Calin Rovinescu, president and CEO of Air Canada, has assumed his duties as chairman of the International Air Transport Association board of governors for a one-year term, effective immediately.
Rovinescu succeeds Richard H. Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines, whose one-year term expired at the conclusion of the association’s 70th Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Doha, Qatar.
“As we continue to celebrate 100 years of commercial aviation, I am excited at the opportunity of taking on the chairmanship of the IATA board of governors,” Rovinescu said. “Air transport delivers enormous benefits to the global economy every day. I look forward to working closely with Director General and CEO Tony Tyler to encourage and support industry and government policies and practices that will enable aviation to play an even bigger role in the global economy during the second century of commercial flight.”
Rovinescu joined Air Canada in 2000 as executive vice president, corporate development and strategy. In addition, he held the position of chief restructuring officer during the airline’s 2003-2004 restructuring. From 2004 until he rejoined Air Canada in 2009 in his present position, Rovinescu was a co-founder and principal of Genuity Capital Markets, an independent investment bank. Prior to 2000, he spent more than 20 years in the legal profession.
IATA also announced that the board of governors appointed Andres Conesa, Aeromexico CEO, to serve as chairman beginning in June 2015, following Rovinescu’s term.
“On behalf of IATA’s 240 members, I want to extend our thanks to Richard for his strong leadership during a year in which an historic agreement to develop a market-based measure to manage aviation’s carbon emissions was reached through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with the strong support of IATA,” Tyler said. “Calin will be a fitting successor to Richard. His proven leadership will be crucial as IATA works with our industry and government partners to address a number of priorities, including aircraft tracking, improving safety in Africa and continuing to support ICAO efforts to draft a market-based measure.”