IATA welcomes nominations for 2024 Diversity & Inclusion Awards

“The aviation industry has proven over and over again that it is capable of reinventing itself. For five years these awards have recognized aviation’s notable progress on diversity and inclusion—in particular on improving aviation’s gender balance. I encourage the many aviation professionals working hard in this area to share with us what they or their colleagues are doing to make a difference. With all the good work going on in this area I am sure that the judging panel will have a challenging task in evaluating the nominations. And we all look forward to celebrating the impact of the winning entries at the upcoming IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Dubai this June,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

Each award winner will receive $25,000 (payable to the awardee or their nominated charity for diversity and inclusion activities) thanks to the generous sponsorship of Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways Chief People Officer, Mr Antonio Schulthess, said: “The aviation industry is a truly global community, providing around 90 million jobs to people of all ages, backgrounds and disciplines around the world. This diversity is something that is strongly reflected in the Qatar Airways workforce and we are extremely proud of our ongoing work to promote a multi-talented and multi-cultural approach across the organization, particularly in relation to gender matters.”

Creating diverse and inclusive workplaces plays a key role in driving better business outcomes. By bringing diversity and inclusion into the heart of the business, organizations are preparing themselves for the future where diversity and inclusion are no longer an add-on to HR initiatives but a key component of ESG (Environmental, Social and Government) and CSRD (Corporate Social Responsibility and Disclosure) frameworks.

The last four editions of the IATA Diversity & Inclusion Awards saw the total of 224 nominations coming from the entire aviation value chain. The winners of these awards come from different parts of the world and represent airlines, NGOs and educational institutions.

This year’s nominations will be evaluated by an independent judging panel chaired by Karen Walker, Editor-in-Chief, Air Transport World, and consisting of the 2023 Awards recipients:

Poppy Khoza – Director of Civil Aviation, South African Civil Aviation Authority (SAACA);
Camila Turrieta – Chair of the President’s Committee for Diversity & Inclusion, Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), and First Officer, JetBlue Airways;
On behalf of Virgin Atlantic – Donna Codrington, Senior Manager & Legal Counsel.

The winners of the 2024 IATA Diversity & Inclusion Awards will be announced at IATA’s 80th Annual General Meeting & World Air Transport Summit.