International Air Transport Association 1

International Air Transport Association

International Air Transport Association
Abbreviation IATA

Formation 19 April 1945 in Havana, Cuba

Type international trade association

Headquarters 800 Place Victoria (rue Gauvin), Montreal, Canada

Coordinates [1]
45.5006°N 73.5617°W

Membership approx. 240 airlines (2013)

DG and CEO Tony Tyler

Website [2]
www.iata.org

The International Air Transport Association (IATA /aɪˈɑːtə/) is the trade association for the world’s airlines. It
represents some 240 airlines or more than 84% of total air traffic. IATA supports airline activity and helps formulate
industry policy and standards. It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada with Executive Offices in Geneva,
Switzerland.

History
IATA was formed in April 1945 in Havana, Cuba. It is the successor to the International Air Traffic Association,
which was formed in 1919 at The Hague, Netherlands. At its founding, IATA consisted of 57 airlines from 31
countries. Much of IATA’s early work was technical and it provided input to the newly created International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO), which was reflected in the annexes of the Chicago Convention, the international
treaty that still governs the conduct of international air transport today.
The Chicago Convention couldn’t resolve the issue of who flies where, however, and this has resulted in the
thousands of bilaterals in existence today. The benchmark standard for the early bilaterals was the 1946 United
States-United Kingdom Bermuda Agreement.Naeem
IATA was also charged by the governments with setting a coherent fare structure that avoided cut-throat competition
but also looked after the interests of the consumer. The first Traffic Conference was held in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro
and reached unanimous agreement on some 400 resolutions.
Aviation grew rapidly over the following decades and IATA’s work duly expanded. It transformed its trade
association activities to take account of the new dynamics in aviation, which was seeing increasing demand from the
leisure sector. Price flexibility became increasingly important and the United States led the way into deregulation in
1978.
IATA has cemented its position as the voice of the aviation industry in recent years, launching a number of
important programs and lobbying governments in the wake of successive crises.
International Air Transport Association 2

Priorities

Safety
Safety is the number one priority for IATA. The main instrument for safety is the IATA Operational Safety Audit
(IOSA) and its successor, Enhanced IOSA. IOSA has also been mandated at the state level by several countries. In
2012, aviation posted its safest year ever. The global Western-built jet accident rate (measured in hull losses per
million flights of Western-built jets) was 0.20, the equivalent of one accident every 5 million flights. Future
improvements will be founded on data sharing with a database fed by a multitude of sources and housed by the
Global Safety Information Center.

Security
Security has become increasingly important following the tragedy of 9/11. Following a series of uncoordinated rules
by different countries, the industry has developed a Checkpoint of the Future, which is based on risk assessment and
passenger differentiation.

Simplifying the Business

Simplifying the Business was launched in 2004. This initiative has introduced a number of crucial concepts to
passenger travel, including the electronic ticket and the bar coded boarding pass. Many other innovations are being
established as part of the Fast Travel initiative, including a range of self-service baggage options.
A new program that has drawn plenty of interest is New Distribution Capability. This will replace the old EDIFACT
messaging standard that is still the basis of the global distribution system /travel agent channel and replace it with an
XML standard. This will enable the same choices to be offered to high street travel shoppers as are offered to those
who book directly through airline websites. A filing with the US Department of Transportation brought over 400
comments.

Environment
IATA members and all industry stakeholders have agreed to three sequential environmental goals:
1. An average improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.5% per annum from 2009 through 2020
2. A cap on net carbon emissions from aviation from 2020 (carbon-neutral growth)
3. A 50% reduction in net aviation carbon emissions by 2050 relative to 2005 levels.
At the 69th IATA AGM in Cape Town, South Africa, members overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution on
“Implementation of the Aviation Carbon-Neutral Growth (CNG2020) Strategy.”
The resolution provides governments with a set of principles on how governments could:
• Establish procedures for a single market-based measure (MBM)
• Integrate a single MBM as part of an overall package of measures to achieve CNG2020
IATA member airlines agreed that a single mandatory carbon offsetting scheme would be the simplest and most
effective option for an MBM.
International Air Transport Association 3

