Willie Walsh takes over as IATA chief

Former IAG CE Willie Walsh has officially taken over as director general of IATA today, succeeding Alexandre de Juniac. Walsh was confirmed as de Juniac’s successor at the airline industry association’s AGM in November last year, only a couple of months after his retirement from IAG, which had been delayed by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Describing his passion for the airline industry, Walsh notes that IATA’s work has never been “more critical… than during the Covid-19 crisis”, and says that his goal is to ensure the association is “a forceful voice supporting the success of global air transport”. Walsh notes that IATA has been “at the forefront of efforts to restart global connectivity, including developing the IATA Travel Pass”, but also cites “less visible” work of “equal importance” to the day-to-day operation of the industry, including financial settlement systems, travel requirement verification database Timatic and “other vital services”.<br/>