Box-ticking, with fitting in the school run still the poser for women in air cargo

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Last week’s CNS conference’s Women in Air Cargo panel succeeded in highlighting the inequities in our industry – but not in the way it intended.  

Major kudos to the panel’s sponsor, Cathay, and IATA for placing emphasis on putting women on panels, but you have to question why CNS was able to find four women to ask about work-life balance, but couldn’t find any to speak on AI. 

Instead, this ‘inclusivity’ felt more like a box-ticking exercise, especially considering that overall, just 16 of the 49 speakers were women, and the first day of the conference was dedicated entirely to golf – a gate-kept, older-generation-male-dominated sport, where many in said demographic prefer to do their networking. 

(Some may simply suggest more women should join the golf sessions, but a candid conversation I had with one delegate conveyed that the sentiment toward newcomers to the sport would be one of annoyance, as regular players “prefer to enjoy a good game uninterrupted”.) 

Among the questions the women on the panel (all in managerial positions at Cathay Cargo) were presented with were: “What insights do you have on balancing the working life and your personal life?”; “As a working parent, what are the challenges that you see?”; and “What makes you proud to be working in air cargo?”. 

To be fair to Cathay, they did put one man on the Women in Air Cargo Panel, who chimed in to say: “I also have kids… It doesn’t only take for women to be present. So, one of my biggest challenges, as well, is balancing work life and personal life, especially in this industry with travelling.” 

Indeed. Many of the points raised by the speakers – such as work/life balance and attracting new talent – pertain to both men, women, and the industry as a whole, so choosing to spotlight these issues in a Women in Air Cargo panel felt ironic, and borderline offensive. 

Having a female panel line-up is a great initiative and very refreshing to see – the speakers from Cathay were also excellent in their responses – but next time it would be more conducive to hear them being asked about their professional expertise and experience in the air cargo market, rather than the inconvenient timing of school pick-ups.  

Yes, the difficult conversations need to be had, and yes, women face more professional barriers than men. This we know. But actions speak louder than words, and although this same issue was raised by The Loadstar publisher Alex Lennane back in 2023, it seems little has changed.