What is cargo handling software?
Cargo handling software is the system a ground handling station runs its warehouse on — accepting freight, checking documents, building ULDs, staging for the flight, and reporting status back — the physical and documentary work that happens between an airline's booking and the shipment reaching the aircraft.
Last updated · 12 Aug 2026
A day inside a handling station
A ground handling station's day is a sequence of physical hand-offs, each one guarded by a check. Freight arrives from a shipper or a trucker and is accepted — weighed, measured, and matched against its documentation. It is inspected for dangerous goods declarations and other compliance requirements, then stored until it is time to build the flight. ULD buildup groups consignments onto the containers and pallets the flight will actually carry, respecting weight limits and loading instructions. Built units are staged and handed to the ramp for loading. Inbound, the same station runs the process in reverse — breakdown of arriving ULDs and delivery of the freight to the consignee or their agent. Cargo handling software is the system of record for all of it: one workspace that tracks a shipment from the warehouse door to the aircraft door and back again.
Where the messages fit
A handling station doesn't work in isolation — it is wired into the airline's cargo messaging on both ends. Before the flight, the airline (or the departure station) sends the FFM — the flight manifest — so the receiving station knows what's loaded and coming its way before it lands. As the handler actually does the work — receiving, building, loading, delivering — the software emits FSU status updates back out: milestones like received, departed, arrived, and delivered, identified by codes such as RCS, DEP, ARR, and DLV. In short: FFM in, FSU out — the manifest tells the station what to expect, and the status messages tell everyone else what actually happened.
Cargo handling software vs an airline CMS
It's easy to conflate this category with airline cargo management software, but they run different halves of a shipment. An airline cargo management system is the commercial and financial backbone — booking, rating, AWB issuance, and revenue accounting — used by the airline (or the party selling the space). Cargo handling software is the operational system a ground handling agent (GHA) or a self-handling airline runs at the station itself, governed by SGHA-style handling agreements when a third-party GHA is involved. A shipment typically touches both: booked and rated in a cargo management system, then physically accepted, built, and moved through cargo handling software at each station along the route.
What to look for in 2026
Ground handling is inherently multi-party — one station can serve several airline customers, and one airline can use several handlers across its network. That makes three things worth prioritising in a modern platform: it should be multi-tenant, so one handler can run every customer airline's cargo in a single workspace instead of a system per contract; it should be per-station, reflecting how handling actually operates, one warehouse at a time; and it should be connected, so manifests and status messages flow to and from airline partners without manual re-entry. Skidd is built around exactly that shape, and connects to airlines running Flaks through Flaks Connect.
Cargo handling software: FAQ
What is cargo handling software?
It is the software a ground handling station runs its warehouse on — accepting freight from shippers or trucks, checking documents, building it onto ULDs, staging it for the flight, and later breaking down and delivering inbound cargo. It also carries the industry messaging that ties that physical work to the airline's own systems: incoming flight manifests and outgoing status updates.
What does GHA mean?
GHA stands for ground handling agent — a company contracted, typically under an SGHA-style handling agreement, to perform ramp, warehouse, and cargo services on an airline's behalf at a station. Not every carrier uses one: some airlines self-handle their own cargo at stations where it makes sense.
How is cargo handling software different from airline cargo management software?
An airline cargo management system runs the commercial side of a shipment's whole life — booking, rating, AWB issuance, and revenue accounting, end to end. Cargo handling software runs the physical station: what happens to the freight once it arrives at the warehouse until it leaves again, on the ground. See our guide to airline cargo management software for the commercial side.
Which messages does cargo handling software send and receive?
The flight manifest, FFM, arrives before the freight so the station knows what to expect. As the handler works the shipment, it emits FSU status updates — milestones such as received, departed, arrived, and delivered — back to the airline and onward to forwarders and shippers.
How does Skidd fit into this category?
Skidd is Flaks's cargo handling platform for ground handlers — multi-tenant so one handler can serve many airline customers, station-aware, and connected to airlines running Flaks through Flaks Connect. See the Skidd product page for what it does today.