A worldwide federation for funeral workers and an international trade association of airlines are working together to standardize and improve processes for transporting human remains via airplane.
IATA is a global association of airlines that represents more than 80 percent (336 airlines) of the world’s air traffic. IATA offers professional support to industry stakeholder and, through its online knowledge centre, provides an on-demand webcast that provides guidance on the transportation of human remains by plane.
The webinar will be presented by leaders from IATA, FIAT IFTA and more than 70 other countries. The original name of FIAT is French, Federation Internationale des Associations de Thanatologues, and English, International Federation of Thanatologists Associations.
IATA and FIAT share a common interest with regard to the repatriation and transportation of mortal remains.
Marek Cichewicz, president of FIAT-IFTA, said that repatriation is important when it comes to human remains.
Cichewicz tells family members who are waiting for the body of a loved one or the ashes to be returned home that “at this moment, this body is more important than the gold or diamonds you deliver… This is something very special.”
“We are looking at some solutions to improve reparations for the deceased,” he said.
IATA Compassionate Transport Manual (CTM)
The IATA Compassionate Transportation Manual is one of these tools. Now available in its fourth edition the CTM provides guidance for funeral home operators and airlines on how to prepare and ship this special cargo.
Lucy Exell is IATA’s manager for Cargo Industry Programs. She says that the CTM was born out of the COVID-19 Pandemic which claimed millions of lives and increased the demand to repatriate human remains.
“The situation was further worsened by the lack of universal international standards on the processing and documentation for the repatriation by air of human remains. Exell says that there was no document available for stakeholders to provide harmonized guidance. This included states, funeral homes, air carriers and other parties.
IATA worked with the World Health Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization to develop guidance documents for the air transport of COVID-19 human shipments.
IATA consulted with FIAT-IFTA, the Funeral Service Association of Canada and the Funeral Service Association of Canada to create the CTM. Exell says that because the transportation of human remains usually requires the services of at least two funeral homes, one at departure and another at arrival, it was important to acknowledge their importance.
Other contributors are IATA airline members as well as MacKinnon and Bowes Ltd., a provider of funeral services, products and equipment; Hygeco; IATA’s TACT Air Cargo Solutions and Albin international repatriation.
The CTM is based on the IATA Cargo Handling Manual. This manual, now in its 8th edition, contains the most recent cargo handling guidelines, as well as 19 steps of air freight handling the Master Operating Plan (MOP).
“We strive to set the best standards, and make them available to industry very often as publications,” says Andre Majeres. He is the head of E-commerce at IATA and Cargo Operations.
“The establishment and maintenance of standards are extremely important.” You can imagine when there are thousands of airports in the world, with thousands of parties handling cargo, that we need to create a standard that is available to all.
He explains that the MOP is the journey of a piece cargo from the shipper until it reaches the consignee, from the moment the cargo is picked up at the origin to delivery at the destination.
Majeres says that processes, subprocesses, and sub-subprocesses should be as detailed as possible. “This will ensure you have the exact instructions, procedures, on how to handle your freight, whether it is general cargo, dangerous goods, or live animals.
“It’s important to have the right processes set up.” He says that if you don’t put the right processes into place, you may be faced with surprises. No one likes surprises.
Additions to CTM
Since the CTM’s first publication, new subjects were added. These include introducing sustainable practices, embracing electronic information exchange programs, risk assessments, and competency-based learning.
Compassionate Transportation Training
IATA launched its Compassionate Transport LIVE virtual classroom on June 25, 2018. Registration for the August and Oct courses is now open. The course is aimed at funeral operators, air cargo agent, airlines, freight-forwarders, entry level regulators, and other industry stakeholders.