Airfreight industry must address people, data, flexibility

The airfreight industry should focus on attracting talent, implementing open data standards and providing flexibility for the rest of 2026 and beyond, according to Flexport.

“We have a lot of experienced people today approaching retirement, and the pipeline behind them is very, very thin in all roles: in operations, in customs, in commercial roles,” Milena Milenkovic, head of airfreight for the EMEA region at Flexport, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “And if we don’t fix that, we will create a people problem that no new aircraft or software can solve.”

The industry is not doing enough to appeal to young people, and it can do that by being more vocal about the vital role that air cargo plays, Milenkovic says.

Two other areas that air cargo must continue to improve are data and flexibility, according to Milenkovic.

The industry has the technology to process and share the increasing amount of data generated today but still does not make use of it effectively, she says.

Additionally, in a market characterized by instability, carriers must develop flexible options for customers and build redundancy into their networks.

Overall, Milenkovic believes the largest hurdle for the industry is still its inability to recruit and retain skilled personnel, and inspire their excitement.

“I started this career when I was twenty-two,” she says. “I still love it, and it’s twenty plus years later.”

Tune in to this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Milenkovic speak with Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.