IATA Appoints Saadia Zahidi As First Woman DG; To Succeed IndiGo CEO Designate Willie Walsh

Saadia Zahidi has been appointed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Directors to the role of Director General, effective November 1, 2026.

Zahidi will be the first woman chosen for the role and the ninth Director General of IATA. She was a Managing Director and Member of the Managing Board of the World Economic Forum (WEF) before joining IATA, according to a press release by IATA.

Over 370 member airlines from more than 120 nations are represented by IATA, which together handle about 85% of all air travel worldwide.

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The trade group, which was established in 1945, supports the business operations of the top passenger and freight carriers around the globe by creating industry standards and developing policies.

The current Director General of IATA, Willie Walsh, will step down on July 31, 2026. Sandrine Le Borgne, IATA's Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Corporate Services, has been named Interim Director General by the IATA Board of Directors for the time being.

Walsh, notably, has been named as the CEO-designate of IndiGo, India's largest private carrier in terms of market share.

"The Board is delighted to name Saadia Zahidi as IATA's Director General. IATA will be strengthened as the voice of the world's airlines thanks to Saadia's extensive and exceptional expertise at the World Economic Forum. The trillion-dollar global aviation sector has improved the planet and is still doing so," said Roberto Alvo, Chair of the IATA Board of Directors and CEO of LATAM Airlines Group.

"Saadia's appointment comes at a moment of significant change in the international environment. Technology and geopolitics, among others, will reshape the industry in the future, and Saadia brings the right skills to effectively articulate what our industry needs to continue connecting people and economies safely, efficiently, and sustainably. She'll bring a fresh perspective to IATA that will grow its support for the airline industry on the foundations of IATA's well-established technical, financial, and data capabilities,"  Alvo added.

Zahidi has an MPA from Harvard University, an MPhil in International Economics from The Graduate Institute, and a BA in Economics from Smith College. She is both Pakistani and Swiss.

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Zahidi was a member of the Managing Board and Managing Director of the World Economic Forum for more than 20 years. She established the Center for the New Economy and Society, which she currently leads. In the past, she oversaw the WEF's Global Programming Group, Global Communications Group, and interactions with international organisations, academia, and civil society.

Zahidi is also the founder and co-author of WEF's Chief Economist Outlooks, Global Gender Gap Reports, Future of Growth Reports, and Future of Jobs Reports. She has been a member of the European Space Agency's High-Level Advisory Group and the UN Secretary-General's Council for Women's Economic Empowerment. In addition, she wrote Fifty Million Rising, a book that chronicles the rise of Muslim women in the workforce.

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