The 34th annual CNS Partnership Conference, held May 13–15 at the JW Marriott Turnberry Resort & Spa in Miami, wasn’t just another run of the mill industry gathering, it was a clear signal that the global air freight community is ready to evolve with the times, with more resilience, an emphasis on leveraging tech, and above all a genuinely collaborative spirit.

  Organised by Cargo Network Services (CNS), an IATA company, the conference featured select airlines, forwarders, ground handlers, airports, manufacturers, and tech innovators, all zeroing in on the same big question: what comes next, and how do we get there together?

Relationship-building

While the world may be amidst a digital revolution, CNS reminded attendees that human connection still drives progress. Whether it was the golf, sailing on Biscayne Bay, the early-morning meetings, or late-night receptions, the conference created a perfect atmosphere space to enhance existing connections and build new ones. The “Meet & Greet” format, designed to match forwarders and carriers for quick business-building sessions, is a perfect example of the emphasis on establishing bonds without all the bells and whistles found at a typical event. Overall the energy on the floor reflected something that’s hard to quantify but easy to feel: people want to do business with people they know and trust.

If there is a central theme to the event, CNS President Alicia Lines summed it up perfectly with a call to invest in the people behind the scenes. “We need to work on bringing young people into this industry and upskill the knowledge we already have, because people are the ones making the difference in cargo.” And a lot of conversations kept coming back to the shared values: honesty, reliability, and mutual support.

Adam Cunningham of New York based Carrier 911 put it this way: “Face-to-face interactions reinforce the importance of mutual reciprocity. We’re not on opposite sides of the table here. We’re on equal footing.”

New standard

While personal connection powered the conversations, technology and transparency shared the spotlight. Julien Triay of Freightos challenged the industry to rethink how it prices, books, and shares information. “It’s important we start moving away from the current opaque pricing model. This ultimately hurts customers by creating unnecessary complexity and potentially higher costs.”

His call to action was clear: embrace tools that allow real-time bookings, open up API access for rate searches, and break down communication silos. Other speakers echoed the sentiment, if you want to stay competitive in the fast-moving world of the supply chain, it must become more visible, nimble, and far more connected.

Three Ps

Of course, tech can’t solve everything. Regulatory hurdles, infrastructure constraints, and labor shortages continue to shape the landscape.

As reported, Brandon Fried of the Airforwarders Association took the stage and addressed these issues head-on.

“Freeze tariffs, not our ability to trade,” he urged, emphasizing the need for stable policy and smarter investments in cargo screening and capacity.

And while much of the conversation centered on innovation, there was equal attention given to foundational issues: talent development, environmental goals, and operational alignment.

With e-commerce demand rising and more shippers shifting from sea to air, panelists stressed the urgency of looking ahead and preparing, as opposed to just reacting.

Why CNS matters

The air freight sector has a wide array of events, but CNS stands out, and for good reason. This isn’t just a place to collect swag and brochures. There’s less fluff, people share big ideas and the environment is conducive for real conversations, and those conversations often turn into actual partnerships.

With a program packed with insight: forward-thinking panels, regulatory updates, and digital transformation case studies, it may have very well been the informal moments, playing golf, out sailing, or over a coffee between sessions—where business really got done.

Attendees didn’t just leave with updates on trends. They left with new contacts, stronger relationships, and a clearer understanding of where the industry is heading.

Staying competitive

As CNS 2025 came to a close, a few themes stood out. Resilience isn’t just about bouncing back from disruption. It’s about building smarter, more sustainable systems that can flex with change, which is inevitable. And while tech is helping get us there, it’s transparency, trust, and collaboration that will ultimately carry the industry forward.

The CNS Partnership Conference is an event where those values come to life, be it on stage, in breakout rooms, or across handshake deals. In an industry where so much is in motion, CNS continues to be a place where people pause, reconnect, and plot the course ahead, together.