by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 23, 2012 | Airlines |
Recently, Lufthansa Cargo had introduced to me to one of their MD-11 Pilots and were kind enough to allow me to conduct a brief interview with him. I have talked several times about Lufthansa Cargo and thought this time to look at the company from a “human interest” perspective.
Tim H. started with Lufthansa’s Passenger Airline Group as a pilot before making the shift to Lufthansa Cargo. In the past, Tim has been fantastic with providing information for some of my Cargo related posts and I’m grateful for his agreeing to the brief interview.
Many thanks to Lufthansa Cargo for granting me the opportunity, and many thanks to Tim for his time and great answers.
LufthansaFlyer (LF): When did you first realize that you wanted to be a pilot?
Tim: I wanted to be a pilot since I was a little boy. I have always loved flying and spending time at or around airports. This has never changed.
LF: What was the first airplane that you flew as a pilot (even going back to your days as a student pilot)?
Tim: When I was in flight school, I started on the Piper PA28 Archer. The next planes were the Beech F33A Bonanza and Piper PA42 Cheyenne. My first passenger plane was Lufthansa’s B737. After having flown there for four years I changed to Lufthansa Cargo where I currently fly the MD11 freighter.
LF: How did you come to be a Lufthansa Cargo pilot?
Tim: After some while at Lufthansa passenger airlines I was thinking about my next career step which is usually the upgrade to a long range fleet. Colleagues told me about Lufthansa Cargo which was one possible option. It aroused my curiosity and I decided to join that fascinating segment of Lufthansa. Never regretted it – great decision!
LF: What hobbies do you enjoy when not in the air?
Tim: I love reading, music and travelling.
LF: What Lufthansa Cargo “destination” is your favorite to fly to? Why?
Tim: Quito in Ecuador is one of my favourites and also of our most special airports due to its high elevation and the surrounding breathtaking volcano landscape. Furthermore the city, the country and its people are really nice. But after all, I really love all of our destinations since I believe every place holds some special secrets to discover.
LF: What preparations do you go through on a day that you are scheduled to fly?
Tim: I pack my luggage which is always a challenge especially for trips that include a plus 20 centigrade mild Hong Kong followed by a freezing minus 20 centigrade Krasnojarsk. I look at the current weather and those of the following days for all of the places I am supposed to fly to. I make sure to arrive timely at our base, i.e. 90 minutes before departure when we meet for our briefing. Then finally I meet with my colleagues and we work through the flight plan and papers, decide for the fuel and get the airplane running to make sure we leave on time.
LF: What has been the single most unique Cargo item that you have transported?
Tim: I once had the opportunity to be one of the pilots for a relief flight to Santo Domingo with over 80 tons of goods for the Haitian people and especially kids after the earthquake in 2010.
LF: How many trips do you take in a typical month?
Tim: Lufthansa Cargo pilots fly about 18 days per month. Given the average trip length of 6 days this means 3 trips. But we also have shorter trips of 1 or 2 days and a maximum length of over 10 days.
LF: What part of being a pilot do you find most rewarding?
Tim: The fascination of flight itself, plus possibly one of the most exclusive offices in the world and getting connected to places and people from so many different places all around our globe within a wink of time.
LF: What advice do you have for aspiring pilots that one day hope to fly for Lufthansa or Lufthansa Cargo?
Tim: Study hard and never stop dreaming.
To learn more about Lufthansa Cargo please visit Lufthansa-Cargo.com. For great video content, please visit their dedicated YouTube Channel showing great video footage of their aircraft and in-flight operations. In addition you can find them on FACEBOOK and on Twitter: @LufthansaCargo .
by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 17, 2012 | Airlines |
As promised, this is the follow up to Part I of my tour of Lufthansa Cargo. In Part I covered my visit to one of the warehouses and the cargo ramp where shipments and containers are prepared. Part II takes me onboard an MD-11 Freighter as she is being prepared for her flight to India.
For those of you unfamiliar with Lufthansa Cargo’s MD-11 aircraft, they are the workhorse of the fleet. Lufthansa Cargo currently has 18 of the type in the fleet and they are the favorite of their pilots. “Fast”, “Reliable” and “Strong” are all words that I’ve heard from Lufthansa Cargo pilots as they describe the MD-11, and as far as airplanes are concerned, you couldn’t pay an aircraft a nicer compliment!
