I have to take my hat off to the folks at DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo for pretty much pulling out the stops to launch their new AeroLogic cargo airline in style. It takes a fairly high degree of tenaciousness to put on a brave face and stand tall amid the rubble of an air cargo industry devastated by the global recession and proclaim with seemingly genuine optimism that your new baby has a rosy future.

I’m overstating to be sure, because clearly air cargo will once again return to its glory days of growth and prosperity – its just a question of when. But make no mistake, between now and then could be one tough slog with plenty of sleepless nights under the starry Leipzig night’s sky.

The AeroLogic baby and its two proud, but surely nervous parents were spared some degree of fretting by striking Boeing machinists who kindly shut down aircraft production lines for nearly two months, thus helping to forestall the entry of DHL/ Lufthansa junior into the worst of the cold recessionary environment.

I half suspect part of the plan is to keep feeding fairy tales to junior until things pick up, thus sparing the poor child the stress of coping in a less than friendly world. That fairy tale seemed to extend part way into the Leipzig launch last month.

It looked and felt – almost – as if the carrier were being launched into a healthy economy. I mean there was catering and podiums, props and ceremony, speeches, smiles and handshakes a-plenty. And of course the head honchos of the two companies and even some local mayors were all present, but somehow it felt just a little…weird.

There was half the number of journalists I had heard would be in attendance. There was only a thin smattering of guests and none of the typical back fill of employees who are usually shepherded in to help celebrate such a momentous occasion. And worst of all, the assembled journalists were in agreement that they had never seen such a high degree of ducking and rolling at the questions being thrown at the management panel during the press conference.

And it was hard not to keep peeking out of the giant hangar doors at the three DHL 767s sitting forlornly near the grass verge between Leipzig’s two runways, waiting apparently for the cargo glory days to return.

That the DHL and Lufthansa executives are sticking by their target for AeroLogic to break even next year, may well be taking the bravado game a notch higher from simple tenaciousness. But whatever the case, we do wish them well as this is arguably a very novel and interesting approach, and let’s face it, if anybody can make this work, surely its innovative industry leaders like DHL and Lufthansa who didn’t get to wherethey are today by making bad strategic decisions.