All in the air cargo family

The queue of people to see Des Vertannes at the Etihad booth at the World Air Cargo Event in Bahrain last month, resembled the queue outside Don Corleone’s office in ‘The Godfather Part 1′.

Des Vertannes, Executive Vice President, Etihad Crystal Cargo

It seemed every congress exhibitor and visitor was waiting to meet him, eager to pay his or her respects and talk business.

While he is far less frightful than Don Corleone – and will likely never make anyone sleep with the fishes – Vertannes does share on thing with the ‘Godfather’ – a commitment to family and community.

The executive vice president – cargo, Etihad Crystal Cargo, beams when he speaks of his wife of 37 years, four children, two grandchildren and one on the way, He says he is still setting into Abu Dhabi, while his wife – "Godbless her" – is helping their youngest child finish her GSCEs in the UK. "The hardest part is being away from the family," he says.

Before he had his own family, Vertannes listened to his mother, who persuaded him to join the airline industry at the age of 18. "I was headed to teacherss college. I wanted to be a P.E teacher," he recalls. "My mother said, ‘We can’t afford to have three more years of you not earning money, so you need a job, son. I think you should join an airline, then you could take your mum and dad all over the world."

So he went to work for British European Airways as a cargo assistant. When BEA merged with BAOC to become British Airways four years later, however, Vertannes found himself one of 88,000 employees in an airline ready to downsize and he took a job as a marketing manager with another company.

When Jeff Bridges, the maverick head of cargo for British Airways, heard Vertannes was leaving, he called him to his office and said, "I don’t want you to resign, I want you to go work for me in Saudi Arabia and Middle East"

And suddenly Vertannes found himself cargo manager for the region, living with his young family in Al Khobar.

Vertannes describes Bridges, who passed away in 2004, as his mentor, a major contributor to his success. "I tend to be one of those that likes to innovate and likes to build, and Jeff gave me the platform to do just that.

"Jeff embraced people, he liked the relationship around the world, He wasn’t afraid of the media, he was very charismatic."

Vertannes has certainly held on to Bridge’s legacy, not only charming reporters, but maintaining tight friendships with people in the air cargo industry. In fact, he is quick to acknowledge the importance of relationships in much of his career path.

It was his friend Peter Smith, for example, who convinced him to integrate six independent handling companies acquired by Menzies World Cargo, and Ali Matazza, who had worked for Jeff Bridges 26 years earlier,who asked Vertannes to join Gulf Air. And when Vertannes moved from Gulf Air to Etihad nine months later, the whole cargo community knew about it.

"Air cargo is a global family," says Vertannes. "One thing I always tell youngsters today is if you stay in cargo for two yearsm you will never leave it, not because it gets into your blood, but because of the people you meet. Those people become your friends all over the world."