MD-11 Statistics:
Length: 61.6 meters / 202 feet
Height: 17.6 meters / 58 feet
Wingspan: 51.8 meters / 170 feet
Landing Weight: 223 tons / 446,000 pounds
Takeoff Weight: 286 tons / 572,000 pounds
Maximum Cargo Weight: 95 tons / 190,000 pounds
Main Deck Cargo Capacity: 412 square meters/ 492 square yards
Lower Deck Cargo Capacity: 122 square meters / 146 square yards
Once past a security check point, I quickly found myself on the tarmac at Frankfurt Airport. It is easy to identify an MD-11 thanks to its distinctive 3rd engine that is integrated in its tail:
The third engine creates a distinct look
As my guides and I approached the aircraft, the aircraft started to impress with its size. This has been the closest I have ever been to an MD-11 and based on the size of my goose bumps, I must have been really impressed!
Pre-Flight activity underway 2 hours prior to departure for India
The following images show part of the process involved in loading the lower deck of the MD-11. The lower deck has a smaller capacity than the upper deck, and is loaded with smaller pallets and customized cargo containers. After speaking with my guides, I gained a new appreciation for the science involved in properly loading an aircraft. For each cargo flight, a “Loadmaster” is assigned to a flight and their responsibility is to ensure that the loading of an aircraft is done properly and safely. The loadmasters biggest responsibility is to ensure that the cargo is distributed in such a manner that an aircraft can operate safely and be within its performance thresholds.
A pallet is loaded on the lower deck
This gentleman is the Loadmaster and it’s his responsibility that the aircraft is loaded correctly.
Next, I was able to board the aircraft to get a very “first hand” look at the process involved in preparing the MD-11 for her flight. At this point in the tour, the term “Child In A Candy Store” came to mind. Short of firing up the engines and taking the plane for a short trip, there was nothing that I was not allowed to see or do while aboard the aircraft.
Climbing the stairs into the aircraft
Ground Crew awaits arrival of containers for loading
Once onboard, the capacity of the MD-11 freighter was obvious. The cavernous main deck can accomodate a tremendous amount of cargo and is equipped with powered and unpowered rollers to help the crew put the containers into very specific places on the aircraft.
In fact, if you pay close attention to the following photos you will see large bold letters in pairs on the fuselage. The letters indicate pallet locations on the aircraft. Think of it as a seat assignment for each cargo container. Prior to loading the aircraft the Loadmaster determines each pallet’s position on the aircraft, and the ground crew then follow his instructions to place each pallet in it’s appropriate “seat” on the aircraft. It was described to me as playing “TETRIS” but with weights instead of shapes.
Empty upper cargo hold – notice the large letters on the fuselage that I referred to?
As I mentioned earlier, loading of the aircraft is a complex process and must be properly planned for in order to ensure safe operation of the aircraft. Not only is weight distribution important, so is the order in which pallets are loaded. If you load beginning from the rear (as would be logical), you risk tipping the aircraft (there are plenty of examples of that on the internet). If you load too much weight on the wings initially, you risk landing gear damage. To help crews properly load and unload aircraft, large charts are present on the fuselage to help a crew when in doubt. These charts are not so much for Lufthansa crew since they are specially trained, but if you think about the places that this aircraft will visit during its flights there may be little guarantee that ground crews working on the aircraft in remote parts of the world would be as well trained as Lufthansa’s own staff.
Loading Sequence Chart
Unloading Sequence Chart
View through main loading door on port side of aircraft
Initial pallets come aboard – Loaded in forward section to weigh down aircraft
A pallet is remotely rolled into position
Another pallet makes it way to it’s “seat”
At this point in order to not become part of the cargo manifest, we moved out of the Cargo Hold and moved to the front of the aircraft where I was able to spend several minutes admiring the cockpit. The MD-11 is known to have one of the friendliest cockpits among all aircraft. It is very roomy by cockpit standards and has large windows for easier outside viewing by the flight crew. Additional, right behind the cockpit is a small galley area where the pilots can fix their meals and get their beverages (no flight attendant on Cargo flights!). Additionally there is a small crew rest area and 2 jump seats located just aft of the cockpit.
The MD-11’s Cockpit
After leaving the aircraft (the pilots arrived and wanted their cockpit back :)), I was able to continue to walk around the aircraft at my leisure so that I can observe more of the flight preparations. Spending a while longer just watching the process take place, it soon began to look and feel like a complex symphony of many different instruments rather than just the act of containers being loaded onto an aircraft. I certainly have gained a deeper appreciation for what is involved when a Cargo Jet is being loaded and prepared for its flight!
To learn more about Lufthansa Cargo please visit Lufthansa-Cargo.com. For great video content, please visit their dedicated YouTube Channel showing great video footage of their aircraft and in-flight operations. In addition you can find them on FACEBOOK and on Twitter: @LufthansaCargo .
