Imagine air cargo in 2025.

Do you think you’ll still be using your phone to book shipments?

You will be. I promise.

Whether you are a shipper, an airline, or forwarder, you probably spend a boatload of time on the phone, getting prices, booking shipments, and following up on them. WebCargo data shows that only 42% of ad hoc requests to airlines are answered in three days. You may as well use the post office. This is especially shocking since air freight is usually used for urgent shipments.

Three days does not do the trick.

Think of a romantic seafood dinner on Valentine’s Day.

You and your partner sit down to a candlelit meal. You start with a shrimp appetizer, move on to the main of tilapia in mushroom sauce with a side of lima beans, capped off with a fruit dessert of fresh figs, cantaloupes, and raspberries. There’s a bouquet of roses on the table. You exchange gifts, perhaps – a new smartwatch, or a cellphone.

Every single one of those things was brought to your table by plane *. Speed is of the essence when moving perishables like seafood and flowers, and electronics. For example, fresh raspberries only have a shelf life of two to three days! That’s all behind the scenes at your Valentine’s Day dinner– and in so many other areas of daily life.

Back to the phone

Asking “what kind of phone?” might make all the difference.

Using a smartphone, you can watch a movie on Netflix, navigate across the country, and buy any product in the world to be delivered to your door on Amazon. And yet, to book freight shipments, the de facto phone technology is…speed dial.

Why does air cargo booking move so slowly?

Talking To Each Other

Each element of the supply chain uses different software to manage operations and each is incapable of talking to each other.

Each airline’s software is unique. Each freight forwarder uses different systems, too. Transferring data – even simple data like cargo rates – is messy, often relying on spreadsheets. This leads to errors, and it takes time. Nearly fifty percent of the time spent in the freight industry is on gathering data and correcting errors from faulty data *.

These inefficiencies mean lower capacity utilization and lower revenues for service providers and freight forwarders. They also mean less satisfied customers.

We at the Freightos WebCargo team are fixing that, connecting airlines and forwarders with an incredible new platform that will be launched…for free.

WebCargo Sky: Cleared For Takeoff

WebCargo Sky helps air forwarders automate pricing across over 370 airlines, enabling instant pricing and even real-time booking with select carriers. And it’s totally free.

Instead of phone calls and inaccurate costs, Sky provides instant live booking and dynamic, transparent pricing. Some of the world’s largest airlines already offer eBookings there, including Lufthansa, Air France/KLM, and IAG Cargo.

With WebCargo, you can book a shipment in thirty seconds – and be assured that the prices and capacity available you see online are the most accurate, up to the minute offerings on the market. Airlines can sell more, while utilizing capacity more efficiently. Freight forwarders can use their time to close deals with customers, instead of chasing down prices. Shippers can get better rates and faster service. It’s time air cargo moved online.