Cargo Planning and Scheduling Controller

Job Purpose

A World leader in air cargo. We possess a geographical advantage that enables us to reach over 140 destinations across 6 continents. We are able to cater to two-thirds of the world’s population in just 8 hours and serve major international trade regions quickly and efficiently. Our SkyCargo group works in partnership to facilitate global trade and connect customers with their destinations. We have a young, efficient, wide-bodied fleet, with ample capacity to transport cargo through our state-of-the-art, multi-airport hub in Dubai and adapt to our customers ever-changing needs.

The role of the  Cargo Planning and Scheduling Controller is responsible for planning, coordinating and optimising freighter operations across the cargo network to ensure maximum schedule reliability, aircraft utilisation, payload efficiency and commercial performance. The role owns the operational schedule, aircraft utilisation and recovery planning, leads the day scheduling function, provides oversight of reportee execution, validates high-impact schedule actions and acts as the first senior scheduling escalation point for complex operational and network decisions.

In this role, you will:

• Own and maintain the short- and medium-term freighter operating schedule, ensuring alignment with commercial requirements, operational feasibility and network priorities.
• Build and optimise aircraft rotations, considering maintenance requirements, block hours, airport restrictions, slots, permits and commercial priorities.
• Conduct 24/48/72-hour forward planning to identify operational risks before they impact the live operation and proactively develop mitigation plans.
• Develop recovery options for AOG, maintenance overruns, crew constraints, airport disruption, weather and regulatory issues.
• Assess aircraft swaps, flight retimings, cancellations, consolidations and alternative routing options to maintain schedule integrity and minimise operational disruption.
• Maintain oversight of slot and permit readiness and intervene in complex or high-risk cases to ensure operational continuity.
• Validate significant schedule and system changes executed by reportees, including implementing approved schedule changes in AirVision/ENCOM, CORE and associated operational systems.
• Act as the scheduling focal point with Commercial, Network Control Centre, Engineering, Crew, Flight Operations, Regulatory and Stations, ensuring effective coordination and timely resolution of operational issues.
• Monitor aircraft utilisation, block hours and schedule productivity and recommend improvements to enhance operational efficiency and fleet performance.
• Lead, coach and develop reportees, progressively building their scheduling capability, technical knowledge and operational decision-making skills.
• Escalate strategic or material network decisions to Senior Scheduling Management where required.
• Based on market demand and feedback from internal and external stakeholders, initiate and determine routings and re-routings of scheduled freighter services to optimise network performance and freighter revenues.
• Identify and maximise opportunities for additional revenue generation while ensuring required slots, permits and operational arrangements are secured.
• Analyse and forecast aircraft fleet utilisation, taking into account routes flown, schedule changes, aircraft capabilities and operational requirements, and make recommendations to optimise fleet deployment.
• Identify areas of potential under-utilisation, particularly against wet-lease utilisation guarantees, and work with Freighter Management to develop and implement corrective action plans.
• Plan and select the most appropriate aircraft equipment and operator, whether wet-lease or Emirates-operated, for medium-term deployment across routes, taking into account aircraft capabilities, cargo uplift, service delivery and commercial performance.
• Recommend operational changes to wet-lease operators and the Cargo Scheduling & Planning Manager where required, coordinating with Emirates Engineering, Flight Operations and other relevant stakeholders to support new route integration and optimise fleet deployment.
• Establish and manage processes and procedures for the coordination and management of existing and new station operations across both wet-lease providers and Emirates-operated freighter aircraft, ensuring operations are optimised and unnecessary costs and service failures are avoided.
• Establish aircraft tail numbers and registrations scheduled on various routes and identify where specific aircraft deployments could negatively impact cargo uplift or service delivery.
• Recommend changes to wet-lease operators, Emirates Engineering, Planning and Flight Operations to redeploy aircraft where appropriate, maximise payload and revenue loads, and maintain consistent service standards.
• Manage overall fleet utilisation to ensure leased aircraft meet contractual utilisation guarantees and avoid unnecessary costs, while maximising the utilisation and productivity of Emirates-owned freighter aircraft.
• Analyse cargo flows through major hubs and outstations to identify opportunities to optimise network connectivity, aircraft routing, payload performance and cargo uplift.
• Liaise with wet-lease operators, airport authorities, ground handling agents and third-party service providers to ensure operational readiness, schedule compliance and effective management of irregular operations.
• Prepare operational analyses, utilisation reports and schedule performance reviews, providing recommendations to enhance network reliability, operational efficiency and revenue generation.
• Participate in disruption management and operational recovery planning to ensure continuity of cargo operations during aircraft, airport, weather or network-related disruptions.

Qualification

To be considered for this role, you must meet the below requirements:

• Have completed a Degree or Honours (12+3 or equivalent) in a relevant field combined with a minimum of 5 years of experience in Logistics/Cargo, specifically within an air cargo or airline environment.
• Minimum 3 years of airline scheduling experience, preferably with experience in airline capacity and revenue optimisation management.

Knowledge/Skills:

• Experience in the air cargo industry or in a ground handling cargo environment, preferably in a supervisory capacity.
• Strong experience in airline scheduling, capacity planning and revenue optimisation.
• Excellent knowledge of the commercial fundamentals of freighter operations, including selling rates, aircraft costs and freighter profitability.
• Strong knowledge of aircraft utilisation, fleet planning, aircraft rotations, scheduling, slots and operational recovery planning.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills, particularly when dealing with senior and technical colleagues both within and outside Emirates.
• Broad technical knowledge across aircraft operations, cargo loading, aircraft and crew scheduling, slots and aircraft engineering.
• Good knowledge of IATA and ICAO regulations, rules and procedures.
• Completion of approved Cargo Acceptance and Handling courses, including Special Cargo Handling and Acceptance, Cargo Product Knowledge, Advanced Load Control and Freighter Load Control.
• Knowledge of crewing applications, APIS, CORE and other crew-related applications.

At Emirates, we're committed to providing our employees with opportunities to grow and develop in their careers. So if you're looking for a challenging and rewarding opportunity, apply today and join our team!

Salary & benefits

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Join us in Dubai and enjoy an attractive tax-free salary and travel benefits that are exclusive to our industry, including discounts on flights and hotels stays around the world. Find out what it’s like to live and work in our fast-paced, cosmopolitan home city in the Dubai Lifestyle section of our website