Since air is so time sensitive I expected the airport to be a madhouse. Pushing production like crazy. It amazes me how laid back and zero

s given the air operation was.
I expected the same. It's a different world.
We're at the mercy of weather and air travel times 99% of the time. But you can't really make up too much time. There is a limit on how fast you can unload an aircraft. We're allocated between 40 minutes for a 757 to hr and a half with say an Airbus. Half of our volume is sorted on site for feeder delivery, the rest goes to the delivery and main hub for sorting. How fast they unload and process their stuff may be quicker.
Feeders have commit times but they're never over the top about making us work too fast. 80% of the time, the trailers are loaded and we're just waiting on the feeder drivers to make their runs. Many do multiple runs 2-3 times, So theres no point in going too fast most times.
Even your early ams, where drivers wait around with a list isn't too hectic. You'd think the earlys would be segregated nicely. But they're all mixed in. We end up missing one-two a day.
Don't get me wrong. We still sweat and work pretty hard during the main sort operations. But it's not 4-6 hrs of straight hectic pace like the hub. We're an hour in, 20 off, 2 hours on, 15 off. Etc. You can definitely get spoiled with that pace.