AI to play larger role in freighter industry

The application of artificial intelligence within the freighter industry is gaining momentum among stakeholders. AI will both aid and alter the e-commerce sector, providing the ability to evaluate carrier routing and market trajectory through a different lens, ATSG Chief Commercial Officer Todd France said last week during the opening panel at Cargo Facts Symposium 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. [caption id="attachment_57292617" align="aligncenter" width="1054"] Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee, far left, moderates a panel with, from left, Andres Bianchi of LATAM Cargo; Todd France of ATSG; Houston Mills of UPS; Joe Mozzali of Amerijet; and Nadeem Sultan of Emirates. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] “Look at the amount of routing that AI is generating,” France said. “It’s going to drive different patterns that are a little less predictable. As we fast forward, in a couple of years, that AI prediction and routing for e-commerce will almost become … routine.” Deploying AI enables ATSG and its subsidiaries to remain agile in a volatile market , he said. However, people will still come first. “We’re not using it to lead the business,” France said. “We use it to challenge our thought process around the business.” LATAM Cargo trains execs on AI LATAM Cargo is using AI to digitalize its business model, Chief Executive Andres Bianchi said during the discussion. “The last twelve months, we essentially tore down our whole structure,” Bianchi said. “We redesigned the whole organization along the lines of what a digital company would try to look like.” For six months, LATAM Cargo trained eleven of its top executives on how to manage digital teams and deploy AI-assisted products for the carrier. The results have been “much, much better than we ever envisioned,” he said. “It has been shocking,” Bianchi said. “For example, we had one process on the planning side that took us about three to four weeks to finish. A new tool that we launched this week does that in less than two minutes.” LATAM Cargo was the first unit within the LATAM Airlines Group to implement the AI initiative across all its teams, he added. Leveraging AI Miami-based Amerijet is also benefiting from AI. The 767-only operator is using it to develop an fficient overhaul and replacement schedule for aircraft components to improve the reliability of its freighters as they age, Chief Executive Joe Mozzali said. Although AI has enabled the industry to alter business models and accomplish more faster, UPS does not want the technology to be viewed as a threat to employees, Houston Mills, president of flight operations, said during the discussion. Mills formed an AI learning committee so his team could become more proficient with the technology to improve efficiency and innovation for UPS. “How do you get people to understand that, at the end of the day, they are the users?” he said. “They’ve got to understand it and ultimately how to use AI to help resolve very complex disruptions.” Follow all the coverage of Cargo Facts Symposium 2025. Cargo Facts LATAM 2026, the essential event for stakeholders in Latin America, will take place Feb. 10-12 at the Marquis Reforma in Mexico City. Learn more and register by Dec. 26 to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

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