Willie Walsh says air cargo is operating in its most complex environment yet

The air cargo industry is now operating in a more complex environment than at any previous point in its history, according to IATA director general Willie Walsh, who says geopolitical shocks, airspace restrictions, protectionism and oil price volatility are all placing intense pressure on the market.

Speaking during a fireside chat with LATAM Cargo chief executive Andrés Bianchi at the IATA World Cargo Symposium in Peru, Walsh said the scale of disruption seen so far in 2026 has exceeded what the industry is used to managing.

He pointed to multiple factors weighing on operations, including restricted airspace, protectionist policies in certain countries, global disruption linked to geopolitical instability and the impact of the war in Iran on fuel costs.

Despite that, Walsh said he remains confident in the sector’s ability to function efficiently in the current environment.

He argued that the industry has repeatedly shown its ability to adapt quickly to changing conditions, citing the way trade lanes shifted in response to tariffs last year.

According to Walsh, the sector has always had to operate around geopolitical issues, but the difference today is the speed at which it can respond.

He said that while greater stability would obviously be preferable, the industry now has the tools and experience needed to adjust more rapidly than it did 20 years ago.

During the discussion, Bianchi also asked Walsh to identify the three biggest bottlenecks facing air cargo today. Walsh highlighted the lack of landing slots for freighter aircraft as a critical issue, alongside the ageing freighter fleet and the ongoing challenge of attracting labor into an industry that still depends heavily on manual work.

He nevertheless said these issues can be overcome if the industry works together more effectively.

The slot issue had already been raised earlier in the day by IATA’s global head of cargo, Brendan Sullivan. Walsh said that in Europe, many airports are heavily slot constrained and that authorities have often favored passenger growth over cargo access.

He argued that the balance needs to be reconsidered, given the strategic importance of air cargo, and suggested that the topic has not been debated seriously enough.

The conversation also touched on artificial intelligence. Both Walsh and Bianchi agreed that AI has the potential to bring real benefits to the air cargo sector, particularly because the industry generates and uses huge volumes of operational data.

At the same time, they warned that AI must be deployed with appropriate safeguards, since the technology can still make mistakes and should not be used without careful oversight.

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