Having spent his career in airfreight with leading airlines, Giuseppe Tarantini recently became CEO of AIA Cargo and Animal Aircare. Multilingual and multicultural by background, he is passionate about engaging people, coaching teams, and facilitating global exchange.
What was your dream job as a child?
Pope for global exposure.
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the industry?
Growth and expansion sustained by innovation.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever shipped?
Repatriation in the (semi)wild of multiple lions on the same flight.
What’s one buzzword you secretly dislike?
There is no I in team.
Window or aisle seat?
Window.
What’s the best business lesson you’ve learned the hard way?
Not to go full Joe Pesci (in Goodfellas) even when you really want to.
If you could swap jobs with anyone for a day, who would it be?
Donald Trump.
Which three items would you bring to a desert island?
A solar powered radio, a guitar, a fishing rod.
Tea or coffee?
Coffee.
What’s your guilty pleasure TV show or movie?
Goodfellas.
What’s the most exciting place you’ve visited for work?
Shanghai.
If you could introduce one new regulation in air cargo, what would it be?
Enforcing (more than new) higher standards for animal welfare in transport.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Vita Spericolata (reckless life) by Vasco Rossi.
Describe your job in three words.
Engage, coach, choose.
What’s your hidden talent?
I can clap onehanded doubling the effect.
If you could instantly master one skill, what would it be?
Singing.
What’s something on your bucket list?
Climb mount Vesuvio.
What’s the best airport in the world, and why?
Whichever one is closest to me at anytime.
If air cargo had a mascot, what would it be?
A stork, symbol of transporting with care.
How did you get into airfreight/logistics?
Longing for ways to global exposure.
What quote has most resonated with you?
Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Let go.
What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done?
As a child swing off the branches of a weeping willow across a road.
If you could have dinner with any three people, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Marcus Aurelius for values, Leonardo da Vinci for creativity, Queen Elizabeth for modern history.
What’s something we wouldn’t know about you from your CV?
That I was considered wild until I turned 9 and a bit beyond.
