“From Spotlight to Highlight” is the title of the last panel on 09NOV22 over at TIACA’s air cargo forum in Miami, next week. CargoForwarder has invited experts from a mixed cross-section of the industry to discuss how to keep air cargo in the general public’s focus and transform it into an industry of choice for new talents.
TIACA’s Director General, Glyn Hughes often cites a little-publicized fact: in 2019, international trade transported by air made up around USD 6 trillion [in 2022, this is now closer to 8.8
trillion], whilst the air tourism business came to around USD 850 billion. Air cargo, therefore, has a far greater impact on a country’s economy than passenger travel. And yet, despite air cargo
having been the first to appear on the aviation stage roughly 100 years or so ago, the moment passenger travel waltzed in, air cargo was relegated to the role of eternal understudy.
Cargo heroes
Until the pandemic. Once the passenger business fell victim to Covid-19, air cargo stepped up and finally took the spotlight, center stage again - first in the transport of PPE, then important
supply-chain goods, and, finally, the all-important vaccine shipments. Freighters and preighters were pretty much the only aircraft leaving the ground in most parts of the world, and people began
to understand the significance of air cargo and the dynamics of how various products came to appear on their local supermarket shelves. Or did they? A mini survey on LinkedIn revealed that those
in the aviation industry still believe that the general public has no real perception of air cargo. What do you think? Where, on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best), do you place the general
public’s awareness of the air cargo industry? And what kind of a reputation does it enjoy – or is it cursed with?
Fade-away or facing a better future?
Now that passenger travel is picking up again, air cargo's visibility is once more starting to fade, and the industry continues to struggle to attract new talent. Do you agree? On both points, or
just the one? Does your company have any best-demonstrated practices or defined processes for attracting talent? In your opinion, what actions can be taken to not only turn the spotlight back
onto air cargo, but to also highlight its relevance and progress? And how can it be transformed into an industry of choice for new generations? What about the many air-cargo-related associations
out there? Are and could they be doing more to make air cargo attractive?
Join us!
Perhaps you have ideas and tried-and-tested solutions that you believe the whole industry could benefit from? And perhaps you’re interested in hearing other people’s input? Heiner Siegmund and I
will be asking Kirsten de Bruijn, Executive Vice President Cargo at WestJet, Diana Schoeneich, CEO of GEORGI Handling, Guillaume Crozier, SVP of Cargo for dnata, and Timo Stroh, Head of Global
Airfreight and Life Science & Healthcare at Dachser, for their companies’ plans and their suggestions and thoughts on the topic. The panel will take place in the Lincoln Ballroom at the TIACA
venue, at 16:30 on 09NOV22. Join us and pose your questions there!
Brigitte Gledhill
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