Quest for Quality 2024: Air Cargo Carriers/Airfreight Forwarders
Spanning the globe with unprecedented service
As we reported last month in our Annual State of Logistics Report summary, a disruption in one global mode helped push another forward earlier this year. In fact, we saw air cargo rates reaching new heights in April due to the continuing disruptions to ocean freight services in the Red Sea.
According to analysis by ocean and airfreight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform Xeneta, “the impact of air cargo’s ‘black swan’ event—conflict in the Red Sea disrupting ocean services—showed signs of easing in April, but volume growth still registered the fourth straight month of +11% increases in global air freight demand.”
Like the analysts at Xeneta, most analysts have high hopes for the air cargo industry in 2024. In fact, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported earlier this year that it expects all regions to experience an upswing. So, despite all the ongoing geopolitical headwinds, the majority of airfreight analysts believe that 2024 may herald the start of a new economic growth cycle for the global air cargo industry.
In the meantime, the airfreight forwarder market is navigating through a period of transformation and adaptation like none before, driven by technological advancements, changing customer expectations, and the all-too-familiar disruptions.
With new competition driven by tech-savvy new entrants, the ability to remain agile and innovative is more crucial than ever for success in the quickly evolving airfreight forwarder landscape—pushing even the grand, established names in the market to adapt and innovate to meet new global demands. In fact, we called the airfreight forwarder market “the one to watch” over the next year in terms of meaningful AI roll outs on a high level.
And speaking of a high level, according to the readers of Logistics Management, the 22 carriers and providers taking away Quest for Quality gold this year have reach a new echelon of customer service.
In fact, the first six winners in this year’s Air Cargo Carrier’s category put up the highest total weighted scores in our 2024 Quest for Quality survey: Etihad Airways Cargo (65.85); Qatar Airways Cargo (63.79); Japan Airlines (62.71); Korean Air (62.37); China Southern Airlines Cargo (61.84); and EVA Air Cargo (60.39). Considering the headwinds all air carriers have faced, the entire Air Cargo category scored extremely well this year.
In our Air Express category this year, FedEx Express (50.99) put up the top weighted score, while in the tightly contested Airfreight Forwarders category, Lynden Logistics put up an impressive 59.97 weighted score.
Air cargo carriers
(Bold indicates leader in attribute category)
| On-time performance | Value | Information technology | Customer Service | Equipment & operations | Weighted score | |
| Etihad Airways Cargo | 13.23 | 13.86 | 12.63 | 13.80 | 12.33 | 65.85 |
| Qatar Airways Cargo | 13.23 | 13.86 | 12.63 | 13.80 | 10.28 | 63.79 |
| Japan Airlines | 13.74 | 13.86 | 10.95 | 12.65 | 11.51 | 62.71 |
| Korean Air | 12.83 | 12.94 | 11.93 | 13.03 | 11.65 | 62.37 |
| China Southern Airlines Cargo | 13.63 | 13.86 | 10.53 | 11.50 | 12.33 | 61.84 |
| EVA Air Cargo | 13.23 | 12.01 | 11.93 | 12.27 | 10.96 | 60.39 |
| Turkish Cargo | 11.68 | 12.32 | 11.58 | 12.65 | 11.30 | 59.53 |
| British Airways | 12.63 | 12.01 | 10.95 | 11.96 | 11.51 | 59.05 |
| Lufthansa Cargo | 11.76 | 12.01 | 11.23 | 12.27 | 10.96 | 58.22 |
| United Cargo | 11.68 | 11.55 | 11.23 | 12.27 | 10.96 | 57.68 |
| Air France-KLM | 11.68 | 9.24 | 10.53 | 13.80 | 12.33 | 57.58 |
| Southwest Airlines Cargo | 11.68 | 12.71 | 10.10 | 11.04 | 11.51 | 57.04 |
| Cathay Pacific | 13.06 | 12.01 | 10.10 | 11.04 | 10.28 | 56.49 |
| Air Canada | 10.49 | 11.55 | 10.53 | 11.50 | 10.96 | 55.03 |
| Nippon Cargo Airlines | 12.37 | 11.55 | 9.26 | 11.96 | 9.86 | 55.00 |
| AVERAGE | 11.78 | 11.30 | 10.19 | 11.30 | 10.36 | 54.94 |
Source: Logistics Management, Peerless Research Group (PRG)
Airfreight express carriers
(Bold indicates leader in attribute category)
| On-time performance | Value | Information technology | Customer Service | Equipment & operations | Weighted score | |
| FedEx Express | 11.75 | 10.08 | 10.14 | 9.31 | 9.71 | 50.99 |
| DHL Express | 10.34 | 9.38 | 9.44 | 9.06 | 9.84 | 48.06 |
| AVERAGE | 10.51 | 9.45 | 9.43 | 9.29 | 9.37 | 48.04 |
Source: Logistics Management, Peerless Research Group (PRG)
Airfreight forwarders
(Bold indicates leader in attribute category)
| On-time performance | Value | Information technology | Customer Service | Equipment & operations | Weighted score | |
| Lynden Logistics | 12.63 | 11.09 | 10.95 | 13.80 | 11.51 | 59.97 |
| JAS Forwarding | 12.63 | 10.78 | 9.82 | 11.50 | 10.28 | 55.00 |
| Maersk Logistics | 10.49 | 12.32 | 9.82 | 10.73 | 10.96 | 54.33 |
| Expeditors International of Washington | 12.43 | 10.27 | 10.29 | 11.24 | 10.05 | 54.27 |
| AVERAGE | 10.95 | 10.91 | 10.12 | 11.15 | 10.16 | 53.29 |
Source: Logistics Management, Peerless Research Group (PRG)
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