AIR CARG O WEEK


AIR CARGO CONFERENCE - ORLANDO - REVIEW F


AIR CARGO CONFERENCE CONFRONTS THE NEW NORMAL


BY Oscar SARDINAS 10 F


“We’ve had a historic level of supply chain disruptions”


orget innovation. Forget sustainability. The word that dominat- ed every conversation at the AirCargo Conference this week was uncertainty. Over two days at the Omni Champions Gate resort in Orlando, the industry gathered for what felt less like a conference and


more like a group therapy session. Tariffs that change overnight. Cus- toms brokers drowning in nine-line entries that used to be one. Small businesses blindsided by duty bills. Trucks idling for hours at airport cargo terminals. And through it all, one question: what happens next? “We are talking about historic, and I don’t use that word often, but I


believe it is firmly appropriate, with a degree of uncertainty,” said Mi- chael Taylor, the Air Forwarders Association’s Washington lobbyist. “At the same time, we’ve had a historic level of supply chain disruptions.” It


wasn’t hyperbole. It was a theme that kept popping up throughout the event.


“We’re all checking Twitter daily” The panel titled “Tariffs, Turbulence, and Truth” didn’t sugarcoat any- thing. Jonathan Gold from the National Retail Federation cut straight to it: “Let’s be honest. Who pays the tariff? It’s not somebody overseas. It’s the US importer. Study after study confirms it. Another study said 94% of consumers are paying for tariffs.” He described an industry trying to plan six months out when the rules


change on social media. “How do you make business plans when you don’t know what tariffs or regulations are going to come into place? We’re all checking Twitter daily to see what the threats are.”


ACW 02 MARCH 2026


www.aircargoweek.com


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