CALLING AT: ANCHORAGE貨運中途站：安克雷奇
PHIL HEARD finds out why the coastal Alaskan city is such an integral part of Cathay Pacific’s cargo business Phil Heard探討這個阿拉斯加海濱城市在國泰航空貨運業務上舉足輕重的地位
ONE OF CATHAY Pacific’s busiest long-haul ports is one that regular passengers can’t fly to. Yet, it is ideally located and a vital cog in the airline’s operation, handling around 70 aircraft each week come sun, rain – and snow.
That port is Anchorage, a coastal southern Alaskan city, which is served by Cathay Pacific’s fleet of 20 Boeing 747 freighters. The transpacific sky between the Americas and Asia is a vital artery of global commerce. While there is cargo under your feet on your flight today, the ‘belly’ holds of passenger aircraft alone do not offer the capacity to satisfy the demands for global cargo shipments. That includes everything from fresh fruit and seafood to computer components, the latest fashion, live animals and life-saving medicine – plus everything we buy online and expect to be delivered promptly.
Cathay Pacific Cargo operates a continental American freighter network that includes major hubs in Canada and the US, some served by passenger flights, but also ports that aren’t, such as Dallas, Miami and Guadalajara in Mexico. But why Anchorage?
‘ We could fly our aircraft from the Americas to Hong Kong non-stop but it’s a long way and with the fuel required we wouldn’t be able to carry the full payload,’ explains Fred Ruggiero, vice-president cargo Americas.
At Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, a small Cathay team manages what is in simple terms a pit-stop for freighters, much like the ‘splash and dash’ refuelling in an F1 race, with aircraft stopping at an open area of the ramp so that they can leave under their own power rather than being pushed back. The stops here are measured in minutes – ideally no more than 60, as Alaska cargo manager Kevin Miller explains.
‘It’s more than kicking the tyres and checking the oil,’ says Miller. ‘ We do a walk around the cargo deck to make sure nothing has shifted, check the paperwork, give water to animals, and engineers carry out a basic service. The flight crew swaps out here, too.’
In the almost perpetual daylight of a pleasant northern summer, that’s fine. But in winter, snow falls and winds howl on days of almost perpetual darkness. Snow also freezes fast on aircraft wings because of the ultra-cold fuel in the tanks. That requires de-icing, but without adding time to the tight schedule. And snow on the runway starts to affect the take-off performance of the aircraft. When the weather is very bad that means offloading and redistributing some cargo onto other flights to keep weight down and the operation safe. As Miller says, ‘It keeps things interesting.’
國泰航空有個非常繁忙的長途航點，但一般乘客都無法前往。這個地方不但盡佔地利之便，更是國泰營運的關鍵，每周處理約70架貨機，風雨不改，就連下雪天也不例外。
這個航點就是阿拉斯加州南部的海濱城市安克雷奇，由國泰旗下20架波音747貨機提供服務。美洲和亞洲之間的跨太平洋空域，是全球商業的重要命脈。雖然在你今天乘搭的航班客艙底下，亦載有貨物，但客機「腹部」的容量並不能滿足全球空運貨物的需求。國泰承運的貨物羅萬有，括新鮮水果和海鮮，以至電腦組件、最新時裝、活生生的動物和救命的醫療藥品，還有我們在網上選購、並期望盡早收到的各式物品。
國泰貨運經營的美洲大陸貨運網絡， 括加拿大和美國多個主要樞紐，部分由載客航班提供服務，亦有部分航點只營運載貨航班，例如達拉斯、邁阿密和墨西哥的瓜達拉哈拉等。但為何會選擇安克雷奇？
美洲貨運部副總裁Fred Ruggiero解釋說：「我們可以讓貨機由美洲不停站飛往香港，但由於路途遙遠，貨機需要攜帶大量燃料，就無法盡用載貨量。」
國泰有一支小型團隊駐守在泰德史蒂文斯安克雷奇國際機場，負責管理這個供貨機停靠的中途站。這個中途站類似一級方程式賽車的「極速加油站」，讓貨機在停機坪的露天區域停留，然後不用拖車把飛機後推，便能利用本身的動力再次起飛。阿拉斯加貨運經理Kevin Miller解釋，這裡的停站時間以分鐘計算，最理想是不超過60分鐘。
Miller表示：「貨機停站時，除了檢查輪胎狀態和燃油存量，我們還會巡視載貨卡板，確保所有貨物都沒有移位，同時檢查文件和為動物補充清水，並讓工程人員進行基本檢查。機組人員亦會在這裡換班。」
北地的夏季氣候宜人，幾乎整天都有陽光，工作可以順利進行。但在冬季則相反，整天幾乎處於黑夜之中，加上寒風暴雪來襲，不但不利於工作，由於飛機油缸裡注入了極冰冷的燃料，更會令機翼迅速結冰。這種情況一旦發生，就要將飛機上的冰溶掉，並確保這不會延誤緊湊的工作流程。跑道上的積雪亦會對飛機起飛造成影響，因此當天氣極其惡劣時，工作人員就要卸下部分貨物，將它們分配至其他航班，從而減輕貨機的重量，確保運作安全。正如Miller所言：「這令工作保持趣味。」