EURO CARGO AVIATION: INVESTING IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

Independent Dutch GSA Euro Cargo Aviation (ECA) is quite explicit in why a freight forwarder or shipper should not try to cut out a GSA or GSSA and go directly to a carrier to book space. Quite simply, you get a better service from a GSA than you might get from a carrier.

Stuart Holland. vice-president of Euro Cargo Aviation, spells out an answer to the question: ‘if I want to ship some cargo, why shouldn’t I just go straight to the airline and cut you out?’ He says: “Interesting question - and the answer would be different depending on which carrier you are talking about. Most airline companies are focusing on core products - managing their suppliers and investing in infrastructure to create the best possible airport-to-airport product in their sector. We invest in customer service, market intelligence, front end support and destination support to ensure the customer gets through the network with clear updates, confirmed departures and support at the final destination.”

With six airlines in its portfolio, including Saudia Cargo and Norwegian Cargo, Holland is not standing still in his desire to increase that range. When asked if Euro Cargo Aviation is on the hunt to attract further carriers, he says: “Absolutely we are! However, strategically our first priority will always be our current airlines. The management team and our country directors are deeply rooted in this business and always available to assist any carrier looking to improve their revenue, load factors and yield.”

GSA

or GSSA?

If the scientific maxim that the only constant is change, then Holland addresses the developing relationship and difference between what is a General Sales Agent (GSA) and a GSSA (General Sales & Service Agent). He says: “In this era we don’t necessarily define these terms - we focus on the needs of each carrier and their core customers and build products that add value to the customer experience which in turn will create customer loyalty.

“Within our portfolio we have many different carriers who have different offerings. It’s important to us that the customer who books with one of our customer airlines will return again and again! When we start a new airline relationship we have already created an understanding of their needs and equally importantly an assessment of their potential customer needs - that leads to a business plan that is individual to each carrier we work with. The first steps are to ensure our commercial teams understand the core values and products of the carrier and this is followed with adding process and investment to create a product that creates customer loyalty.

“Some good examples would be the creation of our service centres at key locations; we invest heavily in people to manage the operation at origin and destination to ensure the carrier’s customer gets a seamless journey with realistic updates. There is a lot of investment in IT and AI in the GS(S)A world and we take our share in development of exceptional in house IT systems - but in the end it’s the people-to-people interaction that creates customer loyalty and it’s our people who make that difference!”

Making people proud

Hubert van der Laaken, Euro Cargo Aviation CEO, concurs with Holland as to the importance of attracting and retaining the right staff. He says: “When we are looking for staff for a new office or country we first check with our existing business partners that are active in that specific area and ask them for their recommendations. The air cargo community is relatively small and we always start talks with people that are recommended to us. ECA is active for 25 years now, people like our company as we are like a family and take care and help each other, this makes our people proud to be with us.”

Euro Cargo Aviation celebrates its 25th birthday in 2023 and has several employees who have been in the ECA family for 20 years or more, while three people are still there from the start when ECA was still a relatively small company.

Van der Laaken says: “Over the years we grew to become one of the major players in the GSSA landscape with 28 offices in 20 countries worldwide. ECA takes care of its employees, we have team players that work closely together and know that only together we are able to provide the best performance for our air airline partners.

“Our employees experience a professional and positive working environment, we work hard and are answering phone calls or emails after normal office hours to make a difference, which makes us unique. When we are successful together we make sure that our success is shared with all our employees in the family!” he concludes.