IATA restructures regional operations

   The International Air Transport Association is slimming down its regional operations and creating a new Airports, Passengers and Cargo Services division as part of an organizational restructuring meant to better address the needs of member airlines.
   “IATA is changing to deliver even greater value to its members,” Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO, said in a statement.”Strengthening our regional structures where we are closest to our members will help us to understand and meet their needs better. We have also regrouped activities that have grown organically over time with the goal of being more intuitive to those we deal with.This will optimize our ability to develop, modernize and deliver the global standards which are the foundation of aviation-enabled global connectivity.”
   Currently, IATA has regional operations in seven areas, and with the restructuring, it will reduce its presence to five regions focused on hubs in Amman, Beijing, Madrid, Miami and Singapore. The Americas region, based in Miami, will combine North America and South America operations. Peter Sera has been named regional vice president of the Americas. The separate operations of Middle East/North Africa and Africa will be combined under one roof, lead by Hussein Dabbas in Amman.  
   The new airports and cargo division joins the four existing divisions and will be led by Thomas Windmuller. The remaining divisions are Member and External Relations, which will take an advocacy role; Safety and Flight Operations, which deals with flying operations and safety audits; a financial services division; and Marketing and Commercial Services, meant to support industry initiatives and commercial activities. Each additional division will be lead by members of management currently in similar roles except for Member and External Relations, which will be helmed by the recently promoted Paul Steele.
   The changes are the result of a strategic review launched in July 2011 just after Tyler accepted the top job at IATA. According to a press release, the restructuring means the organization won’t have to downsize its staff or fix redundancies. – Jon Ross