Supply chains: is hope in the air… literally?

The unprecedented challenges of the past few years have highlighted the importance of supply chains–by breaking them.

In the words of the World Economic Forum, supply chain resilience is “the ability of a global supply chain to reorganise and deliver its core function continually, despite the impact of external and/or internal shocks to the system”.

The logistics industry has shown incredible resilience, but supply chains are still suffering from issues like port delays, the HGV driver shortage, and rising costs. Businesses are being encouraged to spot and mitigate risks in their supply chains, whether operational (like a fire in a warehouse or the loss of a supplier), external (like airport closures or rising airfreight costs), or global (like climate change).

During recent crises that affected other modes of transport, like the HGV driver shortage or the blocking of the Suez Canal, many businesses have relied on airfreight, which accounts for £86bn of gross value added in the UK. While airfreight does cost more than road or sea transport, it can provide a crucial backup in the event of a disaster, so it looks likely to play a significant role in risk mitigation as businesses look for ways to make their supply chains more resilient.

This means the airfreight sector will need to be prepared. In the current talent drought, ensuring a supply of sufficiently skilled labour should be top of the sector’s agenda. UK employment in air freight fell by 20% between 2015 and 2020. 

The Transport Select Committee’s report, “UK aviation: reform to take-off” calls for the government to prioritise vetting for airline and airport and staff, so that candidates won’t be lost to competing job offers while waiting for security clearance. More collaboration between government and industry will be needed to support recruitment and retention in airfreight and keep this important sector of the UK economy flying.