Below are additional photos from around the aircraft showing various parts of the preparation. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Lufthansa Cargo for their fantastic hospitality and their granting me full access to their facility and aircraft. Truly a unique experience that will not be forgotten!
Loading of the MD-11 continues
Small rear cargo hold primarily for crew luggage and small items.
Fueling in process
Containers filled with sand to act as ballast when plane is empty and on the ground.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 16, 2012 | Airlines |
During my visit with Lufthansa last week to attend the Lufthansa Group Social Media Workshop, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon touring Lufthansa’s Cargo Facilities in Frankfurt. The tour had two distinctive parts to it. The first part was a tour of the facilities, including Warehouse and Logisitics areas. The second part, which I’ll cover in another installment, involved touring an MD-11 aircraft and being on board as she was being loaded with her cargo, which was a real treat for this “avgeek”.
Seeing Lufthansa’s cargo facility really gave me a new and better appreciation for what is involved when transporting goods between two or more points. In many ways, it is far more complex to transport cargo than passengers. During my tour I had the opportunity to learn from my guide the many nuances that are involved within an air cargo operation.
Some of the key points that I realized or learned:
Cargo is nothing like passenger transport. There are several obvious as well as less obvious comparisons:
*For example, passenger transport is predictable. Fares are sold weeks and months in advance, and an airline can have the proper aircraft, meals, etc. prepared well in advance since they know with a fair degree of certainty how many passengers will be on board. With Cargo transport, many times it may only be a few days or so prior to a scheduled flight that cargo loads are identified and booked, leaving very little time to solve logistics issues.
*With Passenger travel, loading an aircraft and calculating weight and fuel is fairly straight forward. Calculating the weight of an aircraft with 300 similarly sized people (plus or minus) for safety and fueling purposes is far more easier than calculating the weight of a Cargo aircraft’s load. I witnessed several cargo pallets that looked identical, but varied in weight by hundreds or thousands of kilos. To that end, a special “Load Master” is in charge of the loading of each flight to make sure that a flight is safely weighted, and that the weight is distributed appropriately throughout the aircraft. A small miscalculation can mean the loss of life, aircraft and cargo.
*With Cargo transport, its critical to know what is being transported so that it is placed appropriately on the plane. For example you would not place a pallet of matches next to a pallet of dynamite. Whereas with passenger transport, it really doesn’t matter who sits next to who as we tend to all be somewhat compatible with each other (in most cases!). Lufthansa Cargo has a thorough screening process that labels all Cargo and also cross references compatibility between different types of hazardous items so that incompatible cargo is not placed near each other. In other words, dogs are in the front of the cargo bay area and cats are in the back! 🙂
Examples of Lufthansa Cargo’s Hazardous Material and Hazardous Material Compatibility Charts:
Hazardous Material Label Chart
Hazardous Material Incompatibility Cross Reference Chart
*Cargo transport is a One-Way ticket kind of business requiring planning on both the outbound and return flight with different loads of cargo. A Cargo business will not succeed if it only flies Cargo in one direction, only to return with an empty aircraft. To that end, Lufthansa Cargo boasts an impressive logistics system that helps ensure that their flights are as full as possible in both directions. One example that I witnessed included a Cargo flight heading for South America loaded with goods for distribution throughout the continent. The flight would land in one country to drop off its cargo, and on the way back it would take a slight detour to Ecuador to pick up a plane full of flowers for the European market. This way the plane flies full in both directions, increasing revenue for the company. With passengers, this is hardly ever an issue since 95% or more tickets that are sold are round trip tickets, so an airline knows that if it drops a passenger off somewhere, it will eventually fly that passenger back. Again, this allows for the logistics to be somewhat easier with passenger transport than with cargo transport. Passenger transport does not usually involve flying to different airports to pick up different passengers, whereas a Cargo aircraft can make a few stops along the way so that it comes back full —which means revenue.
The more I listened, obviously the more I learned and came away from Cargo very impressed and with a new understanding and appreciation for what is involved for safely and effectively transporting goods around the world. Lufthansa’s Cargo operation is not simply about large cargo containers full of “stuff” that are put on airplanes and sent on their way. It is a very complex business that requires surgical precision when it comes to preparing aircraft for their flights and also requires business and marketing acumen and savvy to ensure the unit’s success. Next time you see cargo containers being loaded on an aircraft, maybe you’ll look at it differently as well!
Of course my tour of Cargo was not just learning about the business, it was also a great opportunity to experience first hand what the operation looks like and how it functions. To that end I’ve included a few of the many photos that I took during my visit. As we’ve come to expect from Lufthansa, what you’ll see below is a well organized and extremely efficient operation!
