First I want to hear about your story and how you came to AGI?
When I was young in my native home of Linz, Austria, my ambition has always been to live and work abroad. While visiting a job fair, I had the opportunity to speak with an industry professional who sold me on pursuing a career in transportation and logistics. Shortly thereafter I hired on with Panalpina, a global forwarding company, headquartered in Switzerland. Four years later my vision became a reality, being offered the position of Gateway Mgr. for Panalpina in Huntsville, AL. On the eve of April 15, 1992, I climbed onto a cargo-plane in Luxembourg, with my personal belongings stowed away in the cargo compartment, headed for Huntsville, Alabama, a journey that would forever change my life. I stayed with Panalpina in various capacities for an additional 13 years before making the switch into the aviation service industry with a then little-known startup company called Total Airport Services (TAS). In the 15 years to follow, I held positions with TAS as VP of Operations, COO and CCO, embracing the opportunity to take a company from a single, one station contract to a reputable business operating at 8 airports, providing cargo and passenger services to 30-some domestic and international airlines. In 2021, while consulting an equity firm on the acquisition of AGI, I was able to reconnect with Jared Azcuy.
As they say, “the rest is history.”
What is some advice you would give a new employee trying to scale the industry?
This industry continues to be full of opportunity for those that are willing to put in sweat equity. What I mean by that is don’t be afraid to raise your hand when a challenge is put forward. Make that extra effort, go that extra mile, do what others aren’t willing to do. You might just be surprised, how quickly you can harvest the fruits of your labor.
What does AGI mean to you?
AGI means getting up in the morning and looking forward to another day at work. AGI means “can do.” AGI means a team of professionals that walk along your side during good and challenging times. In short, AGI means “family.”
What are some upcoming projects for AGI Cargo?
We continue to stay laser focused on bringing digital enhancements to the operation that allow us to operate more efficiently and in a more transparent manner. We connect processes digitally to eliminate the need of manual data capture. Cargospectre has eliminated the need of dim&weigh sheets; Skip The Front Counter is a paperless solution for cargo pickups at our facilities. Also, today we are able to measure our performance more effectively and with that find ways to improve it. I want to give a big shout-out to our colleagues in IT, who have worked tirelessly to make all of this happen. But we also continue to make major strides in safety and security. Drew and his team are providing us with technology that keep our workforce safe and is allowing us to detect potentially dangerous situations before they lead to accidents and incidents.
Where do you see the future of cargo at AGI heading into?
With its 4 divisions, Ground, Cargo, Post and Secure, AGI has a well-balanced portfolio today. It is able to offer its customers a convenient and cost effective one-stop shop solution.
What changes would you want to see in the Cargo Industry?
Standardization. Even though progress has been made, still so many carriers have “their way” of how they want cargo to be processed and handled. Two examples: 1.) AGI holds the highest possible accreditation in Dangerous Goods Training and Certification. We should be able to train and certify our staff regardless of which airline they service. 2.) Through standard messaging, data it can be seamlessly transmitted between cargo handling systems, which has been proven time and time again. Yet, we find ourselves operating in as many as 4 different carrier systems in just a single facility. We need greater engagement from our airline partners to help eliminate these inefficiencies.
