The International Air Transport Association announced on Thursday it has appointed Saadia Zahidi, the World Economic Forum's senior managing director, to be its next director general.
Ms Zahidi, who will take the mantle in November, will be the first woman to lead the airline trade group. She currently serves as managing director and as a member of the managing board of the WEF. She has been with the forum for more than two decades.
“Aviation is critical infrastructure for economic growth, trade, tourism, jobs, investment and opportunity,” Ms Zahidi said. “In a rapidly changing world, Iata's role in bringing the industry together to collaborate through trusted standards, essential services and advocacy has never been more important.”
She will replace Willie Walsh, who is joining Indian airline IndiGo.
“Global air transport is a trillion-dollar industry that has and continues to change the world for the better,” Iata said. “Saadia’s appointment comes at a moment of significant change in the international environment.”
While at the WEF, Ms Zahidi founded and co-authored the Future of Jobs reports, the Future of Growth reports, the Global Gender Gap reports and Chief Economist Outlooks. She has also served on the UN Secretary General's panel for Women's Economic Empowerment.
In 2018, Ms Zahidi published a book, 50 Million Rising: The New Generation of Working Women Transforming the Muslim World, which chronicled a female-led transformation of the workplace.
“There have been different starting points, but across almost all the countries there have been massive investments in education, and the Gulf countries in particular are leaders when it comes to this,” she told The National in a 2018 interview.
“Today, the results speak for themselves, with more women going to university than men, and nearly full enrolment in primary and secondary education.”
