Empowered women drive growth of logistics trailblazer

MANILA, Philippines — Logistics company Airspeed, a part of SM Investments Corp.’s portfolio holdings, has risen from humble beginnings to become the industry’s number one company recognized by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), due largely to the dogged perseverance of its founder and her team of mostly women executives.

The company’s chair and president, Rosemarie Rafael – a former airline ticketing and reservation agent – started Airspeed with six employees and a single delivery van but later grew it to over a thousand skilled personnel and a fleet of more than 300 vehicles that can be swiftly mobilized.

Rafael attributed this success to the relationships she built with her clients during the early stages that helped Airspeed thrive in the industry.

Among these notable achievements is paving the way for women. Not only is she leading a successful business, but she has also established a formidable company in an industry that is commonly associated with the male demographic.

For one, key decisions in the company are being made by empowered women. This is evident in female leaders making up 70 percent of Airspeed’s top executives and 45 percent of their middle-tier managers. Rafael has empowered them to lead a company that highlights solutions-based decisions to drive further progress and innovation.

She said the empowerment of women in the company allows their innate vision and nurturing qualities to permeate throughout the company, transcending the work done in Airspeed as it crosses to a personal level of trust.

“Airspeed is known for the kind of people we have. We are a company of integrity and this is not to be compromised even in the hardest times,” Rafael said. “We prioritize our people and stakeholders. We believe that if we have happy people working for us, then we will have happy and satisfied customers.”