MACHINE
LEARNING
Whether forecast
Predicting cargo transactions can pose a headache for the most able of shippers
and transporters. But for American Airlines, the challenge has represented an
opportunity. The Editor finds out more.
shipments per day, it behoves the carrier to be on the ball, day in,
day out. After all, the bottom line here is one of cost: if a
shipment doesn’t show up on the day of departure, there’s
typically no chance of changing the layout or selling the void.
Because of this shortfall, the configuration of the freight in the
hold may be less than optimal, which results in a higher fuel bill
en route. This, in short, affects the carrier’s profitability.
Consequently, any help with what purports to be a seemingly
nightmarish task is very welcome.
Enter machine learning.
The quandary
Maulin Vakil recently took over the role of Managing Director
Cargo Customer Care and Performance Analysis at American
Airlines. He spoke to ALI about changes in the carrier’s day-to-day
management of cargo booking.
At what point did American decide that the existing system of
bookings (and percentage failures) needed to be changed? And
what were the factors
prompting this change?
“With few exceptions, the
industry standard has been not
to charge fees for booking
changes or cancellations, and
we have traditionally followed
that. However, late
cancellations or no-shows are a
huge issue for the industry,
resulting in wasted cargo space
on many flights. Ultimately,
this results in airlines turning
away many shipments which
they could have otherwise
accommodated. We’re trying
to find a way to say “yes” to
more customers, and to create
If airlines were possessed of
crystal balls, life would be a
lot easier, one imagines.
Unlike passenger flights, a
cargo flight is very much at the
whim of its freight, which
might arrive on time – or
might not. Indeed, in extreme
cases, cargo might be booked
just days before the actual
flight. In consequence,
anything that can be done to
rationalise the unknowns and
improve the situation is thus
of huge benefit to a carrier.
And when, like American
Airlines, that responsibility
translates into thousands of
16 August 2020 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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