IATA members, colleagues, friends, ladies and gentlemen, we have come to the end of our 67th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit. As it will be my last AGM as your Director General and CEO, it was particularly significant. The support and generosity of our co-host SITA and all of our many sponsors and partners made this great event possible. And the warm hospitality of Singapore Airlines and all of our friends in Singapore made it very special. Thank you all. And special thanks goes to Choon Phong who guided our open, frank and positive discussions with great skill and fairness.
Leading your association through this difficult decade was challenging and it was rewarding. Thanks to all who have served on the Board, to all IATA members and to our partners for helping IATA drive important changes. IATA became effective by changing its structure and its culture. And we learned to set targets so that all our members could benefit from change. This was unusual for an association. It is the only way to achieve relevant goals and to make sure that success was shared by all our members. We were at your side with help, particularly for our small members.
Together, we did great things! First and foremost making the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) a condition of IATA membership and playing a part in the 42% improvement in safety that we achieved since 2000. Also in delivering $59 billion in savings that helped this industry survive a decade in which the industry lost $30 billion and uniting to become a role model for others to follow in addressing climate change.
As you know, I love change. For me, the keys to relevance and success are courage, change and innovation. This is true for our industry and for your association. It is also true for me. I will move on to other roles but I will remain close to the industry of truly great people. Serving on boards to drive strategy with important partners and teaching at universities to prepare the next generation of industry leaders.
I will leave behind an IATA that also completely changed over the last decade. Today, IATA is a leadership organization full of speed, passion and commitment and capable of shouting politely to support your success. And I am absolutely confident that the IATA of tomorrow will grow even stronger under the leadership of my good friend and successor, Tony Tyler. I am sure that Tony will deliver many more changes to take IATA and more importantly the industry to even greater heights. And from my new perspectives, I look forward to watching IATA’s relevant role in helping the industry to grow even safer, greener and much more profitable. Thank you all again for a great AGM and a wonderful decade.