April 8, 2013, FORT WAYNE, INDIANA — Eagle’s Wings Air (EWA), the nation’s leading provider of logistics services to North American funeral homes and shipping services, is celebrating its fifth anniversary by passing a significant operational milestone: managing the air transportation of more than 45,000 human remains ship-outs since its founding.
EWA was established in 2007 and began operations in April 2008. Through its centralized customer service center and innovative “One Call” service model, EWA leverages proprietary software and its knowledge of global airline networks to deliver the best transportation solutions and proactive management for human remains transport. It has experienced steady, healthy growth since beginning operations, and surpassing the 45,000 ship-out milestone clearly demonstrates the value the company provides the funeral services industry.
“I want to extend sincere thanks to everyone who’s made this anniversary possible – our employees, colleagues, friends, families and, most importantly, our funeral home and shipping service clients,” Frank Kaiser, president and CEO of EWA, said. “And while we are grateful to be able to take this opportunity to look back on our first five years, at the same time we remain focused on looking forward as we will continue to strengthen our service model and offer new value over the next five years and beyond.”
“In addition to my role with EWA, I’m a funeral director and an independent funeral home owner, which helped me recognize the value a company like this could provide to my funeral service peers,” added Dave McComb, chairman of EWA and owner of D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes in Fort Wayne, Ind. “The concept of EWA has turned into the growing success of EWA thanks to the tireless efforts and proactive service mindset of Frank and his great team.”
From its beginning, EWA recognized the critical nature of every decision funeral directors and funeral home owners make for the client families they serve, and how their reputation is their most valuable asset. They also recognized that funeral home staff can be required to make complex arrangements for ship-outs – and are almost always held responsible if something goes wrong.
“There is a considerable amount of work in arranging and managing the transportation of human remains, which means there are a lot of chances for something to go wrong,” said John Horan, owner of Horan & McConaty Funeral Homes. “Having a partner like EWA to manage this process from start to finish provides funeral home owners with incredible peace of mind and helps make us the hero in the eyes of our client families.”
EWA’s One Call system simplifies and streamlines the ship-out of human remains for funeral homes. With one call, EWA:
- Searches all available flights and selects the best itinerary
- Handles the airline reservation
- Pre-pays any airline charges
- Proactively monitors status
By handling all aspects of logistics and transportation management, EWA has created a more efficient ship-out process for funeral homes and for airlines themselves.
“Frank’s airline and air transportation experience, coupled with Dave’s experience and perspective as an independent funeral home owner, make them a perfect fit for their roles leading the great team at EWA, and I’ve certainly seen firsthand the company’s impact on how we work with funeral homes for these important and delicate situations,” said Andy Kirschner, Director of North American sales for Delta Cargo. “They’ve been a great partner to us, and we are excited for them as they celebrate this anniversary.”
“EWA ranks as one of the most innovative, service-oriented and customer-focused companies I’ve worked with in my 35 years in the industry,” added Bob Inman, chairman of Inman Shipping Worldwide. “As a leader in the shipping segment, we at Inman are proud to call EWA a strong and valued partner.”
EWA has continued to expand its service and product offerings as it has grown, including the introduction of air shipping containers that are independently lab-tested, certified, approved for international shipping and meet strict airline standards.
To meet with Kaiser and the EWA team in person, visit them at the upcoming ICCFA annual convention and exposition, April 10-13 in Tampa, Fla., at booth 520.
About Eagle’s Wings Air
Established in 2007, Eagle’s Wings Air (EWA) is the nation’s leading provider of logistics services to North American funeral homes and shipping services. Through a centralized customer service center, EWA leverages proprietary software and its knowledge of global airline networks to deliver the best transportation solution and proactive management for human remains transport. Learn more at www.CallEWA.com, by following the company on LinkedIn or by calling 866-550-1EWA (1392).
