A recent joint press release by the industry triumvirate—TIACA/IATA/FIATA (no mention of GACAG), plus ICAO—reported that after “a two-year research project… the so called ‘higher-skills’, which include leadership, team-building as well as market and financial analysis techniques…” concluded that the “availability of air cargo-focused programs that teach these higher-level skills is limited.”
     Officially titled "Air Cargo Industry Education and Training Task Force-“Identifying The Educational Needs For A Vibrant Air Cargo Industry In The Future,” the authors of the report “agreed that the industry as a whole must address this deficiency," and went on to list a number of dire consequences, should their ideas not be followed.
     These include “difficulty of attracting qualified talent to successfully lead the industry through future challenges” and “the loss of rising managers to other (unidentified) sectors of the logistics industry or to other industries.”
     The next steps are a review of the task force recommendations “by the four organizations.”
     So rest assured, “a series of next steps will be established including the creation of focused courses as part of a comprehensive program…”
     The Georgia Center for Innovation for Logistics is quoted as saying “…companies must hire an educated and properly trained workforce in order to grow.”

Bureaucratic Prescriptions
     While the subsequent 36 pages of the report are replete with details and matrixes, the whole thing smacks of a somewhat Kafkaesque exercise (warning of impending danger) coupled with bureaucratic prescriptions.
     There are lists of the various courses each of the three organizations have been offering, job requirements by position, and “minimum required competencies” together with ‘aviation logistics focused’ academic institutions which are shoehorned into corresponding to the thirty-some positions enumerated. In short, a not very well-defined or particularly specific solution looking for a problem companies in the real world deal with on a daily basis.

Solutions May Lie Elsewhere
     Just contrast this “Higher Skills’ initiative with a few quotes by Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google, at the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos. Mr. Schmidt has warned the jobs problem will be “the defining one” for the next two to three decades.
     Given the constant development of new technology, Mr. Schmidt said that more and more middle class workers would lose their jobs and “it was not clear if workers have the right skills to be rehired.”
     He compared the situation to the industrial revolution, while calling for more industry-wide innovation: “it’s a race between computers and people – and people need to win.”
     Schmidt added, “as more routine tasks are automated, this will lead to much more part-time work in caring and creative industries; the classic 9-5 job will be redefined.”

Companies May Have Better Idea
     Are industry organizations such as authors of the “Higher Skills” report best positioned and qualified to determine which are the skill-sets air cargo will need going forward, rather than the myriad of companies active in the air cargo sector?
     What comes to mind in terms of future challenges are disciplines such as e-commerce, languages, global business, and cultural experiences, and recognized certifications including Six Sigma, MBA, economics, and industry-specific revenue management.
     A perennial lacking skill in the industry is that, for qualified and experienced project management, something often gets dropped on the hapless shoulders of the IT organization and it has been one of the main reasons for failed implementations.
     Conversely, graduates with a computer science degree who join an airline or logistics company spend much of their initial years simply trying to learn what the transportation enterprise, its IT infrastructure, and the dedicated applications that make it all work.

Effort Is Admirable . . . But
     The efforts put into and the intentions of this industry task force are admirable; whether they truly are in line with future needs remains to be seen.
     More paper and meetings undoubtedly will take place while it pursues “development of a joint proposal for moving forward in meeting identified needs [by the task force] and opportunities including sustainable funding and resource support (administrative, offerings, teaching platforms, etc.).”
Ted Braun

(Mumbai Exclusive) India’s air cargo sector started the year on a questionable note when the government-controlled Container Corporation of India (CONCOR, created in 1998 to provide, according to its website, efficient and reliable multi-modal logistics support for the country’s export/import and domestic trade and commerce) took over the operations of the international cargo terminal at Mumbai’s Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
     CONCOR began work starting on January 1 of this year, with an operation branded Concor Air, a new company incorporated for such operations.
     Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) is operated by the GVK group, which also operates the Greenfield Bengaluru International Airport.

