Chicago, Illinois – August 1, 2008. TAS will soon be adding four new carriers to its list of customers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Alitalia, Air New Zealand, British Airways, and China Southern have all selected TAS as the ground handler of choice for their freighters flying in and out of O’Hare IAP.
Service for two of the carriers begins almost immediately while the others transition to TAS by mid-September. With these additional four carriers, TAS will be handling over 60 aircraft per week by the end of September, mostly Boeing 747s. Interestingly enough that is also over 60% of all freighters arriving and departing Chicago.
“The key to our success is our outstanding operation,” said Gerald Kolasch, VP for Chicago. “Last quarter, TAS handled 558 freighters and had a 99.5% on time takeoff rate,” continued Kolasch. That is amazing when you consider that most of these aircraft arrive and depart in the dark of night.
TAS began operations in Chicago on June 17th, 2007 with three carriers; Cathay Pacific, Kalitta, and Korean Airlines. “The first day we handled 5 flights and an additional 13 for the rest of the week,” said Denny Eichenbaum, TAS Senior VP. Adding, “We thought that was great, but this puts the company on a whole new level.”
Hartford, Connecticut – July 31st, 2008. TAS will more than double the volume of its warehouse operations at Bradley International Airport with four new carriers beginning September 1, 2008. Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, and US Airways have all selected TAS to handle their cargo in Hartford. “This is a tremendous boost for our operations and the ultimate compliment to our customer service,” said Jay Tweeddale, TAS General Manager.
Bradley IAP was the second TAS operating location to open for business when the company started over 3 ½ years ago. The TAS team there has always received high praise for their outstanding customer service and perfect safety record. TAS already handles such carriers as Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Air Canada, plus numerous shipping and freight forwarding companies.
San Francisco, California – On Wednesday, June 4th, Total Airport Services (TAS) expanded its aviation service offerings at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) by ground handling aircraft for Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA). So now in SFO, besides warehousing, ramp scrubbing, and ramp control tower operations, TAS handles NCA’s Boeing 747 freighters
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TAS had been handling all warehousing for NCA and Cathay Pacific in SFO since December 2006. The carriers had been averaging over 2 million kilos per month and were using another ground service provider for ground handling. “This will provide NCA with greater efficiency and control of their freight,” said Ralph Eichenbaum, TAS General Manager, “because NCA will have a single service provider dealing with all aspects of the shipping here at SFO.”
NCA is in the process of acquiring new aircraft and expanding their fleet. The operations on June 4th begin with two freighters per week flying into SFO, but will add an additional four aircraft per week as airframes become available. “It’s great to expand our business lines and continue the great working relationship we have with NCA,” said Jack Evans, TAS CEO. “We value the working relationship we have with NCA,” continued Evans.
In March it was announced that TAS had received top honors from Korean Air Cargo for 2007 for TAS Chicago operations. Korean Air Cargo announced that TAS had been selected as the top ground handling company throughout Korean’s entire system for the entire year.
“This is a great tribute to the dedication and team effort TAS has demonstrated in Chicago,” said Denny Eichenbaum, Senior Vice President. Adding “When you consider that we started this operation with less than 30 days notice and still be able to receive this kind of award is amazing! Now, we’re handling over 160 – 747 aircraft per month and still producing this kind of quality through one of the worst winters Chicago has seen in years, it’s even more amazing!”
Congratulations to the entire TAS team in Chicago for making this happen!
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) cargo ramp was a flurry of activity as TAS began ground handling on Sunday, June 17th. While we generally get one new customer at a time, in Chicago TAS began handling Kalitta Airlines, Korean Airlines, and Cathay Pacific all on the same day.
"Everything went off without a hitch," said Denny Eichenbaum, Senior Vice President for TAS and the person responsible for pulling it all together. "By day three, everything was flowing smoothly and you would have thought we had been doing this for years. It's a tribute to the team we've put together and very gratifying to watch," continued Eichenbaum.
The startup wasn't without its nail-biting moments. On Tuesday night, our new General Manager, Antonio Franceschi, and his wife rushed to the hospital so Mrs. Franceschi could have their second child. Fortunately, mom, the new baby boy, and even dad are doing fine.
