I’m here in Memphis for the ACI-NA Cargo Conference. The meeting is being held in the historic Peabody Hotel, which features its famous ducks that come down the elevator at 11 a.m.; swim around in the lobby fountain and then go back up to their suite. Today, the mascot of the Marshall University Thundering Herd basketball team served as the ducks’ escort; they are in town for the Conference USA Basketball Tournament.
Much of today’s discussion centered on the economic challenges we face. The mayor of Memphis began by reminding us that we have come out of every economic challenge we’ve faced thus far, and so we will again. But in the hours that followed, it was hard to avoid coming back to the impact a recession has on cargo.
I thought it was interesting, too, that a couple of other subjects kept coming up, namely the need to modernize air traffic control by moving forward with NextGen, the need to ensure adequate ground infrastructure, and the need to deal with environmental issues, especially those surrounding climate change. This came up in the panel I moderated on regulatory and legislative challenges (nearly the entire session was focused on the economy), as well as in the keynote speech by FedEx Chief Operating Officer Bill Logue.
In other words: We cannot allow the economic slump to divert our attention away from these important issues that will have a critical impact on our business for a long time to come. Truer words have never been spoken.
P.S. If you are concerned about congested skies and the future of air traffic control, then join the new National Alliance to Advance NextGen.
Filed under: Airports, Government policy, Travels
