A director at broker Air Charter Service says that a major airlift is possible as the US east coast port strike takes hold.
Group cargo director, Dan Morgan-Evans said that with tens of thousands of dockworkers across 14 ports striking indefinitely, Athere could be major airlifts in the coming weeks if the strike is not resolved in the next few days, as manufacturers could attempt to keep production lines running.
“The strike causes real headaches for shippers, particularly from Europe. Unless President Biden changes his mind and steps in, the delayed cargo and the backlog will have to be flown in. Scheduled freighters will get booked up extremely quickly, so the charter industry will need to step in to help. We are already receiving enquiries, and we expect the first few to book soon, as some cargo shipments simply cannot wait. During the West Coast port strike in 2012, we saw a huge amount of charter flights to, but mainly from, Asia, both during and after, to ease the backlog.”