Services
IATA provides consulting and training services in many areas crucial to aviation.
Travel Agent accreditation is available for travel professionals. Full accreditation allows agents to sell tickets on
behalf of all IATA member airlines.
Cargo Agent accreditation is a similar program.
IATA also runs the Billing and Settlement Plan, which is a $300 billion-plus financial system that looks after airline
money.
And it provides a number of business intelligence publications and services.
Training covers all aspects of aviation and ranges from beginner courses through to senior management courses.

Publications - Standards
A number of standards are defined under the umbrella of IATA. One of the most important is the transport of
dangerous goods (HAZMAT).

References
[1] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=International_Air_Transport_Association& params=45. 5006_N_-73.
5617_E_
[2] http:/ / www. iata. org

External links
• Official website (http://www.iata.org/)
Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and Contributors

International Air Transport Association  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=605339578  Contributors: 2T, Ahoerstemeier, Ahunt, Airodyssey, Aliasd, Allinadayswork,
AlphaPyro, Ambarish, Andrew390, Apalsola, Apparition11, Archiedsouza2001, Aris Katsaris, Arpingstone, Astrowob, Beetstra, Bidgee, BilCat, Bkonrad, Brim, CLW, Cabinet11,
CambridgeBayWeather, CarpenterA, Chaitanjain, Chubbles, Closedmouth, Cnyborg, Codetiger, CommonsDelinker, Corinne Perriraz, Cornosoft, Cpzphantom, Cybercobra, Dan.glavin, Davidcx,
Dbstommy, DermottBanana, Discospinster, Dmol, Docu, Dsdonovan, Dspakman, Dtsang, ESkog, EVATW, EdwinHJ, Emailidiots, Eternal, Ezeu, Flyer22, Flying-now, GVAExpat, Gaius
Cornelius, Gary, Gazzetta, Giraffedata, Goldfinger820, Golf Bravo, Gujuguy, Hanielias, Hayabusa future, Hede2000, Hosszuka, IATACorpComms, JU580, Jago84, Jasepl, Jbalnaite, Jeffq,
Jetstreamer, Jfire, Jigen III, Jimlerner, Jogers, Jonathan.s.kt, JonathanDP81, Jonbca, Joseph Solis in Australia, Josephlaumei, Jpatokal, Justfred, Justme89, Jwolcott77, Kelisi, Kevin, Kevyn,
Kingturtle, Kodjo, Kreedah, Kristinklk, Lacazac, LanceBarber, Le leo, Leslie Mateus, Lfdder, Lindbergh2002, Lotje, MER-C, MTLskyline, Mac, Madhero88, Mahjongg, Malepheasant,
Materialscientist, Mathieugp, Mattnba, MeltBanana, Midgrid, Minimac, Mion, Misza13, Mllturro, Mudkipz99, Muffins94, Murray Langton, Mvjs, Nauticashades, Nricardo, Ohconfucius,
Optigan13, PACaviation, PaulHanson, Pete Lee, Pinky sl, Plop, Pnb73, Pouya, Qxz, RCRC, Rich Farmbrough, RightSideNov, Robertsteadman, Rouven Thimm, Rsrikanth05, Russavia, Saa.caas,
Saga City, Sekicho, Shanes, Shawn in Montreal, Shii, Sladen, Soren121, StaticGull, Stickee, Stifle, Stillinbeta, Stonesuite, SunKing, Tagishsimon, Theresa knott, Thewinchester, Tichon, Tim!,
Tobias Conradi, Tobibln, Tom Morris, Trusilver, VandalCruncher, Vegaswikian, VernoWhitney, Vicarious, Wars, Wavelength, WhisperToMe, Widr, Wikien2009, Wildcat156, William Avery,
Wknight94, Wongm, Xavi83, Yorkshire Phoenix, Zaidpjd, आशीष भटनागर, 187 anonymous edits

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