The Sky’s the Limit for Quality Assurance

In today’s fast-paced logistics landscape, precision and efficiency are non-negotiable, especially in the air cargo industry. While manual testing has served its purpose, it often proves to be time-intensive and susceptible to human error. That’s why RTS’s Air Cargo solutions are leading the charge by adopting QA automation—ushering in a new era of speed, accuracy, and reliability.

Why QA Automation is a Game-Changer for Air Cargo

Here’s how QA automation is transforming the way we operate:

Faster Processing Times – Automation executes complex test scenarios in a matter of seconds—what once took hours now happens in minutes. This dramatically reduces delays and streamlines the release cycle.

Minimized Human Error – By automating repetitive and critical test cases, we ensure our applications consistently meet rigorous compliance and security standards, without the risk of oversight.

Robust Performance checks – Automated performance checks allow us to validate how well our systems handle large volumes of data, ensuring smooth operations even under heavy loads.

Significant Cost Efficiency – A single automation engineer can replicate the efforts of an entire manual testing team, delivering higher ROI and freeing up resources for more strategic initiatives.

What Can Be Automated – and What Can’t

QA Automation brings immense benefits, but it’s important to understand its strengths and boundaries. Not every testing scenario is suitable for automation—some require the critical thinking and adaptability of a human tester. Here’s a closer look:

What Can Be Automated:

As technology continues to evolve, RTS is exploring even more advanced solutions which include dynamic pricing. The goal? A fully automated, error-free rating system.

1. Regression Testing
These are repeatable test cases run every time there is a code change. Automation ensures that previously working features haven’t broken due to recent updates, making it perfect for continuous integration pipelines.
2. Smoke and Sanity Testing
Quick, high-level checks to validate whether a build is stable for further testing can be automated to save time and reduce feedback cycles.
3. Data-Driven Testing
Automated frameworks can run the same test scenario with multiple sets of input data, which is ideal for validating business rules in air cargo workflows (like different cargo types, weights, destinations, etc.).
4. API Testing
Since APIs play a crucial role in integrating booking systems, tracking platforms, and third-party logistics, automating their testing ensures that interfaces work reliably across versions.
5. Performance and Load Testing
Automation can simulate thousands of users or transactions to assess how the system behaves under stress—critical for air cargo systems that handle high data volumes and concurrent bookings.
6. UI Testing for Stable Features
For screens and workflows that rarely change (like login pages or standard booking forms), automated UI tests can validate the frontend functionality quickly and consistently.
7. Security Checks (Basic)
Automated tools can detect vulnerabilities like SQL injection or XSS in the early stages of development, adding an extra layer of protection.

What Cannot (or Should Not) Be Automated

1. Exploratory Testing
When a tester is trying to “explore” a new feature without predefined steps, human intuition and domain knowledge are irreplaceable. For example, understanding if a new cargo routing workflow makes sense from a business perspective.
2. User Experience (UX) Testing
Automation can validate if a button works, but not whether it’s placed intuitively or if the interface is user-friendly. Real users and testers must evaluate usability.
3. Tests with Frequently Changing UI
If a screen or form is under constant revision, automating it might lead to high maintenance costs and flaky test results. It’s better to wait until the UI stabilizes.
4. Visual Layout and Design Validation
Automation tools are not yet fully reliable in detecting visual alignment issues, spacing inconsistencies, or branding mismatches. Manual review is essential for these cases.
5. Validation of Emails, Printouts, and PDFs
While parts of this can be automated, verifying layout accuracy, image rendering, and real-world formatting (like airway bills or cargo receipts) often requires human checks.
6. One-Time or Low-Use Test Scenarios
If a test case is only run once or infrequently (e.g., during a rare configuration or migration), the cost and effort to automate it may not be justified.
7. Subjective Judgments and Edge Case Behaviours
Evaluating how a system “feels” when something goes wrong—like a partially failed upload or an intermittent connection during a cargo booking—is best handled manually to assess real-world impact.

The Bottom Line
Automation in QA is a powerful ally, but it isn’t a silver bullet. A well-balanced QA strategy combines the speed and accuracy of automation with the critical thinking and insight of skilled testers. At RTS, we adopt a hybrid approach—automating where it counts and relying on human expertise where it matters most.

How Automation Helps Us Meet Tight Deadlines

In the fast-moving world of air cargo, time is money, and delays in releasing critical updates or patches can directly impact client satisfaction and operational efficiency. This is where QA automation becomes a crucial enabler.
Here’s how automation helps us stay ahead of tight deadlines:

1. Rapid Test Execution
A regression suite with 500 test cases that might take 3–4 days manually can be completed overnight through automation. Typically, we are looking at effort reduction between 30 -70% based on tools used, application complexity, and team skill level.
2. Continuous Integration & Continuous Testing (CI/CT)
Automation enables seamless integration with CI pipelines (like Jenkins, GitLab, or Azure DevOps), allowing tests to be triggered automatically after every code commit or deployment. This means we get immediate feedback on whether the latest changes have broken anything, helping us fix issues early.
3. Reduces Dependence on Manual Resources
During peak release windows, resource availability can be a constraint. Automated tests can run 24/7 without human intervention, freeing up testers to focus on more critical, exploratory, or edge-case testing that truly requires manual insight.
4. Parallel & Cross-Environment Testing
With automation, we can run the same tests across multiple environments, browsers, or datasets simultaneously. This parallel testing capability is a massive time-saver when validating compatibility across various client-specific configurations.
5. Consistent and Repeatable Results
Automation ensures that every test case is executed the same way every time. This reduces ambiguity and gives us reliable results faster.
6. Supports Frequent Releases
In agile or sprint-based delivery models, we often release new features every 2–4 weeks. Manual testing just can’t keep up with that pace consistently. Automation ensures we can deliver high-quality features even with short cycles.

Final Thought

At RTS, automation isn’t just about speed—it’s about working smarter. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, we ensure our QA team can focus on high-value testing while still delivering under pressure. In an industry where every hour counts, automation is our secret weapon to staying on track—even when the clock is ticking.