Winners of IATA Diversity & Inclusion Awards announced

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the winners of the inaugural IATA Diversity & Inclusion Awards in three categories:

Inspirational Role Model: Christine Ourmières-Widener, CEO, Flybe
High Flyer Award: Fadimatou Noutchemo Simo, Founder and President, Young African Aviation Professional Association (YAAPA)
Diversity & Inclusion Team: Air New Zealand

Nominations for the awards were adjudicated by a panel of four judges: Angela Gittens, Director General, Airports Council International; Gloria Guevara, President and CEO, World Travel and Tourism Council; Mark Pilling, Vice President Publishing and Conferences, FlightGlobal; and Karen Walker, Editor-in-Chief, Air Transport World.

“Selecting the winners was a difficult task. The large number of high-quality applications reflects the breadth of work being done across the industry on gender diversity and inclusion. There can only be one winner in each category, but all the applicants should inspire the industry to move forward. To meet the demands of the future, aviation needs a diverse and inclusive workforce,” said Angela Gittens, on behalf of the judging panel.

“I congratulate all the nominees and winners of these awards, all of them should be proud of what they have achieved and how they are contributing to the Diversity & Inclusion agenda. Our industry is diverse and we need an equally diverse and inclusive workforce to meet their needs. But there is still a lot of work to be done to achieve the balance we need, particularly on gender diversity at senior levels. Today’s impressive awardees both demonstrate and inspire progress,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

The IATA Diversity & Inclusion Awards are sponsored by Qatar Airways. Each winner receives a prize of $25,000, payable to the winner in each of the categories or to their nominated charities.

“Qatar Airways is very pleased to sponsor the IATA Diversity and Inclusion Awards. We know that diversity and inclusion are strengths in helping us serve the needs of our customers and we sponsored these awards to help us and the industry as a whole identify those who are leading in this field so that we might learn from their success. Congratulations to all the winners and all those who were nominated helping to drive important change in our industry,” said HE Mr Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive and Chair of the IATA Board of Governors (2018-2019).

The awards were presented at the conclusion of the World Air Transport Summit (WATS) which followed the 75th IATA Annual General Meeting in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The IATA AGM and WATS gathered more than 1,000 leaders of the global air transport industry.