Whitepaper: Enabling Air Cargo Operators to Fly with Confidence!

Operators now also have to navigate the constantly changing and increasingly volatile geopolitical and economic landscape and risk environment, making day-to-day operations progressively more difficult. Without accurate, dynamic and proactive risk intelligence, operators could easily become overwhelmed and struggle to make important risk management decisions.

Osprey's risk intelligence solutions collate and scrape data from hundreds of thousands of open sources. We utilise AI to filter and create an aviation-specific database to identify what risks exist and where, and to calculate the probability of each risk in order to support our aviation client’s operational and security decision-making.

For cargo carriers and operators, Osprey’s risk intelligence solutions not only help ensure the safety and security of assets and employees but also help identify commercial opportunities and inform decision-making. Before we look at how our solutions can assist air cargo carriers and operators, let’s examine some of the biggest security risks that cargo flights regularly face.

The air cargo industry is a fast-growing, highly competitive, and regulated sector contending with challenges such as rising fuel and labour costs. However, with its global reach and the prospect of flying more challenging routes, its biggest hurdle lies in increasing exposure to external threats and events beyond the airlines’ and logistics operators’ control.

SOCIAL UNREST

The likelihood and impact of civil unrest are increasing across the globe. In the wake of the pandemic, ongoing socioeconomic pressures are causing high inflation, recession fears and political instability. Many countries have seen protest action and prolonged bouts of civil unrest, and importantly, these issues are not just restricted to developing countries.

Our data highlights a significant relationship between social unrest and aviation safety and security levels. Aviation operators can expect disruption that will vary from minor flight schedule alterations to very real threats to employees, facilities, assets and aircraft. While usually well-secured, aviation facilities and crew hotels may be directly or indirectly impacted by unrest, especially in the event that protests escalate into violence. Monitoring and understanding this issue is therefore vital.

and extremely visible target for protesters. Blocking or occupying an aviation facility almost guarantees publicity and media coverage, while also reducing the authority and legitimacy of governments that are unable to secure aviation facilities against such activity. This makes the disruption of air transport a primary objective for protesters who intend to force a government to negotiate over an issue or resign.

In addition, aviation facilities present a symbolic

That’s exactly what happened during a bout of acute unrest in Kazakhstan at the beginning of 2022. Protesters stormed Almaty Airport (UAAA/ALA) and allegedly occupied aircraft. Two years prior, during #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, protesters disrupted flights by blocking Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport (DNMM/LOS).

High levels of unrest can quickly degrade the security environment in a country and are linked to a deterioration in airline operating climate due to significant pressure placed on police and security personnel. This increases the opportunity for criminal elements to evade security, resulting in increased numbers of security and safety incidents.

INSIDER THREATS

The threat posed by insiders has long been a significant concern to the aviation industry. Insiders may be employees, contractors, consultants, agency or temporary staff – essentially anyone with privileged access or knowledge. Such individuals pose a wide variety of threats to aviation operations, most commonly for financial gain, but also for more malicious purposes such as revenge against an employer or political motivations.

The access and knowledge with which employees are entrusted are vital to the smooth running of operations, but that trust can be exploited. That’s why, in July 2021, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) issued an "Amber Alert" to furloughed port and airport workers. It warned that they might be at risk of being exploited by organised crime groups as they returned to work following the easing of COVID restrictions. According to the statement, workers with detailed knowledge of border controls, including port and airport operators, contractors, couriers and freight operators, might be particularly vulnerable to exploitation by "high-harm criminals" involved in drug smuggling, gun running, money laundering and people trafficking.

The statement highlighted that such groups were likely to intensify efforts to establish new insider contacts due to the pandemic, offering workers financial incentives to provide knowledge and access to restricted areas. The statement was made just over a year after the agency's Director General, Lynne Owens, issued a similar alert to haulage, freight and transport operators, stating there was a "strong likelihood" that criminal organisations would try to take advantage of workers who were "more financially vulnerable as a consequence of the lockdown and loss of work".

Given the post-pandemic operating environment in which we now find ourselves and current economic forecasts, the threat posed by insiders is still extremely prevalent. Record rates of inflation and the global cost-of-living crisis are increasing aviation employees' vulnerability to manipulation by criminal networks, thereby increasing the exposure of aviation operations to criminality and security threats.

The individuals on whom the aviation industry depends for the continuity of operations and to secure facilities, people and assets, such as security screeners, ground handlers and cleaners, are likely to be most heavily impacted by the current economic crisis, given the typically low salaries attracted by such roles. Yet these are the individuals with the highest levels of security access and therefore pose the greatest opportunity to exploit operations.

Additionally, as commercial aviation entities attempt to limit their operational costs, reductions in pay and hours, and contract terminations may lead to disgruntled employees in addition to increased stress and mental health issues among the workforce. Such measures therefore have the potential to further motivate individuals to disrupt or otherwise sabotage operations or to criminally exploit them, either independently or by facilitating the activities of criminal or terrorist groups.

