Quarterly Air Cargo Quality Report – Industry Trends & Top Performers

Ensuring timely and reliable cargo delivery is a top priority in air freight. Over the past quarter, CargoAi has analyzed the Delivery As Promised (DAP) Quality across 100+ airlines, tracking data from thousands of AWBs to provide industry-wide insights. This report highlights global DAP trends (as analysed based on CargoAi’s data), recognizes the top-performing airlines, and outlines how airlines can use these insights to optimize their operations.

Over the past three months, the average Delivery As Promised (DAP) Quality across the industry was 63%, with fluctuations between 59% and 63%. While the industry continues to improve, there is still a gap between the highest and lowest performers:

• Top 10 airlines recorded DAP scores ranging from 72% to 89%.
• A significant portion of airlines fell below the 60% threshold, highlighting potential areas for operational improvement.

What This Means for the Industry:

1. We see an improvement in quality from December to January because traditionally, the Christmas period is busy with very heavy demand leading to congestion, limited capacity, and ground handling delays, resulting in a temporary dip in DAP quality scores across the board. We see that airlines on average quickly recovered in January and February, with demand normalizing and operational backlogs cleared, airlines generally return to more stable schedules.
2. Higher variability in performance indicates that some airlines have successfully optimized their logistics and ground operations, while others may face challenges such as delays in ground handling, customs clearance, or last-mile delivery.
3. The industry standard for evaluating delivery reliability has become more data-driven, allowing airlines to benchmark against top performers and implement targeted operational enhancements.

Among the 100+ airlines analyzed, the following stood out for exceptional on-time delivery performance:

1. Korean Air – 89%
2. Nippon Cargo Airlines – 87%
3. Cathay Cargo & Emirates (tied) – 81%

What Sets These Airlines Apart?

• Strong partnerships with ground handling agents and logistics providers to minimize delays.
• Effective tracking and communication to ensure shipments arrive within the defined 6-hour threshold.
• Robust contingency planning to mitigate disruptions caused by weather, congestion, or other operational challenges.

At CargoAi, our DAP calculation methodology is standardized across all airlines, ensuring fair and transparent comparisons. We measure:

• Shipments delivered within 6 hours after arrival at the destination.
• Data from thousands of AWBs, providing a statistically significant sample.
• Airline performance based on real-time tracking and data via APIs, ensuring accuracy.

This approach allows airlines to accurately benchmark their performance and identify opportunities for improvement.

CargoAi’s quality insights help airlines:

✔️ Track KPIs and measure progress over time

✔️ Compare performance against industry benchmarks

✔️ Identify bottlenecks in operations

✔️ Optimize delivery processes for improved reliability

With data-driven decision-making, airlines can enhance their DAP performance, leading to higher customer satisfaction and competitive advantage.

As the air cargo industry evolves, data-backed performance insights will be essential for ensuring reliability and efficiency. By leveraging CargoAi’s comprehensive quality reports, airlines can drive continuous improvements and strengthen their position in a competitive market.

Want to track and improve your delivery reliability? Contact us today to explore how CargoAi’s quality insights can help your airline optimize performance.