The IATA announced leadership changes approved by the 76th IATA Annual General Meeting.

Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue is now the Chair of the IATA Board of Governors (BoG), succeeding Carsten Spohr, Chair IATA BoG (2019-2020) and CEO of Lufthansa. Hayes will serve a term commencing immediately and ending at the conclusion of the Association’s 78th Annual General Meeting to be held in 2022.  Hayes will serve an extended term as Chair covering two AGMs due the disruption to governance cycles necessitated by the COVID-19 crisis.

“The expectations for IATA’s leadership are high. Managing through the crisis is, of course, at the top of the agenda. We must safely re-open borders and build back the vital global connectivity that has been lost in this crisis. There is a great expectation for aviation’s role in the global distribution of a vaccines when they are ready.  Safely re-starting large parts of the industry after months of being grounded is a challenge that will require the IATA to work with governments globally. And, in additional COVID-19 related work, we have a clear mandate to meet our 2050 goal to cut net aviation emissions to half 2005 levels; and to explore pathways to net zero globally. I look forward to driving these priorities forward with the support of Alexandre, Willie, the BoG and all our members,” said Hayes.

Hayes was named president of JetBlue in 2014 and was appointed CEO in 2015, a position that also encompasses subsidiaries JetBlue Technology Ventures and JetBlue Travel Products. He joined JetBlue in 2008 as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer after a 19-year career with British Airways.