newstodate.aero
DEC 14, 2004 (newstodate): Austrian Airlines Cargo has set end of December, 2004, as deadline for deciding on the issue of GF-X membership - but the case is still pending.
-We have been approached by GF-X and are still evaluating the system. So far the end of this year has been set as the deadline for decision, says Thomas Bernardy, AUA Cargo head of cargo processes & systems.
-The ultimate parametre is of course our need to have forwarders book their shipments electronically, rather than calling on us. We really want as many e-bookings as possible.
-There are, however, a wide range of technicalities involved in our evaluation of GF-X. First of all we are reluctant towards having to maintain, at high labour costs, an own database alongside GF-X' database. We also do find the issue of integration with GF-X rather complex.
-In contrast we are members of Cargo Portal Services, CPS, together with United Airlines, Air Canada, KLM, and Northwest Airlines. We would indeed be happy to see the CPS membership list growing as this service is fully integrated and allows for easy and seamless operations over the internet.
-Compared to other solutions, GF-X does seem to be currently more oriented towards the European scene, while CPS is obviously stronger in the American markets.
-Already quite a long time ago we cancelled all contracts with cargo switches such as Traxon, TradeVision and Syntegra. We still cooperate with them - but we do not pay for their services.
-After making this decision we were often asked if it generated a drop in volume of bookings. The answer is: no! There was absolutely no impact on our relations with the forwarders, says Thomas Bernardy.
-We have been approached by GF-X and are still evaluating the system. So far the end of this year has been set as the deadline for decision, says Thomas Bernardy, AUA Cargo head of cargo processes & systems.
-The ultimate parametre is of course our need to have forwarders book their shipments electronically, rather than calling on us. We really want as many e-bookings as possible.
-There are, however, a wide range of technicalities involved in our evaluation of GF-X. First of all we are reluctant towards having to maintain, at high labour costs, an own database alongside GF-X' database. We also do find the issue of integration with GF-X rather complex.
-In contrast we are members of Cargo Portal Services, CPS, together with United Airlines, Air Canada, KLM, and Northwest Airlines. We would indeed be happy to see the CPS membership list growing as this service is fully integrated and allows for easy and seamless operations over the internet.
-Compared to other solutions, GF-X does seem to be currently more oriented towards the European scene, while CPS is obviously stronger in the American markets.
-Already quite a long time ago we cancelled all contracts with cargo switches such as Traxon, TradeVision and Syntegra. We still cooperate with them - but we do not pay for their services.
-After making this decision we were often asked if it generated a drop in volume of bookings. The answer is: no! There was absolutely no impact on our relations with the forwarders, says Thomas Bernardy.