For cargo airlines and operators, social unrest, the degradation in a security environment and insider threats are major concerns. It is therefore vital to monitor flight routes and destinations to mitigate risk and protect staff, facilities and assets.

HOW TO MITIGATE RISK

Developing a comprehensive and objective understanding of any environment, particularly in an increasingly complex and volatile world, is hard. In fact it is impossible for a human to make that consistent and objective analysis. Within the aviation security industry, this challenge is compounded by the sheer operational tempo, which is why many aviation organisations do not even try. Those that do, consistently struggle to implement a process that adds real value to their operations.

Successfully mitigating risk requires several key elements. Firstly, it necessitates access to reliable and responsive intelligence, preferably in the form of predictive intelligence. This enables proactive decision-making based on anticipated risks. Additionally, there is a need for continuous monitoring of the evolving risk landscape, ensuring that potential threats are identified and assessed promptly. Moreover, it is crucial to swiftly comprehend the impact that events or changes can have on operational activities. This understanding enables aviation organisations to adapt and respond effectively. Furthermore, streamlined processes play a vital role in risk mitigation by minimising the time required to reach a consensus on the necessary actions to be taken. By reducing the "time to action", organisations can swiftly implement appropriate measures to address risks and minimise their potential impact.

Here at Osprey we’ve pioneered the world’s first risk management solution specifically for the aviation industry, and cargo carriers and operators have been some of the first organisations to jump on board and utilise our tools. Ours is the only risk management suite of products that combines aviation-specific, opensource data with industry-specific risk assessment methodologies, superior human reasoning and augmented AI. What’s more, we’ve developed APIs that integrate with flight planning software – to deliver a solution that’s tailored to your specific operations, whether you’re a cargo logistics operator or a cargo fleet operator.

Our logistics clients value the ability to risk assess potential flight destinations with Osprey tools, and our cargo fleet clients also value the ability to risk assess flight routes with a level of granularity previously unavailable.

For most of our cargo clients, Osprey:Core and Osprey:Flights are our two most important and effective tools.

INTRODUCING :CORE

:Core is the air cargo industry’s essential alerting product, often with invaluable predictive intelligence. It helps our cargo clients keep up-to-date with emerging incidents and disruptive events affecting countries, airports and airspace with customised alerts and reports to help them understand and plan their routes and risk mitigation measures.

Real-time Alerts include a full description of the event, an analysis of its potential impact, advice on whether the event is part of a wider trend, as well as recommendations for steps to take. And it’s all delivered directly to your inbox.

INTRODUCING :FLIGHTS

:Flights is our dynamic risk assessment tool for individual flights. You have the option to manually upload a flight’s details into our system, or alternatively :Flights will integrate with your flight planning software to automatically assess risk across your entire flight operation.

It enables our cargo clients to assess a flight’s risk exposure for flight planning, as well as compliance purposes, often saving commercial and operational teams a great deal of time and effort. An instant flight risk assessment allows you to ensure you are comfortable with a planned route and operate with confidence – potentially opening up new routes and commercial opportunities. Alternatively, alterations to routes can be planned to allow for safer interaction with risk areas. This can also allow for more accurate operational costs, not least fuel, and the provision of an instant go/no-go decision.

INTRODUCING :PULSE

For cargo operators with larger sized fleets, :Pulse automatically risk assesses every one of your flight plans and continues to monitor your entire flight board. It keeps you abreast of events and activities affecting scheduled flights and alerts you when risk levels significantly change. There’s no better tool to achieve an automated global picture of aviation risk – bespoke to your flight plans.

OSPREY IN ACTION

These are just two examples of how Osprey’s clients have benefited from our data and intelligence.

PAKISTAN/INDIA AIRSPACE CLOSURES IN 2019

In 2019, three weeks ahead of the airspace above India and Pakistan being closed, we alerted our clients to the tensions when our analysis revealed that a bombing in February represented a clear indication that airspace access over Pakistan could be severely disrupted within 30 days following the attack. This enabled our clients to pull non-local staff out of the areas and review their operations and flight plans to accommodate the closure of airports and air corridors. Read more about Pakistan and India’s airspace closures.

AIR STRIKES AND PROTESTS IN FRANCE 2023

The recent strike action and protests in France cannot have gone unnoticed, but without prior notice, many airlines and cargo operators suffered the consequences. Our clients however benefited from numerous Alerts in the run-up to the upheaval, proactively warning of upcoming nationwide strikes and social unrest that would affect aviation operations, including the inability to depart from airports, refuel and overstay nearby. We’ll continue to monitor levels of social unrest in France and its overseas territories and issue updates on upcoming strike action and other related activities. Read more about our French protest Alerts.

Our cargo clients love the simplicity and ease with which risk assessments can be conducted across their flights, increasing their efficiency and commercial business decision-making and facilitating safer logistical operations.

How do you risk assess your air cargo flights? Come onboard with us and fly with confidence.