Air Freight Industry Group Calls for Infrastructure Upgrade for Air Cargo
The Air Forwarders Association will begin pressuring Congress to improve airport infrastructure to better handle air freight, the group's executive director, Brandon Fried, said at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade's (CONECT) Northeast Trade and Transportation Conference on Oct. 30.
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Fried said that cargo infrastructure at airports across the country has not seen an upgrade in "probably 50 or 60 years," leading to long wait times to "drop freight or pick up cargo" at airports. His group "decided to coalesce" with the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, telling lawmakers that "these airports need an investment. We need you to start focusing on it," he said.
A recent Government Accountability Office study confirmed the group's concerns and validated "every one of our assertions, without exception," Fried said. They will now focus their efforts on Congress, he said: "We're going to have hearings, and we're going to get money, and we're going to start investing in these airports again so that we can reduce our on-time levels."
Fried said his message to Congress was to "get to your major airports and start funding the cargo areas." He said that while the system is already "strained," forecast growth in air cargo will only worsen matters: "Imagine what it's going to be when you almost double that volume."