Latin American and Caribbean: ALTA executive director Iglesias to step down

Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) executive director Eduardo Iglesias will be stepping down and leaving ALTA “in a couple of months,” ALTA said. Iglesias became ALTA’s executive director in September 2013, replacing Alex de Gunten, who had led the organization for a decade. Iglesias had been VP-legal for Colombian airline Avianca prior to taking over the leadership position at ALTA. Iglesias presided over the last four ALTA Airline Leaders Forums, the annual gathering of Latin American and Caribbean airline executives. Even as the region’s air traffic demand slumped because of faltering economies in a number of Latin American countries, particularly Brazil, Iglesias expressed confidence that Latin America’s air transport market had bright long-term prospects, and pushed the region’s governments to make investments in aviation infrastructure. “We continue to suffer from the lack of investment in infrastructure,” Iglesias said. “A lot of investment has been done [on the ground at airports]. But we are only catching up with traffic. We are not making sure we have room to grow in the future.” ALTA said its executive committee has begun the search process to find a successor to Iglesias.<br/>