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Ethiopian Airlines

Kebebew Bulto, Project Manager

Navigating The Digital Evolution (Journey) Of Airfreight Logistics

Kebebew Bulto

As a seasoned aviation professional with over three decades in the industry, spanning Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), Information Technology, Airfreight Logistics, airline sales, and marketing, as well as the latest e-commerce logistics, I feel that I have some useful insights to share. Specifically, I can offer perspectives on the digitization journey of the aviation industry in general and the airfreight logistics industry in particular.

Since the beginning of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the logistics industry, particularly airfreight logistics, has been confronted with strong demand to which it had to respond appropriately. The appropriate response included a significant transformation driven by digital evolution. The restrictions, complete border closures, and bans on human travel during the pandemic forced consumers to rapidly adopt online shopping, which hastened the digitization of the industry to cope with customer needs.

History tells us that airfreight logistics came around the beginning of the 20th century when airlines were transporting cargo along with passengers. As demand for greater capacity and faster service delivery increased, airfreight logistics developed and became an increasingly popular choice for long-distance shipping.

When the industry expanded, it faced challenges such as paper-based processes, lack of transparency, information disparity, and slow communications among stakeholders. Technological advancements, including computers, the internet, cloud computing, IoT, blockchain, robotics, AI, and machine learning, propelled airfreight logistics digitization to take shape. However, the airfreight digitization journey is slow compared to the digitization of its passenger counterpart. This is mainly because airfreight logistics involves multiple stakeholders with varying levels of needs and understandings of the importance and impact of digitization, making coordination and collaboration difficult.

Although the digitization journey is currently lifting off, a lot of work lies ahead of us. The most critical task besides the digitization of the internal processes of individual stakeholders is the significant challenge of coordination and collaboration among them. Airfreight leadership should take ownership of digitization initiatives and nurture a smooth environment to ensure the success of these projects. Early industry challenges, such as extensive documentation, lack of transparency, and slow communications, can only be resolved through strong leadership commitment to forge and ensure collaborative partnerships across the industry. Data sharing is central to these efforts. The support and collective commitment of industry organizations such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA), World Customs Organization (WCO), and governments will take center stage.

As the airfreight industry community, we must embrace digital solutions and constantly seek ways to improve and innovate

So far, there are multiple but immature industry initiatives that were started and either scrapped or moved extremely slowly. I am hopeful that if the IATA ONE Record initiative is quickly adopted by industry stakeholders and supported by governments, it will solve the industry's digitization challenges and improve transparency and visibility for all involved. This way, we will make the digitization journey a success and make failures a thing of the past. Equally important is the need to adapt and evolve our skills and knowledge to keep up with the latest trends and technologies to remain competitive through upskilling and reskilling. As the airfreight industry community, we must embrace digital solutions and constantly seek ways to improve and innovate.

The articles from these contributors are based on their personal expertise and viewpoints, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of their employers or affiliated organizations.