Meeting a growing number of airline customers’ individual requirements for training was becoming more and more complex for CACC Cargolinx. IATA Certification helped them simplify their approach, and gave them the credibility they needed to make effective changes.
CACC Cargolinx is the leading Egyptian cargo service provider with over 25 years of industry expertise. A highly dedicated team of professionals serves over 20 prominent airlines out of state-ofthe- art import, export and express cargo terminals at Cairo International Airport.
As the leading Egyptian cargo service provider, CACC Cargolinx serves more than 20 of the top cargo air freight companies in the world when they visit Cairo International Airport. As we aim to provide exceptional ground handling services, focused on the carrier, we were training our personnel to respect each individual airline’s requirements. That’s 20+ manuals to be trained on, for ULD operations and for dangerous goods handling. And it was not only challenging for us as a company to organize, but a substantial amount of information for our employees to absorb, retain and apply correctly.
We realized that we needed to have one standardized training program for each type of operational function, to make it easier and faster for our staff to gain the crucial knowledge and skills they need to carry out their job, without compromising on quality in any way. But we also needed our airline customers to recognize that our one training program met all their requirements.
As an IATA Strategic Partner, we are kept informed of new programs, and that is how we discovered IATA Certification. We saw that IATA experts could provide us with the guidance we would require, as well as certify our training as meeting industry standards, and therefore airline requirements. In 2019, we requested certification of our ULD handling training, which uses traditional training methodology. In 2021, we again sought help with training for dangerous goods handling, which requires competency-based training and assessment (CBTA).
IATA Certification recognizes organizations for excellence in workplace learning practices and compliance with international and industry training standards. The standards for using ULDs vary widely across the industry, and IATA has established the ULD Regulations (ULDR) as a simple point of reference. What we needed to do was show that our training met these standards, through the IATA certification program, so our customers would be reassured. This was a fairly simple process, particularly with the IATA team helping us align our training to the finer points of the ULDR.
When it came to the Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), however, our experience in CBTA was limited, so we required assistance in developing the complete training program. IATA’s certification process is thorough and very helpful, and took about three months to complete. The certification experts worked with us throughout, starting with our self-assessment. They boosted our understanding of competency-based training and assessment, and provided instruction support, guiding us in how to implement it.
The pilot assessment allowed us to test our new training approach, identifying the gaps and necessary corrective action. It really helped us improve our training program, and we can certainly say we now know what a competency is, how to achieve it, and how to continuously improve our skills, knowledge and attitude. The final assessment validated that our competency-based training and assessment for dangerous goods handling complies with the DGR training provisions, and we are now IATA CBTA Corporate certified.
We had already experienced the benefits of having our ULD training certified. As expected, we gained full control of the training process, and no longer had to rely on the carriers to provide their training plans. We also streamlined the training, with our own materials that we know are approved by IATA, and were able to train ULD handlers and build up personnel faster and more easily, with the full trust of our customers.
We expected to see these same benefits with our DGR training certification, and we did. Also, with these two major training programs in our control, we are able to establish an annual training plan at the beginning of the year for all new staff, which is more efficient. But, since we were certified, we have noticed even more benefits.
Firstly, safety accidents and incidents have been reduced. By conducting employee evaluations before and after training, and through the performance management system evaluations by managers, we have also seen that staff apply what they have learned. The health and safety indicator, coupled with the application indicator prove to us that it is easier for our staff to assimilate this new training approach.
Secondly, by implementing CBTA, we reduced the time it takes to train people, and therefore the time it takes for them to be operational. Our staff are more confident in their work because what they learn is more relevant to their everyday jobs, and they are sure it applies for every airline. This in turn enables us to provide higher quality service, as well as reducing hazards in operations.
Finally, we have received very positive feedback from our customers, and every carrier has approved our training program and materials. We also expect that this will make our services even more attractive to potential new customers, and we are considering further certifications for the future.
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