OK, I must be a geek, but I don’t care. What I love about my job in the Delta Cargo department is that I feel connected to commerce and what is happening. I see vegetables from Europe in the summer, Latin America in the winter. I get close to tigers for film shoots and move the camera equipment for the networks and the Olympics. We even move eyes for transplant and radioactive medicines for chemotherapy!
I have visited Delta destinations when we first start service and worked with our new friends/partners in business. I could see that they were eager to do business with Delta and with the United States. A new market is opening! Excitement in their eyes.
Cargo is not at all like working with passengers. Boxes/crates just sit there. They need us to get them moving. We need to communicate with each other to keep the process moving. We talk to each other and send e-mails all around the world: Bombay, Tel Aviv, Budapest, Brazil, Toronto, and Guatemala all before breakfast. (Okay, I eat late).
The other day I attended the funeral of a close friend. As I was sitting there thinking about our loss, I noticed the beautiful flower displays in his honor… I started to smile. Perhaps, I had a hand in getting those very flowers in those arrangements from far away places to those florists so the arrangements could brighten the occasion.
That’s why I love cargo!
John H.
Cargo – JFK
May 1st, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I always enjoyed my ramp job, too! Thanks for the write up.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I’ve been waiting for someone that works on the ground to make a post! When I read the first sentence I thought it was written by me. I also enjoy my job on the ramp! Being able to help get everyone’s stuff where it needs to go is rewarding.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I feel the same way. I worked the ramp for a while in the last few years and it was a fun job. I also found it rewarding to get the freight, mail and bags out on a full flight! To steal a line from Apocalypse Now, ” I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning!” The guy’s and gals on the ramp are an important part of the cargo process. Keep up the good work!!!!
May 8th, 2008 at 3:17 am
I work in the Cargo office for NW at DTW we move about
1,000,000 pounds a day on the Import side, all on passenger A/C
some are code share with KL . Only one actual KL aircraft on
the DTW AMS DTW route, Five flights a day. International schedule from DTW
NRT KIX NGO PVG LHR LGW AMS FRA DUS CDG MEX CUN MRY PVR MBJ
SJD YYZ YUL YOW YKF YXU NAS
May 8th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
We know that you folks in NWA move a lot of cargo. We are looking forward to working with you on our team! It will be exciting times!
July 4th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Funeral Flower…
Thanks for this page….
November 8th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I just hope DL keeps the Cargo franchise.
December 13th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Aah, more Cargo geeks. People I can relate to. I, too hope they keep the NW freighter operation. Something we’ve needed ever since we put the L-100′s out to pasture. I worked cargo at ORD for 8 1/2 years, spent some time at SHV and then moved to SLC. After the DL/WA merger, I moved from Ops to Cargo in 1988 and retired there in 2005.