Posted on November 2nd, 2022
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in Switzerland. IATA’s mission is to represent, lead, and serve the airline industry. IATA represents some 240 airlines comprising 84% of scheduled international air traffic.
The International Air Transport Association is a trade organization for the world’s airlines. It was founded in 1945. The organization has been referred to as a cartel because of its role in price fixing and setting technical standards for airlines. The organization holds tariff conferences, which serve as a forum for pricing. The organization aims to improve the airline industry’s efficiency and profitability by streamlining processes, improving passenger convenience, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency. It is also committed to maintaining the highest standards of safety. In addition to developing safety and efficiency standards, the IATA also works to reduce the impact of air travel on the environment.
During the organization’s early years, IATA primarily focused on developing industry standards and uniform procedures. It standardized cockpits, fire prevention, marine airports, ice accumulation, revenue accounting, and air traffic management. It also adopted an emblem representing its activities’ peaceful, international character. The organization had a Central Office in The Hague, Netherlands.
IATA also worked to coordinate timetables, which was necessary at the time since airlines only served a limited number of destinations. During the early days, the organization was not involved in setting fares, but it did propose voluntary tariff adjustments. It also set industry standards and operating procedures that improved the airline industry’s reliability, security, and performance.
