KLM, ALITALIA, NORTHWEST, BAX CROWD INTO TIME-DEFINITE

   KLM Cargo and alliance partner Alitalia Cargo will begin offering
time-definite air freight services to forwarders on June 1. BAX Global Inc.
and Northwest have also announced plans to provide time-definite services.
   KLM and Alitalia will roll out three levels of time-specific services
called Select 100, Select 300 and Select 700.
   The premium-priced 100 service will provide earliest possible delivery
and offer a money-back guarantee. Select 300 offers standard delivery
times, while the 700 service will provide forwarders a cheaper alternative
with no specific delivery time guarantees.
   KLM and Alitalia will begin offering Select service to forwarders in the
Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. The airlines
expect to offer time-definite service on all routes by the end of the year.
   Northwest Airlines said it plans to introduce a suite of time-definite
air freight delivery services in July that will "mirror, or be very similar
to" KLM’s and Alitalia’s Select services, a Northwest cargo spokesman said.
   BAX has expanded its time-definite program to include Guaranteed Second
Day delivery. The service is available to and from any U.S. city BAX Global
serves, and has no size or weight limits.
   The company has offered Guaranteed First Arrival, Guaranteed Overnight
and Guaranteed Airport-to-Airport since last year. All the options
guarantee delivery or the customs doesn’t pay any freight charges.