Air cargo claims management where the agents show where the loss happened, value it at the right limit and draft the cited letter, and the claims handler decides
Every cargo claim settled at the right liability, with custody, limit and proof cited.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Air cargo claims management is the airline's work of taking an air freight claim for damage, loss or delay from the first notice to a settlement or denial, and claiming back from the ground handler or partner airline where the loss happened in their custody. Air Cargo Claims Management gives the cargo claims handler eight agents that replay the shipment's custody, test liability under the Montreal Convention twice, value each line at the right limit and draft the cited letter and the recovery; the handler asks them questions and approves, edits or rejects with a reason.
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Air cargo claims management starts when a shipment arrives damaged, short, late or not at all, and the consignee or its insurer claims against the airline. The claims handler then rebuilds what happened across two or three airports, a warehouse handler, customs and sometimes a partner airline, from status messages, warehouse spreadsheets, logger files and email. Every claim turns on one question: where did the loss happen, and in whose hands?
The answer decides the money. Since December 28, 2024 the Montreal Convention cargo limit is 26 SDR a kilogram of the packages concerned, and templates written for 22 SDR, or worked on the whole shipment's weight, are wrong. In cargo claims handling today, handlers settle on what the claimant asserts or deny on what the airline assumes; the person who wants to close the file also tests the defenses; and when the loss happened on a handler's dock, the airline pays and rarely claims it back inside the handling agreement's clock.
Estimated split for a claim on a perishable shipment, by hand (about five weeks, an illustrative baseline) and with the solution once the file is complete.
Eight agents replay the shipment's custody, test liability twice, value it at the limit and draft the letter and the recovery; people sign.
Lakeshore Stem Supply, a Chicago wholesaler, received 46 boxes of fresh-cut roses from Bogotá on air waybill 951-48221876 for its Sweetest Day orders. Twenty-six boxes arrived limp, and it claims $7,400. Here is how Elena Vargas, a cargo claims handler at Corvane Cargo, works the claim with the agents, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Her Today page lists six items, each with one next step: approve the $2,860 offer to Lakeshore Stem Supply, decide a notice that came on day 19 of 14, sign a $16,900 denial where a 62-hour CBP hold is the defense, approve three small claims in bulk. Beside it, the agents' overnight thread says what each one did, in plain words, with a source behind every sentence.
Custody replay agent, 03:40: “On CC-2026-1187 the roses warmed on Coralway's MIA dock from 02:10 to 05:14, peaking at 14.8 °C. I am 94% confident that is where the loss happened.”
Fourteen handling events from booking in Bogotá to delivery in Chicago sit on one time axis: accepted at 2.1 °C with no remarks, CV 980 to Miami, CBP released at 00:46 at 3.4 °C, into Coralway Cargo Services' warehouse at 01:58. Custody bands run underneath, and the logger trace from box 14 is drawn across the same axis, so the three hours above 8 °C sit on Coralway's band. The claim and its photos are pinned to the 02:10 event.
“Likely here · 94%” — Left on open dock, 02:10, cooler C3 full.
She opens the 02:10 event. Coralway's cold room sensors show cooler C3 at 88% at 01:30 after a late freighter's breakdown, then 100% at 02:10 with “No space for AWB 951-48221876”, and the 46 boxes in bay C3-7 only at 05:14. The record carries its fingerprint and is read by the agents, never edited.
Elena types “Why not the freight?” in the conversation beside the replay. The Valuation agent answers that the air waybill shows the $830 freight prepaid by the shipper, Rosaval Farms, so Lakeshore did not pay it and it is not Lakeshore's loss. Beside the conversation, the liability position reads: liable under Article 18(1), neither defense holds, the limit does not bite.
“If Rosaval claims it, I will look again.”
The Liability agent finds the warming happened while the roses were in the carrier's charge. The Defenses checker, working without that view, rules out inherent defect, packing, public authority and war: accepted cold with no remarks, 20 boxes in the same packing are sound, CBP released before the warming. The limit: 26 SDR × 299 kg of the 26 boxes concerned × $1.3598 (IMF, Oct 15, 2026) = $10,571, more than the $7,400 claimed.
Packages concerned · 299 kg — “The basis the Convention sets.”
