Tony Tyler, CEO of Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways, has been selected to be the next director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) following the retirement of the current director general and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani, next year.
The move will be voted on at IATA’s Annual General Meeting June 6 through June 8, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. Tyler will take up the 230-member airline associations duties July 1, 2011.
IATA praised Tyler’s leadership at Cathay Pacific and said his skills will help IATA take advantage of opportunities in Asia - the industry’s largest market. Tyler, 55, has been CEO of Cathay Pacific since 2007. Tyler joined the Swire Group, parent company of Cathay Pacific, in 1977, and has worked with the group in Hong Kong, Australia, the Philippines, Canada, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom.
He is also chairman of Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited and director of both John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Limited and Swire Pacific Limited. From June 2009 to June 2010, Tyler served as chairman of the IATA Board of Governors.
Bisignani was the fifth IATA director general and CEO since the Association’s founding in 1945. He announced his retirement earlier this year. Visit www.ISTA.org.