthecountry,saidmeeting our customers service needs. Rico, Palau, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. FAA Administrator Stephen M. Dickson. Aspandemicrestrictionslifted,consumers This $1.2 billion federal investment will improveThe grants will be used for a variety of criti- began feeling comfortable with returning to work, our nations airport infrastructure, enhance safety, andcal infrastructure and safety projects. The projectsdining out, and shopping. We anticipate pent-up strengthen growth in local communities, which is espe- include purchasing aircraft rescue and firefightingconsumer demand for many items the railroad moves cially important as the economy recovers from COVID- equipment,constructingrunwaysandtaxiways,in intermodal containers, said Bishop. People will 19, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao. repairing runways and taxiways, installing aircraftwant a new couch or end table, and many are ready A complete listing of grants (PDF) and an inter- lighting and signage, conducting airport master planto throw out their old clothes. The ability to react to active map of airports receiving funding is availablestudies and installing airport perimeter fencing. a surge in demand will be critical. '