ONE Record deadline: is air cargo ready?

Tristan Koch

The air cargo industry has been talking about digitalisation for decades, but now the clock is ticking. By 1st January 2026, IATA’s ONE Record will become the preferred standard for data exchange, leaving the sector with less than four months to turn a long-discussed concept into operational reality.

ONE Record is not just another IT upgrade. It replaces the patchwork of messaging standards still in use, offering a single, shared version of the truth across airlines, forwarders, ground handlers, and regulators. On paper, the benefits are obvious: fewer mistakes, less manual rekeying, faster communication, and end-to-end visibility. But as the deadline approaches, adoption remains uneven, and the real challenge is change management, and getting people and organisations to work differently.

The good news is that the industry is not starting from scratch. Airlines, forwarders, and tech providers have been running pilots for quite some time, demonstrating how ONE Record can streamline cargo acceptance, reduce delays, and improve disruption handling.

Awareness is high, and regulators are watching closely. But technical readiness alone will not guarantee success. As leaders across the industry have stressed, the hard part is guiding customers and supply chain partners through the change. Stakeholders must be shown why the standard is better than existing systems and how it will make daily operations faster, simpler, and more transparent.

Adoption is about more than technology; it is about priorities, resources, and trust. Smaller forwarders and handlers face stretched budgets and limited IT capacity. Large players must integrate systems across multiple partners some of whom may be at different levels of readiness.

Then there is the cultural factor. Air cargo has historically been cautious about data sharing. Even with robust cybersecurity protocols, some remain wary of open collaboration. But building trust is as important as building IT infrastructure. ONE Record will only succeed if stakeholders feel confident sharing information across the chain.

The stakes go beyond compliance. Customers expect near real-time visibility, and supply chains are judged not only on speed and cost but also resilience and transparency. ONE Record offers a chance to deliver both efficiency and credibility.

In practice, replacing paper with digital data sharing accelerates handling and improves accuracy. It enables faster responses to disruption. For shippers, forwarders, and airlines, this is a competitive necessity.

Cybersecurity underpins all of this. If the industry cannot ensure the integrity and privacy of shared data, trust evaporates, and the benefits of digitalisation are lost. ONE Record adoption and IT security must advance hand in hand.

Collaboration, clear guidance, and a focus on customer benefits will be essential in the coming months. Platforms that bridge legacy systems with ONE Record can help reduce friction and lower the barrier to entry, but they are only part of the solution.

Above all, companies need trusted IT partners who are technologically capable and fully IATA ONE Record compliant. Awery Aviation Software (Awery) has built its solutions around open data sharing, collaboration without added cost barriers, and cutting-edge IT increasingly powered by AI. These capabilities underpin the efficiency and transparency needed for ONE Record compliance.

Data security is equally important. We’ve recently launched a dedicated trust centre, giving customers visibility into exactly how their data is protected. In an industry built on trust, this level of transparency is critical.

We believe that active collaboration with IATA is necessary in preparing the industry for this change. I told The Loadstar earlier this year: “IATA can only be the facilitator of this, we must all commit and participate.”

Awery has been a long-standing partner in IATA’s efforts to advance digitalisation, competing in and winning four consecutive ONE Record hackathons. Most recently, Awery developed PHP:ONE, a solution for seamless data sharing across cargo stakeholders, showing how the standard can be applied in practice.

ONE Record is no longer an abstract concept; it is an urgent business imperative. By focusing on change management, customer value, and collaboration, the industry can turn a regulatory deadline into a leap forward. Those who embrace it will gain efficiency, resilience, and credibility, and those who hesitate risk being left behind.