HOW THE GSA FLIES THE FLAG

A General Sales Agent (GSA) can be considered one of the core building blocks of the modern global airfreight industry. While an airline may have a physical asset in the shape of a commercial aircraft that it offers on a scheduled or ad hoc basis, the ‘capacity’ it offers on its maindeck or in its belly space, is intangible.

Despite many airlines having global networks, there remain many cities, even countries, where an airline has not the facilities or personnel to function as a cargo sales force. This is where a sales representative for an airline in a specific country or region comes in to fly the flag.

Existing GSAs typically tender for the opportunity to represent the airline and be responsible for selling cargo space. In return, the airline will offer a margin on the cost of space sold by the GSA in its name. A GSA will typically sell products from multiple airlines.

The key to being a successful GSA (or a GSSA) is adding value. A GSSA is about so much more than just selling space. Airlines normally use a GSA in areas that it does not operate to or from, allowing them to have a sales presence in a country at lower cost than opening their own offices in the short term. It may also use their services because the GSA has historical ties with travel and cargo agents which will be too time-consuming for the airline to build itself.

All costs related to running the GSA’s business are the responsibility of the GSA including insurance, rent, general office expenses and any travel within the country or region needed to promote and sell the product.

At the simplest, in a market that has continued to evolve and become more complex, airlines need partners with solid and welldeveloped local market knowledge that can be invaluable for the freight forwarder or shipper client.

The importance of the GSA to its airline principal is that industry observers have estimated that around one dollar in four of the air cargo industry’s $50 billion annual revenue is raised via outsourced sales operations. This means that GSAs account for some $12.5 billion of the industry’s annual income.

It is clear that the GSA is not simply a marketing arm of an airline. The GSA contributes to the airline’s sales and profitability by expanding successful operating networks. They help to cut operating costs to reduce prices and get involved in data capture. They can as well manage ground handling and surface distribution operations for the carrier and its freight clients. They have to be the ability to establish an airline’s market presence through wide network coverage that can generate even greater cargo sales revenue.

To stay ahead of the competition, the back office of the modern GSA has got to be lean and cost-efficient in order to make it competitive in pricing. At the core, it is the grade of digitalisation that matters now. The savvy operation will work with bots transferring e-mails in bookings and copying data from the GSA’s in-house IT system to the airline’s system. No more double entries. The modern GSA is working with windows 365, a cloud based system. Reservations software should be applied with brand-new and state-of-the-art. An e-booking platform should be instigated for bookings and ad hoc requests to enable the modern GSA to prosper in a modern manner.

Editor: James Graham

Associate Editor: Chris Lewis

Director of Operations: Kim Smith

International Sales Director: Rosa Bellanca

International Sales Executive: Zainab Khalid

Finance Manager: Rachel Burns

Video Director: Michael Sales

Design & Production Manager: Alex Brown Website Consultant: Tim Brocklehurst

Directors: Norman Bamford • Dawn Jolley