Green Transport
16 Sep 2009

American Airlines gain temperature control accreditation

American Airlines Cargo Division (AA Cargo) has today been awarded Accreditation as a Qualified Envirotainer Provider (QEP) by Envirotainer, the Sweden-based manufacturer of temperature-controlled shipping containers. The Quality Envirotainer Provider (QEP) Accreditation is awarded to specific service provider stations or business units that meet the program’s training and quality requirements. Accreditation demonstrates that a service provider meets the standards as defined in current Good Distribution Practices guidance documents set forth by the industry.

The QEP program was specifically developed at the request of shippers of healthcare products. Envirotainer has developed the training and quality program to acknowledge those service providers that have been certified to manage shipments using the Envirotainer container. Accreditation as a Qualified Envirotainer Provider (QEP) demonstrates that a service provider meets their obligations as defined in current Good Distribution Practices guidance from Industry groups such as the Parenternal Drug Association (PDA) and the IATA Perishable Cargo Manual Chapter 17 guidelines for Temperature-Sensitive Healthcare Products.

In preparation for the launch of its cool-chain service ExpediteTC, AA Cargo trained more than 3000 employees worldwide in the practices required to ensure the ongoing integrity of the QEP program. American’s service is available throughout its worldwide network, with QEP status at approximately 60 of its key cities. These locations are capable of handling containers of all sizes — including the RAP container which is the largest sized container offered by Envirotainer.

"The Accreditation is a tribute to the hard work of our employees and colleagues throughout our network”, said Dave Brooks, president of American Airlines Cargo Division. “The fact that we have achieved this status at so many worldwide locations is a testament to our commitment to providing the highest standard of service to our customers with temperature-sensitive cargo."

"This is a significant achievement by American Airlines Cargo. Completing the program means that the airline will have a team of trained and qualified personnel able to handle Envirotainer's specialised equipment and with a greater understanding of the requirements for temperature-sensitive shipments", said Thomas Persson, CEO of Envirotainer.

ExpediteTC is built on the service reliability of American's Expeditefs express freight product, which provides highest boarding priority, high-visibility tracking, and a 100 percent flown-as-booked guarantee; in addition to the specialized handling, high-visibility monitoring and tracking for all temperature sensitive shipments. Specialist equipment provider Envirotainer offers three container types for American's customers, including an LD3, LD9 and a CLD on its wide-body fleet. The CLD can also be shipped on 737 and 757 narrow-body aircraft. Customers can specify the internal temperature – within a range of -20C to +20C (-4F to 68F).

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