Air France-KLM CEO Steps Down to Take the Reins of Airlines Body IATA

The chairman and chief executive officer of the Air France-KLM Group, Alexandre de Juniac, will step down from his post to become the next director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), it was announced on Tuesday.

Mr. de Juniac will succeed retiring director general and CEO, Tony Tyler.

“Alexandre’s broad experience in aviation and government makes him the ideal candidate to take our association to even greater heights,” said Andrés Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico and Chairman of the IATA Board of Governors.

Alexandre de Juniac will be the first person coming from a French airline to lead IATA.

He joins IATA from Air France-KLM where he has served as Chairman and CEO since 2013. Prior to that, he was the Chairman and CEO of Air France (2011-2013). Under de Juniac’s leadership Air France and the Air France-KLM Group have undergone a successful restructuring which has improved efficiency and strengthened performance. From 1995 to 2009 de Juniac held various leadership positions in Thales (the French aerospace, defense and transport company previously known as Thomson-CSF). In his last position at Thales, de Juniac was responsible for the company’s operations and sales in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

De Juniac has also held positions in the French government.  His career began with the Conseil d’Etat (State Council) from 1988 to 1993.  Subsequently, he served in the Department of Budget as a technical advisor and was then Deputy Chief of Staff in the cabinet of Nicolas Sarkozy (1993-1995); and in the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment as Chief of Staff to then Minister Christine Lagarde (2009-2011).

“I would like to thank all those at Air France-KLM who for almost 5 years now have been fully committed to achieving together our recovery and restoring the conditions for growth”, Mr. de Juniac stated.

The Air France-KLM Group’s Board of Directors has prepared a plan to appoint a successor to Mr. de Juniac given his imminent appointment as the IATA Director General and CEO, from August 1 at the latest.

According to the Air France-KLM Board’s internal rules, the Air France-KLM Appointments and Governance Committee — with the help of an international recruitment consultancy — has initiated the process of identifying the best executive able to continue the Group’s consolidation and development.

With confirmation by the IATA Annual General Meeting to be held June 1-3 in Dublin, Ireland, Mr. de Juniac will take up duties as the head of the association after a short handover period.

IATA represents some 260 carriers or 80 percent of the world’s airline industry.