The sheer amount of human effort involved in the undertaking of air cargo is often overlooked. However, the world should thank them for standing firm on the frontline against the pandemic, understand the work pressure they have and help them to take rest mentally, while also making it open to diverse opinions, attractive to the new generation and capable of grooming inspiring leaders.
The global air transport sector supports 65.5 million jobs across passenger, cargo and tourism businesses and these jobs are 4.4 times more productive than other jobs in the world economy, according to a 2018 research released by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG).
Research published by Novosensus in 2020 noted that first, logistics company employees rate their experiences at work at 54/100, but their engagement level is much higher at 70/100. This imbalance is unsustainable and makes logistics unattractive in the job market. Second, up to 43 percent do not experience inspiration, constructive feedback and confidence building from leaders. Third, female leaders are rated higher than men on 6 out of 7 leadership competencies, but they report a 10 percent lower employee experience.
On the frontline against Covid-19
When the Covid-19 pandemic started to spread globally in the first half of 2020, the whole world came to a standstill and a huge population was confined to their homes due to the confusion about how to handle the pandemic as well as the closing of borders. However, along with the healthcare sector, air cargo was one of the industries that couldn’t go on to the back foot since the world had to treat its Covid-19 patients as well as provide e-commerce goods to those stuck in their homes. In fact, the industry did very well to help the world fight against the pandemic but it also had to bring many of its human resources to the frontline of the battle.
Glyn Hughes, director general, The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) thinks that the whole world owes a collective appreciation to them. “Before the world knew how to treat or protect from this new virus, cargo crews, handlers, truckers and freight forwarders were already mobilising missions to countries infected. Carriers and staff representatives, particularly flight crews, developed solutions around staff safety to protect from infection when flying into the unknown,” he said.
In this process, the Covid-19 pandemic has shown how important cargo professionals are to the world. Hendrik Leyssens, vice president, global operations – cargo, Swissport, said, “These essential workers were key to help make sure that the global supply chains remained functional and strong. The air cargo industry is crucial for keeping the supermarkets stocked and has played a major role in the global distribution of PPE and vaccines.”
Air cargo professionals across the world showed resilience, humility and flexibility; supporting each other in overcoming the challenges. dnata executive vice president Steve Allen asserted, “Our teams around the world adjusted their processes to cope with the new operating environment and worked closely with partners to maintain global trade and the flow of essential goods including PPE, life-saving medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. At the same time, we adapted quickly to safeguard our workforce with the provision of PPE, training and revised operating procedures to reflect physical distancing.”
On the same line, Volga-Dnepr Group marketing director Fedor Novikov hopes that this will stimulate additional investments, proper infrastructure development and talent acquisition. “They risked their lives continuing working offline (operations, pilots, loadmasters) and operating to the countries affected by Covid-19. At the same time, people working online have done tremendous work organizing dedicated deliveries with PPE, medical equipment, mobile hospitals and laboratories,” he said.
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