Disclosed is a method of operating a Portable Cargo Panel (PCP) for an aircraft, including: detecting a gesture on a display of the PCP; determining that the gesture is a command to view on the display a first cargo compartment; securing a wireless connection with the first control panel therein; receiving, from the first control panel, a health state of each of a plurality of Cargo Handling Units (CHUs) therein; displaying, on the display, the first cargo compartment with the plurality of CHUs and the operational state of the plurality of CHUs; controlling one or more of the CHUs in the first cargo compartment by transmitting, to the first control panel, a command to: run a diagnostic test against the one or more of the plurality of CHUs; or control the plurality of CHUs to move a Unit Load Device (ULD) into, within or out of the first cargo compartment.