The International Air Transport Association (Iata) has announced that Alexandre de Juniac, director general and CEO, will step down from his role at the association effective 31 March 2021.
De Juniac made known his intention to step down several months ago which enabled a search process to facilitate a smooth leadership transition. The Iata Board of Governors will recommend to the 76th Iata annual general meeting (AGM) on 24 November the appointment of Willie Walsh, former CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG), to become Iata’s eighth DG from 1 April 2021.
“I did not come to this decision lightly. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve the global air transport industry—what I call the business of freedom—as the head of Iata. Over the last years Iata has strategically increased its relevance as the voice of the global airline industry. This has been evident in the Covid-19 crisis. Iata has set the course to restore air connectivity amid the pandemic with systematic pre-departure testing. We are well into preparations to fulfil critical vaccine distribution needs. In parallel, we have restructured Iata to survive the crisis and be ready to support the industry recovery with an organisation dimensioned to serve a smaller industry. And we have a motivated team that is determined to get the job done. The building blocks for an industry recovery are in place. And now is the right time to hand over Iata’s leadership for the long process of recovery,” said De Juniac.
He joined Iata in September 2016 from Air France-KLM where he was chairman and CEO.