Out On Bids
     A few months ago, Mumbai Airport authorities asked for bids from concessionaires to handle international cargo operations.
     Concor Air won the contract and was appointed as concessionaire to handle international cargo operations for three years, although custodianship, safety, and security would remain with MIAL.
     The strategic collaboration between MIAL and CONCOR is expected to add more value to the air cargo business at CSIA.

Agents Have A Beef
     But air cargo stakeholders have opposed the takeover of the international cargo terminal.
     Secretary-General Firdos Fanibanda (right) of the Air Cargo Agents’ Association of India (ACAAI) was most vocal.
     He termed January 1, 2014, as a “sad day for the industry” and went on to say that the airport authorities possibly found the air cargo business not “lucrative to handle” or did not have the resources to handle cargo operations.
     “Worse, Concor Air has little or no experience in air cargo.”
     Said Fanibanda:
     “The trade will suffer as there is no clarity in the deal.
     “Responsibilities have not been assigned and their cost will increase.”

Look Out For Number One
     Mumbai airport handles a major share of the country’s air cargo.
     In 2011-12, BOM handled domestic cargo of 190,300 tons and in 2012-13, 182,400 tons. As for international cargo, the airport handled 467,200 tons in 2011-12 and 452,700 tons in 2012-13.
     By comparison to other privately held airports, i.e. Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Cochin, Mumbai handled 28.8 percent and 29 percent of all cargo for India in 2011-12 and 2012-13, respectively.
     With such large volumes, air cargo stakeholders in Mumbai were of the opinion that the airport authorities should relook at the contract awarded to Concor Air.
     CONCOR taking over the air cargo terminal is, in fact, part of its long-term plans to diversify from an essentially rail logistics firm.

Gupta Has A Plan
     Anil K. Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of CONCOR, said in his letter in the company’s annual report:
     “To take on the challenges your company has formulated ambitious strategies and action plans.
     “It has increased its emphasis on strategic tie-ups with government companies… newly emerging ports to play the role of a credible Logistics Partner.
     “Your company aims to provide total logistics and transport solutions to its customers by expanding its presence in all segments of logistics value chain.
     “In this direction, for air cargo venture a wholly owned subsidiary CONCOR Air Limited was formed, which will undertake the design, development and operations of the air cargo terminal at Mumbai.”

Been There Done That
     It turns out CONCOR has, in fact, air cargo experience.
     An air freight station (AFS) was started in April 2012 at Mulund on the outskirts of Mumbai, where CONCOR has an ICD (inland container depot).
     The AFS is a collaboration between CONCOR and Cargo Service Center (CSC), a top air cargo service provider in India. “We want to go big, as we have the infrastructure.
     “There are delays at the airports and we would like to capture that cargo at our place, so that it can go in the form of bonded trucks,” said CMD Gupta.
     The company has put up two air cargo complexes: one in Goa and another in the North Eastern region.”

More Complaints & Some Answers
     Among the other complaints of air cargo stakeholders was one pointing out that Mumbai airport had done little to enhance infrastructure for cargo.
     MIAL has been moving in its plans to promote infrastructure development and implement the ‘Integrated Cargo Master Plan,’ which aims to transform the Mumbai Air Cargo Terminal into the country’s biggest air cargo hub.
     MIAL has done considerable work to improve cargo facilities.
     It launched the country’s first air cargo community portal: ‘GMAX-GVK MIAL Air Exchange’ in December 2013.
     The portal seeks to bring the entire air cargo supply chain (shipper to consignee) under one roof and enable them to exchange information and documents electronically. The new platform aims to put an end to manual processes and multiple data entries, and improve transparency in the supply chain.
     According to Manoj Singh, (left) MIAL’s Vice President (Cargo), “GMAX is the first of its kind, an ‘Air Cargo Community Portal’ offering a comprehensive EDI service platform connecting all the air cargo stakeholders at Mumbai.”
     According to Sumeet Nadkar, CEO and MD of Kale Logistics, the IT partner of the community portal, “GMAX is a demonstration of the capability of our solution GALAXY to power e-freight at our customers’ airports.
     “We are confident that this will take trade and customer facilitation at MIAL to the next level,” Nadker said.
Tirthankar Ghosh

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