Editor’s Note: Climbing toward an unfamiliar peak

With the 2020 summer coming to a close — despite what the week’s weather forecast may say — children are returning to (virtual) classrooms, the pumpkin spice latte has likely appeared at your local Starbucks, and the logistics industry is preparing for the busiest time of the year.

The lead-in to peak season is always a time of hectic preparation, with forwarders securing block space and express companies rushing to expand capacity for quick delivery of parcels purchased during the holiday e-commerce extravaganzas. This year’s peak is sure to include those familiar events, but like all of 2020, the industry will need to work around obstacles never encountered before.

So what can the industry expect from this year’s peak season? Carriers topping this year’s Freight 50 ranking of the world’s largest cargo carriers based on 2019 traffic are already planning to adjust to reduced passenger flights and the accompanying drop in bellyhold capacity. Alongside the feature story, Air Cargo World launched a fully interactive table allowing for sorting across various metrics. For more on the Freight 50’s peak season plans, read the full story here.

We aren’t at the peak just yet, however, and August’s secondary feature keeps us grounded in summer with a look at green industry initiatives. In the article, editor Caryn Livingston examined the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on sustainability initiatives across the logistics industry. Despite cost-cutting measures at many airlines in the wake of the passenger demand cliff earlier this year, carriers and forwarders that had pre-existing commitments to making their operations more sustainable have continued to push forward toward a greener future. The full feature, “Greener on the other side: Airfreight holds to sustainability goals through pandemic,” can be found here.

Our next issue — September/October 2020 — will see a return to Air Cargo World’s traditional digital issue format. In addition to the annual ranking of the world’s top cargo airports, the fall digital issue will include an examination of the vaccine supply chain and its readiness for the potential distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. Look for the next issue, and much more content, on AirCargoWorld.com.