The three carriers have about 18 - 747 cargo aircraft per week flying into ORD. The first week, we even had a couple of extra flights. The change in service did not go unnoticed by other carriers on the ramp who commented on the professional image displayed by the new TAS team members. "Everyone was in new uniforms and seemed to work together so well, it was obvious that there was a new operation going on," said one customer whose corporate office had gone with a TAS competitor. "We were very jealous," said the Station Manager.
Congratulations to our entire team in ORD and especially Denny for pulling together a very complicated operation on 30 days notice. After the first week, none of the carriers had taken a single delay and all of the carriers had expressed high praise for TAS operations! The entire transition was extremely well done.
On March 28th, Total Airport Services, Inc. (TAS) opened its second new operating location for the month in Atlanta, Georgia. TAS won a contract with Cargolux to provide flight and aircraft administration for all of the carrier's flights into and out of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
"We have been working on getting into Atlanta for a long time," said Gerald Kolasch, Vice President of Cargo. "Cargolux is a great carrier and we see this new contract as a great first step toward building our operations there."
Based out of Luxembourg, Cargolux is the eighth leading carrier in the world based on tonnage flown and is the largest all cargo carriers in Europe. Cargolux has been operating for 35 years and has a fleet of 14 B747-400 aircraft.
Jose Aguirre is the new General Manager in Atlanta. Jose was formerly with Omni Air International in Atlanta and is well acquainted with the Atlanta market. He graduated from High School in Chile and attended Northeastern in Boston, Massachusetts before entering the aviation career field.
Besides Atlanta, TAS now has operations in Hartford, Connecticut; Newark, New Jersey; Columbus, Ohio; Huntsville, Alabama; San Francisco and Riverside, California; and begins operations at Los Angeles International Airport on June 1 st, 2007.
On Wednesday, February 21, 2007, the Joint Powers Commission for the March Inland Port (MIP) made its selection of Total Airport Services (TAS) as the successful bidder for the Operations & Maintenance of MIP's new fuel farm facility located on the airport. Mr. Gary Gosliga, Airport Director for MIP made the announcement.
MIP is the former U.S. Air Force base located in Riverside, California and is now a joint use field. The Joint Powers Commission has been seeking other business for the airport and successfully attracted DHL cargo operations a couple of years ago. The cargo business is now growing and the airport needed a professionally managed fuel farm in the facility now under construction.
The fuel farm facility has been developed as a three phase project and will greatly expand the airport's fuel handling capability. Phase 1 of the project is the installation of two above-ground storage tanks and is nearly complete. Testing of the new fuel system is set to begin the week of February 26 th. Phase 2 of the project will add two additional above-ground storage tanks and is expected to be completed later this year. Phase 3 plans are still being developed, but will add the required storage capacity as the airport continues to add flights and takes on larger aircraft.
"This is a business that we have a lot of experience performing and that we do really well," said Jack Evans, CEO for TAS. MIP services the Inland Empire of Southern California and is being touted as an airport with tremendous potential to relieve some of the traffic congestion at LAX, particularly cargo traffic. DHL moved their operations to March and has just announced plans to begin flying in there six days a week. On March 26 th, they will expand their operations further with the addition of an international MD-11. "We are very excited about this new opportunity and there appears to be tremendous potential to expand into some of our other business lines as we work with the airport as they continue their efforts to grow," said Evans.
"Business sometimes works in mysterious ways!" said Harry Hoge, Regional Vice President for TAS. "Our latest successful bid on the Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) operation in San Francisco is living proof," continued Hoge.
On a trip to San Francisco earlier this year, Hoge had stopped by NCA to make a courtesy visit. Because of that visit and getting the TAS story out, TAS was invited to participate in a Request For Proposal (RFP) for NCA's operation at the Airport.
The RFP was released on October 20 th with a very quick turnaround. So on November 3rd, NCA awarded the contract to TAS with a startup a mere 30 days after that.
"We usually like to have 60 - 90 days for a new start," said Denny Eichenbaum, Senior VP of Business Development. Adding, "We had to pull this together fast and it required a company-wide effort to pull it off."
So on December 6 th, TAS started doing all warehousing for NCA. "It took a small miracle, besides a lot of sleepless nights", said Ralph Eichenbaum, TAS General Manager, "but we made it happen. The NCA operation has been successfully transitioned".
On January 8th, the Los Angeles World Airport's Board of Commissioners met and decided in a unanimous voice vote to award TAS the contract for facilities maintenance at Terminal One at LAX.
