IATA Needs Shipper Advocates

Lost in much of the bad news regarding the global air cargo sector recently, a positive report was issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) yesterday.

As noted in the LM news section, shippers seem confident that the mode is making a rebound, with capacity and service reaching sustainable levels this year.

“We cut the accident rate by more than one-third. We survived the spike in oil prices to $144 a barrel. We improved labor productivity by 63 percent. Alliances grew from infancy to 56 percent of traffic. And we developed Asia-Pacific into our largest market, one-third of all aviation.”

Furthermore, the industry became “greener,” having found a global solution on noise, and now focusing on carbon emissions.

IATA’s members cannot build that future alone, as its director general, Giovanni Bisignani,?noted in a recent address.

“The changes we need are not always within our control,” he said. “Governments over-regulate our business and under-appreciate our role. Who can change the attitude of governments? Voters. The same voters that are our customers. Today, we have 2.4 billion potential industry advocates and the number is growing rapidly. To turn them into real activists, we must improve our industry’s value proposition: price, speed and quality.”