ALASKA'S AIR CARGO INDUSTRY THRIVES.

• Author: GRENN, BEN

Even with the announcement that United Airlines is shutting down its cargo hub in Anchorage, the air cargo industry is expanding and doing well.

To say that Alaska's air cargo business is soaring would be an understatement. At least two ma air carriers, Northwest Airlines/KLM and Federal Express, are expanding operations in Anchorage, and Alaska's largest city will become the global air-cargo hub for Northwest by early 2001.

Thanks to a new $18 million cargo complex in Anchorage, Northwest Airlines announced its plans for further growth in the 49th state. Northwest Airlines vice president and general manager of cargo operations, Jim Friedel, said the company intends to put together a full global cargo hub in Anchorage.

"Anchorage is not just a fuel stop anymore," said Mike McKinley, Northwest's district manager for cargo and customer service. "We have between six and seven landings a day. In September, there were 148 (Northwest Airlines) landings, and that may climb to 250 a month soon."

McKinley said cargo planes are mostly filled with electronic equipment. Northwest also ships a lot of engines for Boeing 747s.

FedEx, based in Memphis, Tenn., has added about 70 employees in Alaska, bringing its total Alaskan work force to nearly 1,300. It also plans to add 38 pilots to its Anchorage hub over the next year. (Currently there are nearly 275 pilots, of which 40 percent live in the state.)

FedEx, which averages 435 flights a month through Anchorage, like other cargo carriers, uses Anchorage as a pit stop to refuel freighters, change crews and swap cargo. Anchorage is ideally situated between Asia and the Lower 48, which makes it attractive for such purposes. By stopping in Anchorage instead of flying directly between the Lower 48 and Asia, cargo planes can carry less fuel and more freight.

In mid-October, Atlas Airline signed on to be a new tenant for the Alaska CargoPort. Atlas Air will occupy approximately 4,500 square feet of warehouse space and over 5,300 square feet of office space. The move will consolidate all of Atlas Air's Anchorage operations in one facility.

Alaska Cargo Port Expands

Alaska CargoPort signed a lease that adds 426,000 square feet of land to their current air cargo transfer facility at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. It will enable operators to add four more wide-body (large aircraft) parking positions. When complete, the Alaska CargoPort will have 12 wide-body positions and one narrow-body position at its...