Each week, CargoForwarder Global’s ‘Spotlight On…’ brings a different corner of the air cargo industry to the fore to illustrate just how broad the variety of career opportunities is in this field. Four factors play a vital role in ensuring safe and secure operations within our industry: safety, sustainability, quality, and risk management. External experts can help companies uncover blind spots in operational management, handling processes and compliance, for example, and identify and implement measures to improve any shortcomings. Benny Siu (BS), CEO and Founder of Amazing Ace Consultant Company Limited, shares his insights, responsibilities, and advice.
CFG: What is your current function and company? And what are your responsibilities?
BS: I’m currently the CEO and Founder of Amazing Ace Consultant Company Limited. We’re a professional consultancy dedicated to providing auditing, training, and consultancy services in areas of safety, sustainability, quality, and risk management. As CEO, I find myself wearing many hats: forming project teams, sharing insights with the industry, and always striving to go above and beyond for our clients. Each day brings something new, and I’m energized by the opportunities to help our clients succeed and raise the bar of standard for our industry.
CFG: What does a normal day look like for you?
BS: Haha, well… “chameleon” should be a word that fits my daily routine! I juggle at least four professional disciplines – safety, sustainability, quality assurance, and risk management – while connecting with partners all over the world across time zones. My schedule is as dynamic as the air cargo industry itself; it keeps me on my toes and makes everyday a fresh adventure.
What’s more, adaptability to a wide range of people with different characters and languages is common in my routine, coz you know, as an auditor, trainer and consultant across the Asian region and sometimes online meetings with business fellows in Europe and America, I have to be agile and interactive for delivering my best.
CFG: How long have you been in the air cargo industry, and what brought you to it?
BS: My career journey actually began in the construction field, where safety was a top priority and became a passion of mine. I’m honored to be a Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner with IOSH (UK), a Registered Safety Auditor, and a Registered Safety Officer under the HKSAR Government – qualifications that laid a strong foundation for my move into aviation. The skills I developed in construction safety turned out to be highly transferable to aviation, and I spent 15 rewarding years at Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (HACTL), one of the busiest air cargo terminals in the world.
Those were the days, I took on leadership roles and drove operational excellence, quality assurance, and safety initiatives at a large scale. Beyond my comfort zone, I became a Full Member of the Institution of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA, UK), a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional, and an IRCA Associate Auditor for Environmental, Energy, Occupational Safety & Health, and Quality Management. Combining this expertise with a Master’s degree in Environmental Management, I’ve contributed not just to aviation, but also worked with the Business Environment Council (BEC), Occupational Safety & Health Council (OSHC), and major impactful associations and contractors in Hong Kong. In recent times, I appreciated IATA and TIACA offering me many opportunities to share and deliver my profession for the whole air cargo industry around the world.
Throughout my journey, what really motivates me is the opportunity to connect and share views with industry peers, helping organizations adapt to new challenges like decarbonization and the drive for net-zero operations. I now focus on advising companies globally, supporting them in their sustainability, energy optimization, and compliance efforts. Each chapter has given me a broader view of the air cargo sector, and I’m excited to keep supporting innovation and positive change in our community.
CFG: What do you enjoy most about your job?
BS: What really brings me joy is working with aviation leaders and professionals from all over the world – including here my home, Hong Kong. Whether sharing best practices, tackling challenges, or simply making friends, it’s the connections and exchange of ideas that keep me motivated. There’s a special satisfaction in seeing how a “can do” attitude can spark breakthroughs and push the industry forward.
With more joy to come, because I am now working as an independent party, which breaks the horizons of company concerns and maybe any conflict of interests. Not just acting as giver for the provision of advice and sharing, but also as the taker of best practice, stringent SOP and state-of-the-art aviation infrastructure and equipment. Trusting the wider vision can boost the circulation of continuous improvement to motivate our industry moving forward.
CFG: Where do you see the greatest challenges in our industry?
BS: One of our biggest challenges is probably communication – sometimes best practices get stuck and aren’t shared as widely as they could be. I completely understand the pressures of competition and confidentiality, as the commercial side is vital to keep surviving and gaining market share. Yet, it also raises a question: Can the whole industry thrive with just a few standout companies? After all, we’re an interconnected supply chain. Perhaps it’s time to consider more collaborative “we-win” approaches. It’s an ongoing debate – should we lean into competition, or embrace collaboration for the next chapter of air cargo?
CFG: What advice would you give to people looking to get into the air cargo industry?
BS: Coming from construction field to air cargo industry, I experienced how to transit across the sectors. If you want to get into air cargo industry, I suggest you find a profession to develop as at the starting point. Take me as an example, “safety” was the topic I liked most, so I devoted myself to going for all kinds of safety management training. This can keep your momentum, otherwise you will quit in the long journey, especially as it takes years to accumulate your experience if you’d like be an expert.
Innovation training is another cup of tea, because we need new things to drive changes. We all enjoy the world of AI, robotics, autonomous equipment, digitalization, etc… but how to apply these technologies to give a new picture of air cargo industry? We need you.
Last but not the least, leadership training is the key to driving all technical initiatives. It’s a lifelong course for me as well, because as different companies from different backgrounds, we need an equilibrium to be flexible but still get the things achieved. Get yourself to be an all-rounder with nice personality, trusting the magic of teamwork by motivating people to march towards the same direction and goal is a gorgeous training outcrop.
CFG: If the air cargo industry were a film/book, what would its title be?
BS: That’s very funny question… I’d call it “EPIC: Embrace Possibilities, Inspire Changes.” The air cargo industry is at an exciting crossroads, with technology, AI, and sustainability creating endless opportunities. To turn possibility into reality, we need to embrace changes and inspire each other to make a bold impact.
In our air cargo industry, I think it’s the time to strive for achieving more breakthroughs. Now, it’s an era of AI, an age of technology, a world of talking about sustainability everyday… actually we have so many possibilities in our hands already, but it seems that we need more embracing power to grasp these opportunities for taking something tangible as our first/ice-breaking step.
With the embraced possibilities, we inspire each other in the whole air cargo industry around the world to create bold impact for driving a change together. It’s definitely not easy but that’s also the amazing part of such “film” – we can write our “beautiful ending” altogether, shall we?
Thank you, Benny.
If you would like to share your personal air cargo story with our CargoForwarder Global readers, feel free to send your answers to the above questions to cargoforwarderglobal@kopfpilot.at We look forward to shining a spotlight on your job area, views, and experiences.
