Why HAE Group has the edge in the market

ACW talked to the global HAE Group team who were all involved in the whole interview. Their answers reflect on how GSSAs continue to play a pivotal role in optimising air cargo operations for airlines, particularly in an era of rising demand for efficiency, digitalisation and customer-centric solutions.

The executives highlighted the importance of strong partnerships between GSSAs and airlines. This relationship allows airlines to focus on core operations while the GSSA manages local sales, capacity management and customer relations.

Moreover, they acknowledged the transformative impact of technology on the airfreight sector.

Despite industry challenges such as fluctuating fuel prices, geopolitical tensions and environmental concerns, the group emphasised that GSSAs remain indispensable in providing airlines with tailored solutions, helping them navigate complexities in different markets while ensuring profitability and growth.

As airfreight becomes more critical to global commerce, the role of GSSAs continues to evolve, positioning them as key players in the future of aviation logistics. 

• “HAE – Dare to be Different”. A bold declaration – Can you expand on it? How will it allow you to differentiate your services from other GSSAs in the market?

We have built a team of leaders that represents us globally who are open minded, embrace change, know their business and are located to lead HAE in that country.

We have then built tools to support them that mean we can fast track our digitalisation via our own proprietary software and support them operationally 24/7 via a strong and well trained offshore team, based in one of our largest markets.

Finally, we have collaborated with the team to have a variety of GSSA+ products that allows everyone to secure new business. We think this gives us the edge and makes us different in what can be a very traditional sales model and market.

Neville Karai – CEO HAE Group

• Can you describe your own software and what benefits it has brought you as an entity? What prompted you to undertake the expenditure and effort to develop this software?

QMS is our very own ‘Quote Management System’. It allows us to quote faster, which often wins us the business versus our competitors, gives our airline partners their edge and makes us easy to use. We have developed a customer login, automated booking with our airline partners and automated customer service that means we track and trace all shipments not just on an exception basis.

We budgeted and undertook this endeavour after standardising our workflow, as much as we could across the company, to allow us to reduce our costs, give round the clock coverage and serve our customers. Others bring in technology we built it around us.

• How do you approach sales and marketing for the airlines you represent?

We have a multi-brand strategy having welcomed a number of companies to our group which is a real strength. They are local heroes yet backed by the financial, operational and marketing benefits of being part of a group. Every brand has a leader in each country and is responsible for the local marketing and sales. We always market the airlines brand first, we work all the key channels targeted data driven field sales, inside sales by phone, backed up with marketing and social media use.

Ian Hutchinson – CCO HAE Group

• What technology platforms do you use to manage bookings, track shipments and communicate with clients?

Our QMS system connects to the carrier’s systems where possible so that we do not have to duplicate our work. This is done increasingly via API and where this facility is not available, our software team have developed automated scripts that speed up the various processes. We then update our customers as they want to be updated be that email or integration. The same is the case for our spot pricing. Our airlines can agree recommended spot prices at a click, our customers can accept their offer at a click and it is then queued for booking.

For us it’s not necessarily what platforms we use: it is about how we can connect to what others are using.

Richard Thackeray – COO HAE Group

• How do you leverage data analytics to optimise routes, reduce costs or improve service?

We do regular reports to our airline carriers and have our review meetings. We can analyse the route, the airlines share of capacity on that route (our joint share), the yield to market and any gap. We measure number of quotes, conversion and yield. We even offer our carriers their own dashboard so they can see our performance.

• Can you provide examples of successful sales campaigns you’ve run for an airline client?

One of our major UK airlines recently added an Australian gateway. We targeted the key forwarders to that gateway for meetings, followed up to the export managers with a phone call briefing and announced the startup on social media and then ran an email campaign to our database.

We then follow this up with repeat sales visits to offer additional services to help the customer utilise the service.

Andy Smith – Commercial Director UK, GSSA

• What innovations or technological advancements have you adopted recently to improve your operations?

Automated booking has been a game changer for us as a GSSA. We need to get the booking into the airlines system as soon as possible and a copy into our systems so we can update our customer.

