Though Nisha Mahajan has been in the cargo business for quite some time, she says that her work at Namaste India Aviation is an exciting and challenging one. “No two days are similar in the cargo industry,” she told ACNFlyingTypers.
     Free and outgoing, Mahajan said, “I am an extrovert by nature and from the beginning of my working life I have been associated with the service industry.” She quit her first job because she could not interact directly with clients and customers. Soon enough, she got an opportunity to work with a General Sales Agent at Delhi airport in the customer services department and “took that opportunity that introduced me to the cargo industry.” Since then, she said, “I have never regretted my decision.”
     Over the years, she has acquired specialized training in handling of perishable cargo as well as dangerous goods. Even as we spoke, she was preparing to “undergo a refresher course in DG handling.”
     Speaking about her experiences, she pointed out that “every day in the cargo industry brings out something new to learn and adds to your personal development.” That is because every day one has to interact with different types of clients who have different requirements and “different challenges are thrown at you to deal with. So, no two days are similar in the cargo industry.” There are new opportunities and new problems “that stretch your limits.” She said that work had become simpler with automation in every field of the cargo industry, which has streamlined the processes. “Now every individual expects those in the cargo industry to work with as much efficiency and as diligently as the processes. This trend,” she agreed, “does add up to the stress levels while one works with the cargo fraternity.”
     But then the end result is a rewarding one. “The best part of working in the cargo industry is that one gets the feedback almost instantaneously from the people one interacts with. This helps,” she said, “to gauge oneself on performance parameters and make improvements wherever necessary.”
     The air freight industry has undergone quite a change since she joined. The amount of export cargo has grown exponentially since she started working with cargo. She mentioned that cargo handling procedures have been automated to a very high degree. Automation has become prevalent in airport handling, warehousing, and freight forwarding. “Airlines have now started the process towards going paperless in cargo handling/processing and uplift and this is something which was not even imaginable when I started my career,” she said. As for the future, she said, the cargo industry offered enormous opportunities for personal and professional growth, “especially to those people who have patience and perseverance.”
     She has a few words of advice for women seeking a career in air cargo. “They must have the willingness to serve, have patience, be diligent, gather knowledge, and have a never-say-die attitude.      Today, there are specialized courses that are available to make oneself ready for the industry and people willing to make a career in the cargo industry must acquire the learning which will keep them in good stead all through their working lives.”
Tirthankar Ghosh