Eighteen boxes destroyed at the $130 invoice value, $2,340; eight sold at half value, $520. The $235 Sweetest Day price waits for purchase orders, already asked for at 09:05; the survey fee is left out because Corvane offered a joint survey on October 9. The Letter writer drafts the offer to Joanna Pierce at Lakeshore in 10 sentences, one fact each, each with its source.
The $2,860 offer is within her $5,000 authority. She picks the reason code “Liability accepted — proven loss” and approves; the offer goes to Lakeshore Stem Supply, with payment on the signed release, and the decision panel records who sent it, when and why. In the same moment the Recovery agent drafts $2,860 against Coralway Cargo Services under Annex B MIA §4.2, for Marcus Reid to sign.
“Sent by Elena Vargas at 09:25 · Reason: Liability accepted — proven loss.”
Annex B MIA puts perishables into cold storage within 30 minutes of breakdown; the roses were broken down at 02:06 and reached cooler C3 only at 05:14, after waiting on open dock P4. Under SGHA Sub-Article 8.6, kept in that Annex, Corvane claims $2,860 from Coralway, no more than its own liability. The clock is on the page: notify Coralway by Nov 2, 17 days away, and send the claim with evidence by Jan 10; the amount is over the $500 floor.
Recovery agent: “It asks for exactly what Corvane pays Lakeshore Stem Supply. A Claims Manager signs it.”
The Trend analyst finds the roses were the 9th dock excursion at Coralway MIA in 60 days, all between 01:00 and 05:00, each after a late freighter filled cooler C3. It drafts a corrective action request for Hannah: hold space in C3 for Corvane passenger-flight perishables between 00:00 and 06:00, alert the Corvane duty manager when a perishable shipment is on the dock for 20 minutes, and send a corrective action plan by October 30, 2026.
“Names the dock and the hours; no claimant is named.”
The same roses claim, seen by the five people at Corvane Cargo who carry it — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Eight agents replay the shipment's custody, test liability twice, value it at the limit and draft the letter and the recovery; people sign.
Reads emails, portal forms, photos and delivery receipts; matches the air waybill and its check digit, checks who holds the right to claim and the notice clock (14 days for damage, 21 for delay); merges duplicate claims on one air waybill; sends the acknowledgment template.
Rebuilds the journey from status messages, ULD build sheets, warehouse in and out times, CBP releases and logger data; marks who held the shipment when, and names the segment where the loss most likely happened, with a confidence and its reasons.
Picks the regime by the air waybill routing, applies Articles 18, 19, 22 and 31, and works out the limit on the packages concerned at the dated IMF SDR rate, applying a special declaration of value.
Tests the carrier's defenses on its own, without reading the Liability agent's view: inherent defect, defective packing by another party, act of war, act of public authority, and the delay excuse.
Values each claimed line from the invoice, survey, salvage and freight terms, marks it offered or not with the reason, and splits interline claims by segment.
Drafts the offer, denial or request-for-evidence letter, one fact per sentence, each cited, and rechecks a person's edits against the file.
Turns the same evidence into a recovery claim against the ground handler or partner airline under SGHA Sub-Article 8.6, the station's Annex B or the interline agreement, tracks the clock, and says plainly where no recovery lies.
Finds patterns in the year's claims by lane, product, station, handler and hour, and drafts corrective action requests with the records attached.
Signs above the handler's authority and every recovery. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask about a claim, a line or a clause, or tell the agents what to do. Every answer points to its record, and nothing goes out until a person approves it.
Why not the freight?
The air waybill shows the $830 freight prepaid by the shipper, Rosaval Farms. Lakeshore did not pay it, so it is not Lakeshore's loss. If Rosaval claims it, I will look again.
Could the roses have been tired already?
Unlikely. They were accepted at 2.1 °C with no remarks and a phytosanitary certificate. Only the 26 boxes on the dock edge are damaged; the other 20 from the same farm and harvest are sound. The logger stayed between 2.1 and 4.4 °C until 02:10.
What if they send the purchase orders?
If the orders prove $235 a box, the loss becomes 18 × $235 plus 8 × ($235 − $65) = $5,590. That is still under the $10,571 limit, but over your $5,000 authority, so it would go to Marcus.
Why can we claim this back from Coralway?
