When selecting a GSSA, today’s airlines are looking for partners that can deliver more than just a sales service as airfreight demand soars.
So says Stephen Dawkins, chief operating officer at Air Logistics Group: “A GSSA has to listen to the clients’ needs and invest in what the client wants. Airlines see that and understand that we want a long-term partnership.”
Carriers focus largely on their passenger business, he adds; given that airfreight demand fluctuates, cargo is among the areas they may choose to outsource, benefiting from a flexible cost base rather than fixed overheads.
A GSSA’s core duty is to sell cargo space on behalf of its client airlines – but that’s not enough. Adrien Thominet, chief executive of ECS Group, says that today’s carriers have more needs in terms of services.
Air Logistics Group, for instance, spends “substantial sums” on trucking. The ability to offer road feeder services enables the company to help smaller airlines, Dawkins says.
Another key area is back office services – IT. “Airlines want to see how much revenue a flight has generated before it takes off,” Dawkins says.
Different companies are coming up with their own IT solutions. ECS now offers Cargo Vision, a new in-house system acquired through its purchase of North America’s Exp-Air Cargo last year.