Air Freight

this is a film about air freight as you see it begins at a breakfast table but it might have started anywhere for so many things we daily use are brought within our reach by this most modern form of transport by air this was shipped by air and this was shipped by air this too were shipped by air air freight at home and this is the home of air freight Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam in the very heart of Holland port of entry exit and transit of the whole world where KLM Royal Dutch Airlines handle annually 15,000 tons of freight klm handle every conceivable form of air freight even freight that's really passengers here is a KLM representative coming to meet a whole load of VIPs stopping over in the KLM hotel on their way to Canada the delegates to a congress of linguists and here's the Board of Directors of a big company doing business in tropical timber they're on a sightseeing tour to New York to see the Empire State Building Central Park and the zoo of course and this is the KLM animal hotel right on the platform this is typical KLM service the guests were met at the door by the manager himself come in please welcome to Amsterdam yes your rooms are reserved with that oh definitely board and lodging are free and no tips please the chef himself will see to your special diet some more hors d'oeuvres madam dinner is served gentlemen when I asked this young cat from Siam are you satisfied with KLM she just nodded and said yes I am this is a very fast force indeed he likes traveling at 320 miles per hour and right now he's going to make a flying start closely followed by a galloping knight and war hero golden boy the favorite is know where they're going into the first turn now and did a terrific burst of speed here comes what whole forging ahead horses parrots and monkeys travel by air but that's only one aspect of air freight for your cargo carrier is more than the link between the jungle in the zoo it is the worldwide link between producer and consumer producers of built in Holland today playing in India tomorrow flowers to have taken to the air flowers cut today in hot houses of that Dutch metropolis of flowers alles mayor and for sale in New York tomorrow other flowers that will not fade even while worn in a hot climate overseas a slow cascade of flowers is streaming down the press in wintry England Holland or Germany today shipped by air and worn tomorrow under a glaring tropical Sun on the other side of the globe this is not exactly meant for we're in the tropics the furs of the beautiful creatures that once roamed the wilds of Canada until Indian or white trappers brought them to one of the many posts of the mighty Hudson Bay Company will travel by air to Antwerp to adorn the shoulders of other beautiful creatures arts by air canvas paint and inspiration on the wing pictures of the greatest value now fly from continent to continent over deserts and mountain ranges across oceans and jungles to further international understanding through the common sense of beauty now what art is he thinking of the art of painting lobsters or the art of cooking them whatever it is painted or cooked dead or alive the modern lobster is a bird it flies and here's the nest where it's landed fashion too is airborne nowadays all over the world manufacturers of ready-made clothes ship their products by air enabling even those living in the remotest corners of the globe to keep up with the pace of fashion and to be up to date in their dress as you may have guessed Havana cigars are manufactured in Havana the Pearl of Cuba handmade all of them packed with care shipped with care handled with care while going by air just to give this gentleman in the Far East a real smoke after dinner you do smell that cigar of course but can you smell the atmosphere of Paris no try again here is sent for you to be sent by air wherever women had taste and men have noses Parisian perfumes french fragrance flying anywhere you say from the cradle of the otaku to where the stern dictators of fashion ordained what our wives shall wear and we shall pay for nothing changes quicker than fashioned up to date today out of date tomorrow and so as fashion is a short-lived of spring itself the Parisian otaku teal sends its spring collections by air KLM's freight department is working under high-pressure as Goods fly back and forth from continent to continent and papers from desk to desk goods for Rio Montreal Sydney Havana Calcutta Montevideo Johannesburg Tokyo New York and Dakar whether it's in Montreal in the deafening roar of New York's air or Street traffic or in Calcutta KLM's freight men are on the spots even if that spot is pretty muddy all you see is just a KLM truck or car in Paris or Bangkok or KLM offices in the four corners of the world where goods are shipped and delivered all plain sailing smooth and easy but behind it is a steady activity of men at work to control the flow of airborne Freight let's just stop for a moment to have a look at KLM's freight department in Calcutta the aspect of men and things is different from country to country but the work is the same and is accomplished everywhere with the same quiet efficiency born from klm's long experience handle with care it says on many goods and handle with care KLM always do mind your tail sir and so the work goes on a tiger from India on its way to Stockholm Rio de Janeiro or Dublin a young elephant from salon leaving for New York New Zealand or ro see our special Corps of elephant stewards picked people all of them air freight was born in 1920 together with KLM carrying newspapers on its first flight to London next came light goods such as flowers bulbs pictures and eggs now if you want to learn how to handle air freight begin with eggs and handle all goods with the same care as KLM due to the men of KLM electro motors radio sets dresses racehorses medicaments and elephants are just eggs all of them under the breath of the trade wind forever blowing over the Caribbean islands or in the nipping cold of Newfoundland the freighters of the air never rest say what's this not an SOS is it no apparently it's not as bad as all that still it's bad enough the ship is unable to move under her own power a piston has broken and help must come not from those fateful three letters s OS but from those famous initials KLM send that cable at once we must have a new piston by the first plane and by the first plane it comes yes captain it's on its way it's coming by KLM but in the meantime work goes on in Calcutta on the other side of the globe for rain or shine hot or cold the constant flow of airborne Goods of every description goes on night and day Freight flies everywhere along the roaring highways of the skies the airplane has become a packhorse of the air but it is a racing pack horse linking continent to continent north to south and east to west thus bringing us back to Schiphol Airport again the shunting yard of airborne cargo cargo with a hundred destinations all served by KLM has to reach these without fault cultured pearls arrived from Japan must be reshaped to Mexico City Dutch oysters travel directly to Persia but Persian rugs change planes here our route to Buenos Aires Hollywood 1 million dollar productions traveled by transatlantic airlift from the United States by way of Amsterdam to Madrid Athens Helsinki or Frankfurt diamonds from South Africa for the jewelers in Stockholm and machinery from Sweden for the mines of South Africa just packages and boxes to you being shifted from one shelf to another just a man maneuvering his lift truck on solid ground and yet this is the shunting yard of goods traveling by air and here is the last word in air freight the Douglas dc-6 a lift master flown by KLM wherever you say cargo ship of the skies with a capacity of 24,000 pounds and a hole that will carry bulldozers or books hairpins or microscopes loading is an art in itself the captain must know how his cargo is stowed to be able to start safely and the loading clerk must know what the total load consists of to be able to store the cargo in the right way yeah anybody interested in shipping a car just say the word the list master will take it and now as the loading of the list master is being completed and the nets over the neatly arranged cargo are secured to keep it in place the captain comes for the stowing plan of his plane to check and to sign it take your time captain and so goods from a thousand producers will take off - nobody knows how many millions of consumers air freight serves humanity and by its speed may sometimes stave off even the hand of death itself once epidemics in faraway lands meant endless suffering and death to thousands who had no hope but today there is hardly a spot in the world to which life itself can't be rushed by air to those whose life is already heavy but in the meantime the stagecoaches and Express riders of the air fly on distributing the goods for air freight spans the globe day and night machines and toys travel by air beauty and learning are airborne food and amusements go flying fish and flowers are on the wing good news and bad news take the Skyway gold and diamonds takeoff presents and samples sail through the heavens for air freight spans the globe air freight pays for shipping your goods by air means less packing material less storage room and lower insurance premiums only twelve hours between his morning paper and his evening paper but in that short time Freight of every conceivable description has crossed continents and oceans by air jewelry and foodstuffs shipped by air beautiful fresh flowers like these watches and medicaments all flown in by KLM silver glass and China shipped by air newspapers and letters air freight all of it air freight reaches you where and when you want it and so day and night KLM's freighters continue to maintain the great airlift between producer and consumer KLM will fly most things to most places