Willie Walsh has officially taken on the role of director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). A former CEO of British Airways and Aer Lingus and 40-year industry veteran, Walsh is IATA’s eighth director general and succeeds Alexandre de Juniac.

Walsh was confirmed as IATA’s 8th director general at the association’s the 76th AGM in November. Having begun his career as a cadet pilot at Aer Lingus in 1979 he rose to helm the Irish airline in 2005, then held the same role at BA from 2005-11. He joined the International Airlines Group (IAG) as CEO at its inception in 2011, retiring last September.

Walsh is deeply familiar with IATA, having served on the IATA board of governors for almost 13 years between 2005 and 2018, including serving as chair (2016-2017).

“I am passionate about our industry and about the critical work that IATA does on behalf of its members, never more so than during the COVID-19 crisis,” he says, citing the organization’s efforts to restart global connectivity, including developing the IATA Travel Pass.

Less visible but of equal importance, Walsh says, is the reliance of airlines on IATA’s financial settlement systems, Timatic, and other vital services to support their day-to-day operations.

Praising de Juniac for leaving behind “a strong organization and a motivated team,” Walsh says IATA under his direction will continue to focus on “restoring the freedom of movement that airlines provide to billions of people around the world – freedom to visit friends and family, to meet critical business partners, to secure and retain vital contracts, and to explore our wonderful planet.”

Serving over billion travellers a year during normal times, Walsh promises to ensure that IATA is “a forceful voice supporting the success of global air transport. We will work with supporters and critics alike to deliver on our commitments to an environmentally sustainable airline industry.

“It’s my job to make sure that governments, which rely on the economic and social benefits our industry generates, also understand the policies we need to deliver those benefits,” he says.

Walsh will work from the association’s executive office in Geneva, Switzerland.