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Globe Air Cargo renews Canada and US GSSA partnership with French Bee

French low-cost, long-haul airline French bee has renewed its partnership with ECS Group's Globe Air Cargo Canada for GSSA services across Canada and the US The GSSA partnership between the two companies has been renewed for another three years, said ECS Group in a recent LinkedIn post. "French bee, represented by Globe Air Cargo Canada as its GSSA across Canada and the United States, is strengthening its commitment to the North American market with the renewal of its partnership for another three years," said ECS Group. French bee is the only airline offering direct widebody cargo capacity between Montreal and Paris-Orly. The airline operates three weekly flights during the winter season and daily service in summer using Airbus A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft. "This unique service plays a vital role in supporting Canadian exporters, particularly those shipping perishables including seafood, fresh produce, mushrooms, berries, and premium beef, while also serving the growing demand for healthcare products, e-commerce, and other time-sensitive cargo," added ECS Group. "Together, French bee and Globe Air Cargo Canada will continue expanding opportunities across the transatlantic market by growing perishables traffic, strengthening healthcare logistics, and enhancing the customer experience through digital solutions such as e-booking and dynamic pricing."

Cargo chaos in North Asian ports as Typhoon Bavi blows in

Typhoon Bavi created chaos in North Asian ports over the weekend, with nearly 2m teu of containership capacity delayed in major ports. Consultancy Linerlytica said that by Sunday, 54% of congestion in all container ports was in North Asia and estimates that the gateways will need two weeks to clear the backlog - mostly concentrated in Shanghai and Ningbo. On Friday, China's National Meteorological Centre issued an orange alert, the second-severest typhoon warning and Typhoon Bavi made landfall early Sunday, with winds of up to 40 metres per second. On Thursday, Shanghai, the world's busiest container port, had begun clearing berths, telling ships to leave the deepwater Yangshan terminal by 8pm local time on Friday. Vessels in Shanghai's Waigaoqiao terminal began clearing the same day. Ningbo, the world's third-busiest container port, paused all container collection and delivery operations from noon (local time) on Friday, resuming operations yesterday. Shippers have been advised to reroute urgent cargo through the southern Chinese terminals of Yantian and Shekou, as these were not affected by the typhoon. The ONE San Diego omitted Shanghai with export cargo transferred to the Aries, which skipped its Ningbo call. Both ships serve Maersk's China-Australia service. Cargo meant to be discharged from ONE San Diego in Shanghai was released in Hong Kong and transhipped to final port of discharge. Similar arrangements were made for cargo meant to be discharged from Aries in Ningbo. Ports along the Yangtze River - Taiwan, Nantong, Changsha, and Nanjing - that act as feeder channels to Shanghai and Ningbo, also closed in a preventive measure. Taiwan's main container port, Kaohsiung, ordered all ships carrying hazardous goods to leave Intercontinental Terminal Phase 2 and berths 104-105 by 10am local time on Friday, with all other vessels to clear the port by 10pm. Forwarder Seko Logistics said Shanghai had resumed port operations yesterday, but cautioned: "Port gates reopening doesn't mean vessel schedules have immediately normalised. Pilotage, berth sequencing, and vessel movements may require additional recovery time, while ships that slowed, diverted, or waited outside the affected area are repositioned." Seko added that customers should expect heavy truck demand and slower processing as terminals worked through accumulated cargo.

US ground handler AGI files lawsuit against union after "false and misleading statements

US ground handler Alliance Ground International (AGI) has filed a lawsuit and motion for preliminary injunction against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) due to what it said was "false and misleading statements" about airport working conditions "directed at AGI's customers and other stakeholders". The lawsuit follows the opening of a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation after an OSHA complaint was made against the US airport services provider and ground handler by the SEIU on behalf of AGI workers at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport who had raised concerns about working conditions. Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union alleges that workers have experienced incidents of heat-related illness as well as malfunctioning brakes on vehicles, past worksite injuries, vehicles in unsafe operating conditions, unsafe working conditions, no mirrors on some vehicles, and insufficient training. However, AGI claimed that the SEIU has engaged in an organised campaign of false and misleading statements directed at AGI's customers and other stakeholders to damage AGI's customer relationships in order to pressure the company into bypassing the right of employees to decide for themselves whether they wish to be represented by a union. AGI stated in its complaint document: "This action arises from a deliberate, unjustified, and unlawful campaign waged by Defendants, the massive national labour union SEIU and its Northeastern US affiliate Local 32BJ, to target AGI and its customer relationships to pressure AGI - a Miami-based company that provides services to the aviation industry and employs thousands of South Floridians - into recognising the union outside the traditional employee decision-making process and without giving AGI employees the opportunity to vote on whether they wish to be represented. "Defendants, headquartered thousands of miles away, have come to Miami and other locations and targeted AGI and its customer relationships with the purpose of coercing AGI's business partners into severing ties with AGI, inflicting severe economic harm on AGI, until AGI acquiesces and offers up its workers to Defendants for quick unionisation without a vote by the workers themselves. "While doing this under the guise of concern for worker conditions, the reality is Defendants are waging a campaign built on misleading information, that is costing AGI substantial business, and which may quickly result in downsizing AGI's South Florida workforce and ultimately harming its employees, the Miami community it serves and locations elsewhere." AGI said it had invested millions of dollars in worker safety programmes and training and holds IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) certification. The handler employs roughly 600 cargo warehouse agents, cargo ramp agents, cargo office agents, and security officers at John F. Kennedy and 60 ramp agents, ticket agents, cargo warehouse agents, and cargo office agents at LaGuardia. Airlines serviced by AGI at John F. Kennedy include Delta Airlines, KLM, Virgin Airlines, Latam, China Southern, and AirZeta. Airline serviced by AGI at LaGuardia includes Southwest and American Airlines. Manny Pastreich, president, 32BJ SEIU, said: "For more than a year, essential airport workers at JFK and LGA have been raising the alarm about dangerous working conditions under AGI. "Two separate reports of workers passing out in the heat is unacceptable. Facing retaliation after asking for water on one of the hottest days of the year is unacceptable. "Now that summer is here and the heat is on, the concerns of AGI's workers are even more pressing. We welcome a thorough investigation by OSHA into the working conditions under AGI at JFK and LGA airports. 32BJ is proud to stand with AGI's workers in demanding dignity, safety, and respect on the job." Headquartered in Miami, AGI operates in over 60 airports in North America and employs more than 12,000 professionals. In March, investment firm Lone Star completed its takeover of the handler.