The Request For Proposal (RFP), released during the summer, requires TAS to provide all jet-bridge and baggage conveyor belt maintenance at Terminal One.
When the RFP came out, TAS quickly sought the services of Phil McGrath. "Phil is easily the most knowledgeable person in this field with over 44 years of experience," said Jack Evans, TAS CEO. Adding, "Phil had managed Terminal One for 16 years up until 2004."
TAS will be responsible for maintenance on the 16 passenger boarding bridges and nearly a dozen different baggage belt conveyor systems. That also means that TAS provides all electrical maintenance for these systems as well as the potable water systems, and ramp scrubbing of over 35,000 sq ft of ramp parking.
Terminal One is one of the busiest terminals at LAX and houses Southwest Airlines, US Airways, and America West.
With TAS as the low bidder and the Airport Authorities recommendation, easy passage is expected from the Board. Start date will be June 1st.
"A flawless performance," said Jack Evans, TAS CEO, of the grand opening in Newark, New Jersey. TAS began operations at Newark Liberty International Airport on July 1, 2006 with resounding success. With the crew up before dawn, they began to handle all cargo moving through the 62,000 sq. ft. Scandinavian Airlines warehouse facility. Everything was going so great that TAS was even ahead of schedule and remained that way throughout the day. The transition was seamless thanks to the TAS management and newly assembled TAS staff in Newark. Even before TAS started, new contracts have been signed with additional airlines for warehousing and ground handling. CargoJet will be TAS first ground handling customer and those operations begin the end of July.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has adopted quality management principles to guide organizations toward improved performance. The ISO standards allow organizations to measure their performance in critical areas of service, leadership, improvement, and processes.
With the startup of operations at Newark, TAS has built an organization that is now ISO certified in Quality and Environmental Management. This means that while TAS is in business to be profitable, we are also good stewards of the environment and we are concerned about our customers. We have a customer focus that not only tries to improve our efficiency, but we work to make things better for our customers as well.
Due to the stringent process to achieve this certification, not many of our competitors are certified. So the fact that a new company, such as TAS, has gone through and achieved this certification is a significant accomplishment.
April 26, 2006 – Scandinavian Airlines of North America, Inc., on behalf of SAS Cargo Group A/S, today entered into an agreement with Total Airport Services, Inc. to handle its cargo and mail at SAS Cargo's dedicated terminal at Newark International Airport. The Agreement also covers several other carriers being handled by SAS Cargo at Newark.
(Total Airport Services) Senior VP Business Development Denny Eichenbaum said, "The 62,000-square-foot facility is equipped with state-of-the-art material handling technology that will be of great advantage in our efforts to attract new business at EWR. The Sales & Service team of Gerald Kolasch, VP Cargo and Harry Hoge, Regional VP Northeast, will have all the tools necessary to achieve the key targets of our business plan to grow both air cargo warehousing and under-the-wing ramp handling services."
"A facility of this size can accommodate 56,000 tons of cargo annually," said Harry Hoge. "The current through-put is averaging 26,000 tons per annum, which allows for the type of growth potential we like to see in a new location. That along with the two freighter parking spots located directly behind the facility present a welcome challenge that both Gerald and I are eager to pursue," Hoge added.
Kenneth Marx, SAS Cargo's President and CEO said, "We are pleased to having finalized the agreement with Total Airport Services at Newark. SAS and SAS Cargo's continued effort to optimize its operations by focusing on sales and product development through our access to SAS intercontinental flights as well our dedicated all-cargo flights from US gateways to Scandinavia, we will continue to provide our customers with a continued high quality cargo handling at the Newark gateway.
As handling cargo is not our core business, we feel that by choosing a dedicated cargo handling provider focusing entirely on this specific business segment, will enable us to increase the focus on sales related efforts to the ever increasing and highly demanding North American market," Marx concluded.
SAS Cargo has been present at Newark with its own cargo terminal since 1998, and SAS has operated at Newark for almost 20 years. Today SAS flies to Denmark's capital Copenhagen as well as Sweden's capital Stockholm. In addition, SAS utilizes Seattle, Chicago and Washington Dulles airport as its US gateways, with extensive code-share flights with other Star Alliance partners.
Total Airport Services, Inc. is an independently owned and operated provider of quality aviation services in North America. Lines of business include air cargo warehousing, ramp handling, aircraft deicing, into-plane fueling and airport terminal services.
