A new year has kicked off with a new face at the top of global air cargo technology provider CHAMP Cargosystems.
Manuel Galindo has taken the role as Chief Executive Officer at CHAMP Cargosystems, a SITA Group company. He succeeds Chris McDermott who had served as CEO since October 2020.
“I look forward to building on the strong strategic foundation Chris has laid,” Galindo says.
“As I step into this role, my focus is to reinforce CHAMP’s position as a highly trusted, mission-critical technology partner for the global air cargo community.
“Our industry is evolving rapidly, and we are committed to delivering the resilient, interoperable, and forward-looking solutions our customers need to thrive in this new digital era.”
SITA Group CEO David Lavorel says the appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the air cargo industry.
“With IATA forecasting global air cargo demand to grow by 2.6 per cent in 2026, reaching about 71.6 million tons vs 70 million in 2025, the pressure on airlines, handlers, and forwarders to scale efficiently has never been greater,” Lavorel says.
“As digitalisation accelerates and operational complexity increases, the industry is relying more than ever on robust, flexible, and seamlessly connected platforms to keep global supply chains moving.
“Together with the CHAMP leadership team, Manuel is well-positioned to guide the organisation through its next stage of growth and to support the industry as it navigates rising digital, operational, and scale demands.”
A seasoned SaaS leader with deep expertise in air cargo and logistics technology Galindo co-founded WebCargo, growing it into the industry’s leading digital platform for air cargo rate management and digital quoting prior to its acquisition by Freightos in 2016.
Following the acquisition, Galindo continued to lead WebCargo as CEO, driving the platform’s expansion into deeper air-cargo digitalisation and closer airline-forwarder integration.
Under his leadership, WebCargo expanded beyond rate management into ebooking, becoming the leading solution for airline-forwarder digital bookings globally.
During this period he also served as part of Freightos’ executive leadership team, later taking on the role of Chief Revenue Officer, where he oversaw the global commercial strategy at the group level.
Galindo’s strategic priorities include strengthening the CHAMP neo Platform, improving interoperability across airline and partner systems, and supporting customers as air cargo continues to move toward more standardised, digital, and data-driven operations.