American Airlines Cargo Division Announces the U.S. Launch of E-Freight
October 22 2008 - 3:14PM
PR Newswire (US)
Paperless Initiative Begins New Era in Air Cargo FORT WORTH, Texas,
Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines Cargo Division
(AA Cargo) today announced its participation in the U.S. launch of
an air cargo industry e-freight initiative which supports a move
toward paperless documentation. The initiative is facilitated by
the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA's
e-freight effectively eliminates the need to send 12 paper
documents with air cargo shipments, which streamlines processes,
improves speed and reliability, and cuts costs. IATA represents
some 230 airlines comprising 93 percent of international scheduled
air traffic. The first use of the new system begins today on
American flights between New York John F. Kennedy and London
Heathrow airports. Further expansion into other routes is planned,
and will be launched at additional major U.S. airports. IATA's
e-freight program is one of five Simplifying the Business projects
being led by IATA to improve service and cut costs. Previous
projects have included 100 percent electronic ticketing and RFID
for baggage management. E-freight requires that business, technical
and legal frameworks be in place to allow airlines, freight
forwarders, customs administrations, and governments to seamlessly
exchange electronic information and e-documents instead of paper.
In addition, the effort supports the environment by reducing
paper-based waste. "The U.S. launch of the e-freight initiative
brings us one step closer to a completely paperless environment,"
said Dave Brooks, President - AA Cargo. "The improvement in data
quality and timeliness of information will increase the speed of
our interactions, yielding more efficient commerce for all of us in
the air cargo industry." Over the past year IATA has assessed the
readiness of 209 locations worldwide in addition to the original
six e-freight sites. It found that 46 countries, representing 63
percent of global air-freight volumes, have the appropriate
international treaties and high level customs framework in place to
qualify for IATA e-freight. The United States becomes the ninth
e-freight location worldwide to deliver paper-free cargo. Other
participants in the U.S. launch include British Airways, KLM,
United Airlines, DHL, and Kuehne+Nagel. IATA e-freight is also
operational in Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Singapore,
South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The industry has set
the end of 2010 as a deadline for the implementation of e-freight
where feasible. About American Airlines Cargo American Airlines
Cargo(SM), a division of American Airlines, Inc., provides over 100
million pounds of weekly cargo lift capacity to major cities in the
United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America
and Asia. American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection
regional airlines serve more than 250 cities in over 40 countries
with more than 4,000 daily flights. The combined network fleet
numbers more than 1,000 aircraft. American provides one of the
largest cargo networks in the world, with cargo terminals and
interline connections available across the globe. For more
information, visit http://www.aacargo.com/ DATASOURCE: American
Airlines Cargo CONTACT: Jennifer Pemberton of American Airlines
Cargo, +1-817-967-1577, Web site: http://www.aa.com/
http://www.aacargo.com/
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