IATA Management

Willie Walsh became the eighth person to lead the International Air Transport Association (IATA) when he took on the role of Director General in April 2021, after an airline industry career spanning over 40 years.

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Nick leads IATA’s work on safety, security and operations, including airports, fuel supply, passenger experience, cargo and ground handling. 

Before joining IATA in 2015, Nick was Vice President of Airports, Call Centers and Customer Relations for Air Canada. He built his career in Air Canada and its subsidiary Jazz, where he managed various aspects of airport operations, including Inflight, Flight Operations, Operations Control, and Maintenance. Nick brings with him a wealth of experience covering all facets airline operations, human resource management, labor and government relations.

He completed his studies in Political Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, and also holds the Master Black Belt Certification from Six Sigma.  

Tony is responsible for the association’s media relations, brand, digital communications and internal communications.

Prior to joining IATA in 1999, Tony was with Gavin Anderson and Company Japan from 1997-1999 where he served as the Associate Director, and All Nippon Airways (ANA) from 1992-1997 where he began his career in international communications.

Tony has lived in Canada, Japan, Singapore and Switzerland and is fluent in English and Japanese. He holds an Honors BA in East Asian Studies from McGill University, Montreal.

Anton is responsible for managing IATA’s human resources activities.

Anton’s human resources career spans over 30 years and has taken him across the Middle East, Africa and Asia where he previously served as the Human Resource Director of Travelport, Compass Group Plc. and SAP.

Anton has worked in numerous countries including Namibia, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates. He is fluent in English and Afrikaans and holds a degree in Industrial Psychology from the University of Stellenbosch.

Sandrine joined IATA in September 2023 as CFO Designate and assumed the role of IATA’s Senior Vice President Corporate Services & CFO in January 2024.

Prior to IATA, Sandrine worked at BusinessQuests, a strategic consultancy for owner-managed businesses and tech companies where she was in charge of the Finance Transformation practice.

In addition, Sandrine developed her career over 22 years at Cisco where she rose to the rank of Regional CFO for the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa service provider operations.

Sandrine holds both French and British nationalities, speaks French, English and German and is a graduate of the Solvay School of Management at Université libre de Bruxelles.

Frédéric is IATA’s Senior Vice President Products and Services. He is responsible for the development, operation, maintenance and sales of existing and new IATA commercial products. This is in addition to his current duties as President of CNS.

Frederic has held various responsibilities since joining IATA in 2005, including managing the IATA Cargo Service Conference which is the industry body that develops the various Cargo Standards at IATA and he was the chair of the Global Air Cargo Advisory Group (GACAG) Security Task Force. When Frederic joined IATA, he was head of IATA e-Invoicing Services.

Prior to IATA, Frédéric worked for Cap Gemini and bioMerieux before participating in the development of CPGmarket.com, a startup in the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry.

Frederic holds a Master's degree in Strategy with honors and studied Supply Chain as well as Finance.

Kim joined IATA in 2020 and is responsible for IATA’s IT, security and data governance, architecture and strategy. This includes leveraging data and analytical insight across IATA to generate business benefits for the industry and for IATA.

Kim came to IATA from The Standard Bank Group of South Africa (SBSA) where she was the Head of Data and Technology for Transactional Products and Services. She began her career in 2002 with a focus on executing strategic IT initiatives around data and digitization in the financial sector. In addition to SBSA, this included earlier roles at Investec Bank (South Africa) and Standard Advisory (UK). Additionally, Kim worked with Ellerines Holding Limited (EHL) to enhance a credit platform for microlending opportunities through furniture retailing.

Kim has an Honours Degree in Business Commerce from the University of Johannesburg as well as post graduate studies in data and digitization.

Leslie leads IATA’s corporate governance and legal services since late 2023.

She joined IATA’s Legal Team in 2012 and prior to her current role, was IATA’s Director Legal Advocacy. Before IATA, she was the Chief Legal Counsel of the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, which she joined in 1996.

Leslie has over 35 years’ experience as a lawyer including 27 years’ experience in aviation law.  In addition to providing specialist legal advice on regulatory, commercial, labour and international law has represented IATA in various international aviation fora.

Leslie holds a BA and LLB from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. She is admitted to practice law as a barrister and solicitor in both Ontario and New Zealand.

Marie joined IATA in 2022 as Chief Economist. In January 2023 Marie added responsibility for IATA’s Environment and Sustainability activities to her role.

Marie joined IATA from Lombard Odier where she was Head of Global Trends and Sustainability. Her 30-year professional life includes roles for both investment banks and private banks, including HSBC in London, Merrill Lynch in Paris, and Indosuez in Geneva. Outside of the financial sector Marie worked for IKEA, and she also founded and managed her own company in the equine industry.

