Emirates SkyCargo realigns U.S. operation

Emirates SkyCargo has undergone a restructuring in its United States operations. Ed Chism, Emirates’ former cargo manager for North America, initiated the changes with his retirement; the company held a farewell party for him last week in New York.

In Chism’s place, Emirates will have a team of three executives managing the U.S. market. Duncan Watson, vice president of Emirates’ cargo commercial operations, will manage the new tripartite leadership team. In addition, Watson manages SkyCargo’s Middle East operations.

Specifically, the three departments into which the U.S. market has been split are: Los Angeles, which encompasses the West Coast and its GSSA in Mexico; Chicago, from which the Midwest will be covered; and New York. Emirates said it would announce the head of the Chicago office within the next two weeks.

Watson, who is based out of Dubai, told Air Cargo World that he thought the structural changes to Emirates SkyCargo’s Americas operation will sustain its U.S. growth “through the next three years of growth.” The challenge for Emirates SkyCargo, which has enjoyed great growth of more than 6 percent per annum in recent years, is, “How do we keep this growing?” he added. “How do we get to the next step? How do we keep this leadership perspective? How do we keep the momentum?”

Geographically, in the U.S. market, Emirates has seen tremendous expansion in Chicago, Atlanta, and particularly in L.A. and San Francisco. “There is good growth everywhere,” Watson said, “but if you ask me, where are the standouts? It would be in those four locations.”

In ATL and ORD, for example, he credited the cargo traffic growth to an increase in frequency of flights — passenger flights, that is. Emirates, which operates more than 200 passenger aircraft, has enough belly capacity to be the third largest cargo carrier in the world.