Outside one of their expansive warehouses
Walking around the ramp area, I saw a variety of different items ready for shipment. Everything from critical medical supplies to pallets full of fresh salmon, fresh flowers, aircraft and auto parts and even crates full of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanners were ready for shipment. Unfortunately I did not see any Formula 1 Cars or Bugatti Veyrons that regularly come through Lufthansa Cargo’s doors.
Cargo pallets ready for their flights
Inside the warehouse, cargo is packaged and loaded into containers and onto pallets. The organization, automation and cleanliness of the facilities was beyond impressive. Every item is scanned and accounted for and impossible to lose. Currently, Lufthansa Cargo is testing RFID technology to further advance their efficiency. We may see RFID technology prevalent throughout Cargo operations when their new facilities open in a few years.
The next photo is from their Hazardous Material staging area. This is where dangerous cargo is separated from the rest of the warehouse and further segregated by the type of material that is contained in the packages. Walking around this area, I saw everything from radioactive medical supplies, Airbag explosive charges (Rocket fuel usually) and a host of other items that need ultra-special attention.
Lufthansa Cargo thinks of everything. The image below is of a cargo container that has loops of rope hanging from the top. These loops are used to hang garments so that they can be transported with minimal wrinkling.
Additional photos of the warehouse:
A spotless and state of the art facility.
In all, I came away quite impressed with how Lufthansa Cargo operates and how well organized everything is. It’s obvious that there is a focus on the safety of it’s employees as well as a focus on ensuring that the cargo that they are trusted to transport arrives safely to it’s final destination. I would wager that being a “cargo passenger” with LH Cargo would be a better experience than being a regular passenger on some airlines!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 1, 2012 | Airlines |
Lufthansa Cargo announced today the launch of a dedicated YouTube Channel that will take us behind the scenes of one of the world’s largest Air Cargo Carriers. The decision to launch this dedicated channel comes as a follow up to the wonderful reception that Lufthansa’s Cargo has received on it’s Facebook page where it has garnered more than 14,000 “Thumbs-Up Likes”.
To inaugurate the channel, Lufthansa Cargo debuted a new video entitled “Networking The World”. This 2 minute video gives viewers an excellent perspective into Lufthansa Cargo:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAqEpj0tkBI&hd=1[/youtube]
The decision to to expand it’s social media presence demonstrates Cargo’s desire to invite the public to learn more about Lufthansa’s Cargo operation. According to Cargo’s Director of Communications, Mathhias Eberle, “Lufthansa Cargo is active on all continents. It networks the world with its services just as social media do on the Internet. Portals, like facebook or YouTube, offer unique opportunities to invite a global public to experience the fascination of our airfreight operations.”
The Channel promises to be a fantastic venue. Lufthansa Cargo plans on using the channel to highlight it’s role in “A Century Of Air Cargo” as well as footage from flight operations created by pilots and ground crew.
Please Click Here To Be Taken To Lufthansa Cargo’s YouTube Channel. I would block off some time and explore the great videos that area already on there!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 27, 2012 | Airlines |
During last week’s Supervisory Board meeting in Germany, the board announced plans to build a new logistics center in Frankfurt. This piece of news was overshadowed by last week’s announcement that Lufthansa will consolidate their germanwings and direct services into one Low Cost Carrier(LCC) next year, but it comes as great news for Lufthansa Cargo.
The plan calls for the replacement of the current facility to be completed and in operation by 2018. The current facility has been in use for over 30 years so it makes sense that a new and technologically superior facility be built.
A major motivation behind the decision to improve Cargo facilities was Lufthansa’s desire to become more efficient and competitive with their cargo business in light of night-flight ban in effect in Frankfurt which prevents air traffic from arriving or departing during over-night hours.
I really am excited about this decision because by making the “mid triple digit million euro” commitment, it confirms that Lufthansa Cargo is confident that it can make adjustments in it’s logistics that will allow it to remain competitive in spite of the challenges they face with the night-flight ban.
The new facility will be built where the current Lufthansa Cargo facility is located (north side of the airport) and construction is expected to begin in 2014. Current Cargo operations will not be affected by the construction.
Looks like we’ll continue to see the current MD-11’s and the new 777 Freighters (deliveries start in 2013) at Frankfurt for years to come.
Artist rendering of the new facility:
Courtesy: Lufthansa Cargo
Recently, Lufthansa Cargo had introduced to me to one of their MD-11 Pilots and were kind enough to allow me to conduct a brief interview with him. I have talked several times about Lufthansa Cargo and thought this time to look at the company from a “human interest” perspective.
