Air cargo revenue management: Characteristics and complexities

Air Cargo Revenue Management (CRM) is concerned with the integrated management of the available belly space and payload, and cargo rates after accommodating passengers and their bags. CRM differs from Passenger Yield Management (PYM) in several respects due to the specific characteristics of cargo inventory, cargo business, and cargo booking behavior. This adds to the complexity of some of the traditional yield management models, and necessitates the development of certain additional models. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the major differences between CRM and PYM, and discuss the complexities involved in developing and implementing a CRM.