The second key innovation for us is FSU-type (Freight Status Update) updates from our carriers so that we can track customers’ shipments.

Our IT development team are embedded in our business, speak to our sales and customer service team regularly and have a better understanding of what the airline and customer wants other than a pure industry software provider, we believe.

• Can you explain how you manage revenue sharing and incentives with airlines?

GSAs are traditionally under contract and act as a sales agent for their airlines, hence the acronym, there are a variety of commercial arrangements used that are commercially confidential between the parties. When targets are set we are keen to be incentivised for other budget or seasonal performance.

Alyne Fukuda – Country Director Brazil

• You have a future focus on Africa and Asia markets. What has prompted this attention? How easy will it be to onboard airlines?

We have established our footprint in UK and Ireland, then drove our growth in the Americas, then opened up in the Middle East then moved to North, East and then Southern Africa in all the key markets. The next step is the secondary markets in Africa, which are developing. Selected parts of Asia interest us too, particularly with our GSSA+ products including interline.

Onboarding airlines is straightforward for us as we have a standardised process, through the use of QMS, that we adapt to their requirements. This allows us to complement their needs and support them in country and offshore.

Andy Watson – Regional Director Middle East North and East Africa

• In developing a GSSA+ model, what are some of the additional services that make up your solution? How has this model been received by your customers?

Where large MNC forwarders just want us to give them linehaul on our carriers via our GSA representation, many SME forwarders require the GSSA+ to offer their clients our airline products.

We are therefore happy to add to and from door, customs clearance etc . For our airline partners, they may want trucking, handling agreements in a region for offline business development where we can deploy our neutral AWB to help them build their business. So we have an a la carte approach to the GSSA+ services.

Blake Attley – Director Ireland

• How long have you been operating as a GSSA? Were you ever a GSA?

We have always been both: in some countries we are a GSA and in many others a GSSA. The same a la carte approach to our airline representation applies.

Bryn Wolley – MD – Air Cross GSA – South Africa

• How do you ensure compliance with the regulations of different countries and international bodies (like IATA, ICAO)?

Our team are trained on our airline’s systems, their products and trained in DG and other areas which add value which we are required to do so in key markets such as Pharma handling. Our company also has its own ethics and compliance training course and HAE Group has its own training company TSA/HAE Training that trains our team and customers in AVSEC, DG and other compliance training.

Peter Njambi – Regional Manager East Africa

• How do you handle situations as an agent where a flight is delayed or cancelled, impacting cargo shipments?

Close contact with the airline, immediate contact with the customer and quickest possible rebooking are the three key factors for us. We are involved in the load planning and prioritisation with most of our airline partners and having a combination of onshore and offshore CS team means we cover 24/7 so are hopefully as fast to react as possible.

• How do you handle customer relationships and feedback to improve service quality?

The field sales, inside sales and CS teams are in constant contact with our customers. We monitor all our carriers with a variety of KPIs, these include – flown as booked, quote conversion for price competitiveness and market share. If we spot a trend on flown as booked or any local service issues we raise it with the carrier or on their behalf with their handler. It is in both the airline and our interest to have the best possible service to grow the business.

Charlie Storcks – VP North America

• How do you handle disputes related to billing or pricing with airlines or customers?

One of the key features of our QMS system is that we have a timeline on all our quotations and copies of emails that either quote or accept the prices that we have sold our services at. This audit trail has reduced dramatically the number of shipment queries. The traditional ways are to review certified copies of AWBs for weight discrepancies and airline manifests and to ensure that the correct rates have been inputted into the carriers pricing system. QMS holds everything we do centrally.

• Can you integrate with existing systems used by freight forwarders or airlines (e.g., for digital booking platforms)?

We do not today, but it is inevitable, and our architecture allows us to plan for it – we have our own API documentation ready to go. Our customers priority today is for us to respond to spot prices, quickly, make their bookings seamlessly and understand their business better. Digital platforms do not know their forwarding customers like a GSSA does and cannot give them customer service. The airline wants you to focus on your customers and do your best for them. Digital platforms are market places, which have a role but customer service will also win.

Felipe Campillo – Director Spanish LATAM

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