SAN FRANCISCO—Despite the severe economic pressures being placed on logistics managers these days, shifting cargo from air to sea is not a sustainable strategy for shippers of high-end goods, said Boeing Company executives.

“We are really talking about a ‘Bambi versus Godzilla’ trade scenario,” said Tom Crabtree, regional director of business strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “While we will never come close to moving the volume of freight carried by vessels, we continue to outpace their growth every year.”

In an interview with LM, Crabtree restated many of the points he made at the The World Air Cargo Event in Bahrain late last month. He admitted that “the specter of modal competition looms large,” but seaport traffic is more geographically concentrated.

“And it’s not as flexible to diverse points,” he said. “Furthermore, a high-proportion of container traffic is regional and not intercontinental.”

Orders for new Boeing production freighters have numbered 74, 81 and 83 for 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively, for an unprecedented total of 258 airplanes, accounting for about 14 percent of total Boeing commercial airplane order value during that time, said Boeing spokesmen.

"We've been on a great run with three consecutive years of record freighter orders," said Jim Edgar, regional director, Cargo Marketing - Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Orders for new Boeing production freighters have numbered 74, 81 and 83 for 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively, for an unprecedented total of 258 airplanes, accounting for about 14 percent of total Boeing commercial airplane order value during that time.

"We've been laying the groundwork for a transformation that really takes off in 2008,” said Edgar. “We began major assembly of the 777 Freighter in January and will move forward with the completion of assembly, flight test, certification and a fourth-quarter delivery of the first 777 Freighter to Air France, and we'll achieve critical design milestones for the 747-8 Freighter and the start of 747-8F production.”

These airplanes, he added, will be the key revenue generators for the air cargo industry “for years to come.”