Executive Summit – It’s a Wrap
San Francisco, March 22-23, marked the return of the TIACA Executive Summit, last held in November 2019 in Budapest. The 2022 edition, was held in conjunction with Transport Logistics Americas and formed a whole week of innovative, educational, and collaborative content.
The TIACA Cluster sessions united to form one highly interactive session which provided great guidance to the TIACA Board on industry priorities such as industry staffing challenges, capacity constraints and the need for the value of air cargo to be broadcast widely.
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The two-day conference program was full of highlights, too numerous to detail everything but here are some key takeaways from the various panels and presentations.
Supply chain partners highlighted the unusual challenge of managing run-away growth and its demands on all resources (aircraft, pilots, handling staff) at a time when national economies and industry service partners were all but hibernating. Inspirational examples of how the challenges were overcome were shared with the audience.
The labour force challenge ran throughout many panels, as airports and handlers can provide adequate warehouse capacity but still be unable to meet demand if dock doors are closed due to inadequate staffing. This reenforced the highly integrated aspect of supply chain success.
Sustainability topics were explored in great details and Pharma shippers have been placing a growing importance on sustainability when selecting their transportation and logistics partners. Pharma.Aero is keen to collaborate with TIACA on sustainability matters to address this growing need.
TIACA launched its BlueSky program which is a mechanism to measure and recognize sustainability progress of air cargo businesses and will serve as one of the key enablers of sustainable transformation of airfreight.
Value of air cargo themes were explored and interesting data emerged such as only one quarter of air cargo companies are aware of industry’s social and economic benefits. TIACA was challenged to address this gap with an awareness raising campaign highlighting the value of air cargo to the world.
The Advanced Air Mobility session shown a spotlight on some revolutionary solutions that will help shape the future of air cargo. This is not if, and this is not even when anymore, as it is already happening: all sorts of drones are being used in air cargo operations, whether for inspection, sorting, wildlife management or for cargo transport and delivery.
The audience of the Executive Summit showed enthusiasm and support as more than 90% replied they see drones as new opportunities for the air cargo industry. And 100% of the room said TIACA should play a central role to raise awareness and drive industry readiness to embrace cargo drones.
Regulations also garnered much discussion with a call for a distinct regulatory regime for all-cargo operations. More generally, the regulatory framework needs to be more results-oriented, flexible, and fast-moving with a window of opportunity to influence policy with the ICAO Assembly this autumn. TIACA members were encouraged to contact their national government to send coordinated messages in this regard.
The “high energy” next generation leadership panel focused on People-First business strategies for growing companies. The expert panelists skillfully covered the gamut from diversity & inclusion to mentoring & training. Successful companies have exceptionally positive cultures. The dominant thread throughout: Take good care of your people and they will take care of the business.
Innovative thinking was showcased throughout and a dedicated panel focused on the need to train a Digital Fluency Mindset because our world is full of uncertainty right now, and people who are continuously motivated to learn, unlearn, and re-learn and focus on EQ versus IQ will thrive in today’s automated world.
The conference program also included the 2021 Hall of Fame inductee ceremony with Lynn Fritz, former CEO of Fritz Companies, being the latest luminary receiving this honour.
The 2021 TIACA sustainability awards also featured on the program with the three start up small business finalists presenting their projects. All were highly appreciated by the audience and after the audience voted, XFret, an innovative in cabin cargo solution was announced as the winner.
The corporate winner, United Cargo, for its eco-skies program was also presented with its winner’s trophy.
There were numerous networking and socializing opportunities including the celebratory party night at the Hard Rock Café.
The week concluded with a unique “innovation journey” where participants had a tour of some world class start ups and innovative companies in silicon valley to get a glimpse into what the future of air cargo looks like: Companies visited included; Gather Ai: An inventory management on auto-pilot, AeroVect; the World’s most advanced automation technology for GSE, Reliable Robotics: Automated Cargo Planes and Elroy Air: Drones for middle-mile that can deliver anything from shipping cargo to humanitarian aid.
As the curtain closed the audience were united in looking forward to the next edition of the TIACA Executive Summit.
Keeping up with TIACA
A lot of things are happening at TIACA. Make sure you have the latest:
- Regional Symposium – Europe
- Air Cargo Forum 2022
- Blue Sky Program
- Sustainability Awards 2022