Marie holds an MBA from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and a PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. She speaks Swedish, English, and French fluently.

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Marie's latest contributions to the Swiss economic magazine AGEFI - in French

• Promouvoir la croissance (October 2024)
• Ce qui se cache derrière la forte baisse des prix de l’énergie (September 2024)
• La durabilité des compagnies aériennes passe aussi par leur rentabilité financière (June 2024)
• La crise de la dette, quelle crise? (May 2024)
• L’outrance de l’industrie pétrolière et gazière (April 2024)
• Plus ou moins d’immigration, un choix crucial (March 2024)
• Le curieux dynamisme du marché du travail (February 2024)
• Trop de fausses attentes au sujet de l’inflation (January 2024)
• Bien voyager à Noël, grâce aux statistiques du transport (December 2023)
• Quelques chiffres clés concernant les émissions de CO2 (November 2023)
• Le manque de carburant durable pour l’aviation (October 2023)
• Pourquoi réduire le trafic aérien quand on peut faire mieux (September 2023)
• La mobilité et son rôle méconnu dans le développement économique (July 2023)
• Les profits sont de retour dans l’aviation civile (June 2023)
• Comment rendre le transport aérien durable (May 2023)
• L’Europe traîne face à la pénurie d’espace aérien (April 2023)
• La hausse des émissions de CO2 et le rôle de la mode (March 2023)
• Le capital profite encore aux énergies fossiles (February 2023)

Thomas coordinates IATA’s global advocacy efforts since September 2025.

Before joining IATA, Thomas was at IBM as Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa from 2023.

Prior to IBM, Thomas was the founding Managing Director of Airlines for Europe (A4E) and successfully ran A4E from 2016 to 2023.

His experience in aviation and technology extends to aerospace, having spent the seven years prior to joining A4E at United Technologies as President, International Operations Europe, with a focus on government affairs.

Kamil represents IATA in more than 60 countries across AME. He leads the execution of IATA’s priorities for the region and advocates on behalf of the airline industry to continuously improve safety levels, to enhance connectivity particularly across Africa, to reduce costs for airlines and to ensure the sustainability of air transport.

Prior to joining IATA in 2021, Kamil was the CEO of Kuwait Airways and held various key positions at the airline in the areas of safety, security, quality management and enterprise resource planning over his 31-year career in the aviation industry.

Kamil holds an MBA in Aerospace Management from the Toulouse Business School and an Engineering degree in Aircraft Maintenance Management from Air Service Training (AST) in the UK.

Sheldon Hee is IATA's Regional Vice President, Asia-Pacific.

Hee brings over 25 years of experience in the airline industry. He has held various management roles at Singapore Airlines in Singapore, Japan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Prior to joining IATA, Hee was the airline’s Vice President for Partnerships and International Relations.

Hee graduated from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Applied Science and a Master of Science. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Oxford.

Rafael advocates for the interest of IATA's members and strengthening the relationships with aviation stakeholders across the Europe and Central Asia region.

Rafael joined IATA in 2005 as Country Manager for Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and has held various positions in the association since then.

Rafael's aviation expertise also includes a decade at DHL in the Americas and experience working for a range of air transport companies in South America.

Rafael holds a Master in Positive Leadership and Strategy from IE Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of the Pacific. He has lived in numerous countries including Argentina, Ecuador, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. He speaks Spanish and English.

Xingquan represents IATA in the North Asia region. He leads IATA’s efforts in the region on safety, sustainability and the adoption of industry standards and best practices. A key priority is to engage with the airline members, governments and industry partners in China and the region to safely re-open borders.

Xingquan has more than 20 years of experience in the aviation industry, having held various positions in the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), including being seconded to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal from 2008-2010. He joined IATA in 2011, where he had been the association’s Assistant General Counsel based in Singapore and subsequently in Montreal.

Xingquan graduated as a Doctor of Law from the Chinese Academy of Social Science, and additionally a L.L.M of International Commercial Law from the Singapore Management University.

Peter oversees 35 countries across North and South America, and the Caribbean, driving IATA’s global standards and international perspective to deliver maximum value to the safe, sustainable and profitable development of aviation across the region.

Peter has over 30 years in aviation. He has worked in various functions for IATA and started his aviation career with Iberia Airlines prior to joining IATA in 1996.

Fluent in English and Spanish, Peter was born in Spain and received his master’s degree in Aeronautics and Aviation Management from Embry Riddle University in the United States.

Doug represents the interests of IATA’s members both in the United States and Canada and is the head of IATA’s Washington, D.C. office.

Doug joined IATA in 2005 from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) where he was the Assistant Administrator for International Aviation from 2003 to 2005. Immediately prior to the FAA, Doug was Vice President of Portfolio Management for American Express.

Doug is a graduate of the Boston University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review, and the University of New Hampshire.