Resources
Air transport

Like other modes of transport, air freight—even though it accounts for only a small portion of international trade by weight—requires the deployment of significant and costly resources:

• in-flight (aircraft) and ground-based (trucks) capabilities;

• airport terminal facilities;

• increasingly sophisticated information systems.

But this list is missing the most essential element: people. To quote a 16th-century French economist: “Man is the only true wealth.” There can be no quality service without quality, well-trained staff, regardless of the profession in question: sales or operations, line management, IT or accounting, not to mention the flight crew on cargo planes.

The freight-related roles that require interpersonal...