Annex B MIA §4.2 puts perishables into cold storage within 30 minutes of breakdown; the roses waited 3 h 04 min on open dock P4. SGHA 8.6, kept in that Annex, makes Coralway answer for a loss caused by not following the agreed procedure, up to what Corvane itself owed.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
Who signs, the clocks, the thresholds and the liability rules are settings the administrator changes; each change is saved as a new version of the rules and written to the audit trail.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo Claims Handler signs | Offers up to $5,000, denials up to $25,000 | Any amount, in U.S. dollars |
| Cargo Claims Manager signs | Up to $50,000, and every recovery and escalation | Any amount; above it, the Director, Cargo Customer Experience, with Legal |
| Acknowledge a notice within | 2 business days | Any number of business days |
| Offer or deny within | 30 days of a complete file | Any number of days |
| Small-claim fast track up to | $500 | Any amount; claims at or under it, at invoice value, may be approved in bulk |
| Custody confidence floor | 85% | Any percentage; under it, a person decides the segment |
| Cargo limit | 26 SDR a kilogram for losses from Dec 28, 2024; 22 SDR before; packages concerned only | Set by the Montreal Convention; the SDR rate is the IMF daily rate on the date of the offer |
| Escalations and letters | Live animals and suspected theft escalate; dangerous goods incidents notify Safety; two agents must agree | Each on or off · letters in Spanish as well as English, on or off |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution; the five-week baseline is illustrative · “estimated” = our estimate of where a claim's days go · “typical” = published figures (ICAO revised limits under Article 24 of the Montreal Convention 1999 — 26 SDR/kg for cargo from Dec 28, 2024, up from 22, about 18% more; Montreal Convention Article 31 — 14 days for damage, 21 for delay). The Montreal Convention, the Warsaw system, IATA SGHA Sub-Article 8.6 and Annex B are named as context only. Corvane Airways, Corvane Cargo, its handlers, claimants, shipments and the people named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Air cargo claims management is the airline's work of taking an air freight claim for damage, loss or delay from the first notice to a settlement or denial, and claiming back from the ground handler or partner airline where the loss happened in their custody. Air Cargo Claims Management gives the cargo claims handler eight agents that replay the shipment's custody, test liability under the Montreal Convention twice, value each line at the right limit and draft the cited letter and the recovery; the handler asks them questions and approves, edits or rejects with a reason.
For losses from December 28, 2024 the limit is 26 Special Drawing Rights a kilogram, up from 22. When only part of the shipment is damaged, Article 22(4) uses the weight of the packages concerned, not the whole shipment. In the demo, 26 SDR × 299 kg of the 26 damaged boxes × $1.3598 (IMF, Oct 15, 2026) gives $10,571; only a special declaration of value replaces the limit.
Under Article 31, 14 days from receipt for damage and 21 days for delay; without notice there is no action, save fraud. The Claim intake agent checks the clock on every claim. In the demo it flags a salmon claim whose notice came on day 19 of 14, and the handler decides between a cited denial and a goodwill gesture for the account.
Often, under SGHA Sub-Article 8.6 and the station's Annex B, up to what the airline itself owed, and inside the agreement's clock. The Recovery agent drafts the claim back from the same evidence the moment the offer is approved, for the Claims Manager to sign. Where a handler's Annex B excludes 8.6, or the payout is under the agreement's floor, it says plainly that no recovery lies.
The Custody replay agent joins status messages, warehouse in and out times, ULD builds, CBP releases and the logger trace on one time axis and names the custody segment with a confidence and its reasons. On the sample roses claim it is Coralway's open dock at Miami, 02:10–05:14, at 94%. Under the 85% floor, as on a missing-phones claim at 62%, a person decides the segment.
No. Two agents must agree on liability, and a disagreement goes to a person. Agents never offer above the limit or the proven loss, and the acknowledgment template is the only message they send on their own; every offer, denial, recovery and corrective action is signed by a person.
Yes. The cargo claims handler approves, edits or rejects every draft with a reason code within her authority — offers to $5,000 and denials to $25,000 in the demo. The Claims Manager signs to $50,000 and every recovery, and every step is on a chained audit trail.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your conditions of carriage, signing authority, handling agreements and a sample of past claims — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own claims first.
Spot quotes in minutes, priced to the rule and the space on the flight.
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1-min demoWe'll run Air Cargo Claims Management on a sample of your own closed cargo claims, status messages and handling agreements.