IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani announced yesterday that he will step down at the organization's next AGM in Cairo in June 2011.
The association also announced that FedEx Express President and CEO David Bronczek has taken up the one-year term as the Chairman of the IATA Board of Governors. Bronczek succeeds Tony Tyler, CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways, who served as Chairman from June 2009.
Bronczek takes on the IATA Chairman duties as the air transport industry rebuilds in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. “IATA has a crucial role to play. Along with improving safety and effectively managing the industry’s settlement systems, IATA must play a role in laying the foundation for sustainable profitability. We must further reduce costs and improve efficiencies. And we need to continue to lead the industry on climate change. I look forward to supporting the immediate challenge of getting a globally inclusive solution for aviation on climate change at COP-16 and to helping Giovanni define longer-term goals. These are my priorities,” said Bronczek.
A 34-year veteran of the cargo and air transport industry, Bronczek has been FedEx Express CEO since 2000. FedEx is the world’s largest express transportation company and Bronczek also serves on the strategic management committee for FedEx Corp. “I will also bring a cargo perspective to my duties as chairman. I will place a special emphasis on IATA’s two flagship cargo programs of Cargo 2000 and Simplifying the Business. We must improve quality through the Cargo 2000 program and focus our efforts on achieving the cost savings that IATA e-freight can deliver to the cargo value chain as part of Simplifying the Business,” said Bronczek.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO said, "First, we must thank Tony Tyler for a job well done. His leadership over the past year helped us navigate through one of the most challenging years in aviation history. On top of dealing with the financial crises, under Tony’s leadership IATA was also able to achieve an industry-wide consensus on concrete targets on climate change. And Tony played an instrumental role in developing our industry’s united strategy and targets on climate change. I look forward to working closely with David in the coming year to meet our growing challenges with continued strong industry leadership as we approach COP-16,” said Bisignani.
IATA also announced that the Board of Governors agreed to appoint Peter Hartman, CEO of KLM, to serve as Chairman following Bronczek’s term. The announcements were made as the 66th IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit concluded in Berlin. The 600 industry leaders gathered for the event discussed the industry's most important issues, with executive briefing sessions on the environment and ways to manage through the crisis.
