Air Cargo Operations — Replacing Manual Tracking and Paper Workflows for a Cargo Airline

Context

A cargo airline was running its operations on legacy systems with no modern integration layer. Tracking updates for shipments were handled by an employee who would manually check a partner's website, find the cargo status, and transcribe the information into the airline's system. Customers who wanted to know where their shipment was had to call or email an employee — there was no online tracking option at all.

An employee was manually checking a partner website and transcribing tracking data — while customers had no way to check shipment status without calling the airline.

Beyond tracking, critical business data — cargo records, manifests, and operational entries — was being manually transcribed from Excel spreadsheets into the carrier's legacy database. Credit applications, pricing calculations for flight routes, and customer notifications were all handled through manual processes and paper workflows. After an in-depth analysis of the airline's operations, we identified and automated several of these key bottlenecks.

Challenges

• Tracking updates were entirely manual: an employee would navigate to a partner's cargo tracking website, look up each shipment, and transcribe the status information into the airline's system. This was slow, error-prone, and consumed hours of staff time daily.
• There was no public tracking capability. Customers who needed a shipment status update had to contact the airline directly — by phone or email — and wait for an employee to look up the information and respond.
• Cargo records and operational data lived in Excel spreadsheets that had to be manually reformatted and transcribed into the carrier's legacy database — a tedious process prone to data entry errors and delays.
• The airline's existing systems had no modern way to connect with outside tools, making any automation effort require careful work to interface with the established infrastructure without disrupting it.
• Additional business processes — credit application intake and approval, pricing calculations across flight routes, and customer notifications — were all handled through manual workflows with no automation or system support.

Solution

We conducted a thorough analysis of the airline's operations and built targeted automation solutions for each bottleneck — connecting with the aviation industry's standard messaging network, the airline's existing database systems, and its public website.

From manual website checks to SITA Messaging integration — tracking updates that took an employee hours each day now happen automatically.

Results