Cathay Pacific Airways announced that its Chief Executive, Tony Tyler, will leave the airline after being recommended to succeed Giovanni Bisignani as Director-General and Chief Executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) who will retire from the position next year. Mr Tyler’s last day with the airline will be 31 March 2011.
Mr Tyler will be succeeded by the airline’s Chief Operating Officer John Slosar. A successor to Mr Slosar will be announced in due course.
Commenting on the senior management changes, Cathay Pacific Chairman Christopher Pratt said: “Our congratulations go to Tony on being recommended by the IATA Board for this very important position. IATA is fortunate to be gaining a man of his experience and calibre. Tony has worked for Cathay Pacific for 32 years, has been a Director for 14 years and Chief Executive for the last three, when he steered the airline through a very volatile period. He is a well known and respected figure in global aviation and a passionate advocate for the industry.”
In a message to Cathay Pacific staff, Mr Tyler said that with his retirement age looming, the prospect of a further period of involvement in the aviation industry was an attractive proposition he found impossible to resist.
He added that the excitement of accepting his new challenge at IATA is “tinged with sadness” at the prospect of leaving the company and the colleagues with whom he has worked for more than 30 years.
“It will be a wrench to go, but I know I will be leaving the company in extremely good hands. John Slosar and I have worked hand in glove over the last three dramatic years – from the highs of 2007, to the lows of 2008 and 2009 to the remarkable comeback in 2010. I have every confidence that he will lead the airline to even bigger and better things, with the support of a team that is quite simply the best in the business,” Mr Tyler said.
On the prospect of taking over from Giovanni Bisignani in the IATA role, Mr Tyler said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been chosen for this position by my peers in the international aviation industry. It is an important and responsible job, representing the interests of 230 airlines from 118 countries around the globe. IATA’s mission is to lead, represent and serve those airlines, and that is what I am firmly committed to do when I take up my new role.”