SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson elected chairman of IATA from 2022

Aviation's international industry and trade organization IATA, which brings together 290 airlines globally, has in connection with its Annual General meeting elected SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson as the Chairman of the Board of Governors (BoG) from 2022.

In a year from now, Rickard Gustafson will take over the chairmanship from now incoming Chairman of BoG Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue Airways, who will replace IATAS's outgoing Chairman Carsten Spohr, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Lufthansa Group. This is the first time a CEO from SAS has been elected chairman of IATA.

"It is an honorable and important assignment in the most difficult time of aviation's history. I look forward to continuing driving IATA's recovery efforts and to take flight through the covid-19 pandemic through joint efforts. At the same time, I will work to accelerate the transformation towards more sustainable travel. Achieving climate neutral operations is an existential issue that the industry globally works towards", says Rickard Gustafson, CEO, SAS.

IATA represents approximately 290 airlines in 120 countries. IATA members operate over 80 percent of the world's airlines, including the world's leading passenger and cargo airlines, and play a crucial role in developing and pursuing industry-wide issues. In 2021, Rickard Gustafson is pre-chairman, Robin Hayes is chairman and Carsten Spohr is post-chairman. In 2022, Rickard Gustafson will take over the chairmanship.

For full IATA press release: IATA - Leadership Changes at IATA