Best ways to manage Air Freight during peak season
6 tips to manage peak season challenges with Air Freight
Most people in logistics brace for peak season with stress. But if you understand the real freight game, you know it’s more about mindset than panic. It’s the season where rates escalate without warning, and yesterday’s solutions become obsolete by morning. And somehow, you are still expected to deliver certainty in a market full of variables. But here’s the overlooked truth, surges in demand aren’t random. You can decode, anticipate, and even leverage, if you know what you’re looking for. This is where air freight becomes your tactical advantage. Air freight remains the most adaptable and responsive solution during peak season.
This blog is a deep dive into the patterns, behaviors, and operational tactics that successful air cargo companies use during the peak season. These are seven air freight tactics grounded in real-world experience and shaped by the demand cycles that define high-demand seasons.
1. Look beyond the obvious demand
Most air cargo companies plan for peak season based on past shipping volumes and known client cycles. But real preparedness comes from spotting what others miss, those unexpected demand spikes that catch everyone off guard.
For instance:
- Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers who don’t usually ship by air suddenly switch modes when production delays leave them with no other option.
- Retail promotions and flash sales that go better than expected and trigger emergency inventory shipments to keep shelves stocked.
- Government contracts or urgent aid shipments, which can take up huge air freight space without warning.
These kinds of last-minute surges aren’t visible in advance bookings. You need to track market signals such as factory output slowdowns, retail sell-through rates, and even marketing push dates.
Pro tip: You can also build a shadow calendar of industry trends. It gives you a three-dimensional view of how air freight capacity may tighten.
2. Don’t just focus on rates, look for spaces
In busy seasons, the biggest problem isn’t price, it’s space. Too often, people spend time negotiating for the lowest rate per kilo, only to find there’s no room left on the flight when they actually need it. Air cargo companies often reserve confirmed space for those who commit early and consistently, not those who negotiate at the eleventh hour.
Rather than chasing the cheapest spot rate, you should:
- Secure flexible air freight agreements early in the season.
- Be willing to prepay partial allocations in high-demand lanes.
- Block space for regular shipments, rather than consistency is valued
In peak season, reliability is worth more than any price rates.
3. Consolidate with precision, not just to fill space
Consolidation is often treated as a cost-saving tool that combines multiple small shipments, cut the cost per kilo, and boosts profit. But in peak season, it becomes a performance tool.
The best way to use consolidation to:
- Control routing by sending full pallets through preferred hubs.
- Speed up customs clearance by grouping pre-cleared, compliant cargo..
- Avoid delays by aligning with air cargo companies that prioritize well-structured cargo loads.
A pallet that’s built clean, documented properly, and loaded efficiently is infinitely more likely to be accepted, even when air freight is overbooked. During congestion, ground handlers appreciate predictability, and your cargo moves accordingly.
Strategic move: Establish weekly consolidation windows by market type (e.g., electronics, perishables), enabling more efficient documentation and cargo profiling.
4. Rethink packaging as a tool, not an afterthought
In peak season, time spent on the floor, either at origin or destination, is the enemy. Packaging that slows down loading, scanning, or clearance becomes a liability. Instead, you need to:
- Align with ULD configurations to avoid repacking or rejection.
- Use standardized labeling for faster documentation matching.
- Minimize irregular dimensions, which often get bumped in favor of stackable loads.
If a single mislabeled box delays an entire pallet’s acceptance, that’s not just an operational hiccup, it’s a customer trust breach. Anticipating these bottlenecks can gain a critical edge.
5. Master the art of elastic routing
In peak season, even confirmed bookings can fall through. Flights get overbooked. Hubs get jammed. And suddenly, your cargo is stuck with no clear path forward. The smart move isn’t chasing one “perfect” route, it’s having backup plans that actually work.
Here’s what flexible (or elastic) routing looks like in practice:
- Use alternate hubs, build parallel routes so you’re not fully dependent on one path.
- Know your logistics provider; some air cargo companies are better at honoring space commitments than others.
- Pre-arrange offload and reroute options, so if Plan A fails, Plan B is ready in hours, not days.
it’s about building optionality into your system. With the right routes and partners in place, a delay doesn’t become a disaster.
6. Accept that not all cargo is equal and prioritize
This one’s challenging, but real: not every shipment deserves the same level of attention. In peak season, the ability to triage becomes crucial. You need to prioritize based on:
- Financial value: High-margin cargo or time-sensitive inventory.
- Freight profile: Prioritize based on size, weight, handling complexity, or sensitivity to temperature
- Impact of delay: Some goods can sit. Others can’t afford 12 hours on the tarmac.
Air freight during peak times isn’t just about movement; it’s about movement that matters. Trying to treat every box like it’s mission-critical only leads to chaos.
Use this framework:
Tier 1 – Urgent uplift required (e.g., critical stockouts, launch items)
Tier 2 – Flexible routing acceptable (e.g., restocking, B2B supplies)
Tier 3 – Cost-sensitive or delay-tolerant (e.g., overstock, non-essentials)
When the pressure builds, this kind of clarity helps you act fast and act right.
Bonus insight: Know your logistics provider
All air cargo companies play the same game, but they don’t all play the same hand. Some overbook aggressively and bump low-priority freight. Others stick to rigid schedules and won’t flex. Some reward volume loyalty, others reward yield.
Freight forwarders who know the quirks, strategies, and "tells" of each carrier can plan better, even without formal commitments.
Examples:
- Carrier X might prioritize pharma, so your tech cargo gets downgraded.
- Carrier Y might offer decent spot rates but chronically miss deadlines from congested hubs.
- Carrier Z might be less known but consistent on emerging lanes.
Understanding these nuances goes beyond what’s printed in a contract. It is what separates tactical forwarders from strategic ones.
Final thoughts
Peak season in air freight doesn’t have to feel like survival. It can be the proving ground for discipline, foresight, and operational excellence. But only if freight forwarders step beyond transactional logistics into tactical orchestration. Those who forecast with curiosity, route with flexibility, consolidate with intelligence, and communicate with clarity don’t just manage peak, they master it.
Kenshine Group, AEO-certified and with a global presence, offers tailored air freight solutions that prioritize speed and reliability. We bring proven air freight expertise across complex cargo, tight timelines, and shifting capacity to help you manage the peak season pressure. For all the cargo movements across the world, connect with us!
