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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Muhammad joined IATA in 2016 and served as Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East until early 2021 before taking on his current responsibilities.

Muhammad has nearly three decades of experience in Information & Communication Technology and Aviation Finance, having worked for Saudia Airlines as the CIO and CFO.

Muhammad speaks Arabic and English and holds a Master and Bachelor of Science in Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh.

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.  

Karen joined IATA in 2019.  As General Counsel, Karen leads IATA’s legal activities and is the secretary to the Legal Advisory Council which focuses on industry issues. From 2019 until January 2023 Karen also served as Corporate Secretary.

Prior to joining IATA, Karen was General Counsel and Company Secretary for Air New Zealand.  She had also been UK General Counsel and Company Secretary for National Grid plc. During her career, Karen has worked as a commercial litigator in top tier law firms in the UK and Australia.

Karen was admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales in September 1999 after graduating from Sheffield University with an LLB (Hons) law degree, Exeter University with a Diploma in Legal Practice and completing her practical legal training at Herbert Smith in London.  

Conrad is responsible for leading IATA’s global advocacy efforts and the association's governance. He also oversees IATA’s regional presence through IATA’s five Regional Vice Presidents. From 2014 to June 2021, Conrad served as IATA’s Regional Vice President for Asia-Pacific.

Before joining IATA, Conrad has held the position of the Acting Managing Director of Antrak Air Ghana, CEO for Monarch Group, Vice President of the UK and Ireland for Emirates Airlines and CEO of Virgin Nigeria Airways. He has over 30 years of experience with both airlines and suppliers.

Conrad holds an MBA (Hons) from Durham University UK and a MA (Hons) in Oriental Studies from Cambridge University, Corpus Christi College.

Conrad has lived in Singapore, Ghana, Hong Kong, Nigeria, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the UAE. He speaks English and conversational Mandarin.

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.

Ayaz has been IATA’s Senior Vice President for Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer since 2009.

Ayaz joined IATA in 1989 and has held various positions, including Director IATA Clearing House, Director Finance – Industry Distribution and Financial Services, and Director Industry Financial Services.

Prior to joining IATA, Ayaz worked with Pakistan International Airlines, Exxon Chemicals Ltd. and with Lubbock Fine & Co., Chartered Accountants in the UK. Ayaz is a Chartered Accountant by profession.

He is Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW), holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Organizational Leadership from the Oxford University and graduated in engineering sciences from the University of the Punjab.

Frédéric is IATA’s Senior Vice President Commercial 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.

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

> Perturbations dans l’aviation, mieux comprendre comment le système fonctionne (January 2023)
> Le transport aérien se donne des ailes (December 2022)
> Les conséquences dangereuses de la forte appréciation du dollar (November 2022)
> Le rebond du trafic aérien européen s’estompe (October 2022)
> Le curieux cas du plein-emploi récessionniste (September 2022)
> Du rouge au noir dans le transport aérien (July 2022)
> L'été arrive et les voyageurs prennent leur envol (June 2022)
> Pas de solution unique à la décarbonation des transports (May 2022)
> La pandémie a créé des opportunités dans le secteur aérien (April 2022)
> La guerre en Ukraine, l'aviation et le risque d'une récession mondiale (March 2022)
> La mobilité et la propagation du COVID (February 2022)
> Connectivité et développement, une relation qui a fait ses preuves (January 2022) 

Other articles:
>A rebounding aviation industry demonstrates resilience and agility (16 August 2022)
>Confident air travel will ride economic turbulence despite high jet fuel costs (12 August 2022)

Kamil represents IATA in 68 countries, serving 57 airlines 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.

Philip represents IATA in the Asia-Pacific region, which comprises 37 countries and territories and more than 40 IATA member airlines. He leads IATA’s efforts on safety, sustainability and recovery of international travel from COVID-19.

Philip has more than 30 years of experience in the airline industry. He has held various senior management role at Singapore Airlines in Singapore and overseas as well as at Virgin Atlantic Airway in London, and has extensive experience working throughout the Asia-Pacific region. 

Philip holds a Masters in Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Estate Management with Honors from the National University of Singapore. He speaks English and Chinese

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, a region which is home to 40 IATA member airlines. 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 with 48 member airlines 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 290 international airline 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.