Ever since she was a little girl, Nisha Dhankar wanted to fly.
      In the early days, she used to look up at the birds in the sky and wanted to be like them. But as she grew older, Dhankar had to adapt herself to the changing realities.
      Though circumstances prevented her from flying, she could still have something to do with aviation.
      “I was always excited to join aviation and its related businesses and at the first available opportunity grabbed the air cargo industry,” she told ACNFT. 
      She has never regretted her decision and seven years later as Cargo Manager with European Cargo Services (ECS), the young lady looks out for challenges in the business every day.
      Dhankar would like to see more ladies like her step into the air cargo business.
      She admits disappointment that the “number of women working at the top levels in the cargo industry is far fewer by a wide margin than the number of men.
      ‘This situation exists despite the fact that women have what it takes to face the unique challenges of the cargo industry every day.
      “There is a great need,” she said, “for women in leadership roles throughout our industry.”

Time To Elevate Women

      “Elevating women up where they belong would help close the gap and help more females enter the logistics industry.
      “My seven-year stint,” she said, “taught me various business modules.”
      Even as we were speaking, Dhankar was preparing to gain more knowledge about the intricacies of the air cargo trade.
      “I do understand the nitty-gritty to handle perishable and dangerous goods.
      “Gaining experience is an ongoing process for me,” she said.
      “I am planning to go on a Dangerous Goods training program very soon as this is an important part of our industry today.
      “It will enhance my knowledge about these particular goods.”

Hello Delhi

      Unfazed by the difficulties of working in an environment that often has to brave harsh weather—the sweltering heat and the bitter cold of Delhi—the young lady pointed out that “the major challenge for a professional like me is to maintain good business relationships.” 
      She was quick to point out that while cementing relationships was one thing, the commercials and the bottom line of the business had to be kept in mind always.
      “We all work in a highly competitive world with wafer-thin margins leaving us little scope to maintain flexibility.”
      “Regular sales counseling helps us maintain ongoing business with our customers,” she said       

What Really Matters

      “What matters at the end of the day is how you solve any problem with your people management skills or how you tackle a situation.” 
      She has seen a lot of changes in the years she has spent in the industry but what has struck her most was the fact that “the system is now much more transparent today. “Customer service is much more valued than it was earlier where the airlines and air freight companies used to take the customers for granted.
      “This was because competition has increased over time due to the entrance of many players.”
      She pointed out that today reports are shared for all the loads handled by the whole team and that never used to be a practice earlier.
      In her few years, Dhankar has seen a whole range of regulations and standards coming in and she said these were “helping to maintain discipline. International standards at par with some of the developed countries also bring a lot of challenges along with them, which could temporarily post a slowdown in the business.”
      But that did not worry her at all since “India has been a major player among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations… Business movements can certainly not get stalled due to standard regulations and enhanced standards,” she emphasized. 
Tirthankar Ghosh