As the air cargo industry evolves, technology is playing an increasingly pivotal role in transforming handling processes, with a focus on enhancing the booking and quotation processes through various digital marketplaces.

With that background in mind, Wiremind Cargo is prioritising operational efficiency with its SkyPallet platform, looking to revolutionise flight planning by improving decision support for cargo operations.

“In a market with varying demand, airlines will always face a mix of stronger and weaker flights. Our tools help prioritise the stronger flights, enabling airlines to maximise their commercial performance by focusing on areas with the highest potential for revenue,” Guillermo Medina Moralejo, VP of Business Development at Wiremind Cargo, explained.

“SkyPallet 2.0 addresses the critical transition between the commercial phase of a flight, where numerous bookings are made, and the cargo handling and operations process.

“We are introducing several new features aimed at providing better decision support, helping operators make more informed choices about when to send out a pallet for building based on labels.

“Our goal is to extend the decision support capabilities we have primarily focused on in the commercial space into operations, enhancing efficiency and incorporating more technology into the operations landscape.”

Global trends

In more developed markets like Europe or North America, companies are well-positioned to adopt various digital initiatives quickly. This is largely because they have already done a lot of foundational work, setting up the right digital and data infrastructure, which enables them to integrate new technologies seamlessly.

Countries like India have focused strongly on technical education, which has helped establish a robust tech industry. The startup scene is particularly vibrant, with various companies tackling interesting industry problems and making significant investments to establish the necessary digital foundations and data layouts.

Areas in Southeast Asia have leapfrogged other nations in technology adoption, achieving in a few years what took more developed countries decades. The rapid penetration of smartphones has fostered a digitally engaged population actively participating in e-commerce, creating a digital-hungry environment.

“It’s not just about handing over a solution or system; you need to provide consulting or advisory services to help integrate what regions and organisations currently have,” Moralejo outlined.

“We often receive questions and have discussions with airlines, particularly in certain regions, about their data challenges. For example, many airlines have reservation systems that only provide weekly or daily reports. They know they have data and want to do more with it but feel limited by their current systems.

“When they approach us for optimisation or pricing recommendations, we work with the data they have to achieve some early wins. However, we also take a longer-term perspective. Our product architecture, such as the data warehouse in our cargo management system (CMS), is designed to address these data issues. This allows airlines to move beyond relying on daily Excel reports and establish a stronger data foundation. With better data infrastructure, they can undertake more valuable and sophisticated initiatives.”

Bringing the industry up to standard

Organisations like the International Air Transportation Association have made efforts to standardise digitalisation throughout the cargo journey, which is a solid starting point. However, there are still gaps, especially when it comes to data, which necessitates specific solutions to particular problems.

“When implementing revenue management solutions, for instance, we work closely with our customers, conducting a thorough analysis of their historical data to understand what they have and what they lack. This process helps us identify and address any gaps or pitfalls,” Moralejo stated.

“For instance, our comprehensive rules engine in our CMS and revenue management system enables users to define how they prioritise flights. This ensures their attention is automatically drawn to the flights that truly need it, while other tasks are handled more automatically.

“This automation not only boosts efficiency but also allows teams to scale operations without needing to proportionately increase team size.”

“From a forward-looking perspective, it’s crucial to highlight these gaps, which may need to be addressed either industry-wide or on an airline-by-airline basis. This collaborative approach ensures that airlines can build a robust data foundation to support more sophisticated and effective solutions.”