Saadia Zahidi is to become IATA’s next Director General.

With effect from November 2026, Zahidi will be International Air Transport Association’s ninth Director General and the first woman appointed to hold the position. She joins IATA from the World Economic Forum (WEF) where she is a Managing Director and Member of the Managing Board.

Willie Walsh, IATA’s current Director General, will conclude his duties on 31 July 2026. The IATA Board of Directors has appointed Sandrine Le Borgne, IATA’s Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Corporate Services, as Interim Director General for the intervening period.

Zahidi spent more than two decades at the WEF, where she founded and currently heads its Centre for the New Economy and Society. Previously she has led the WEF’s Global Communications Group, Global Programming Group, and WEF’s engagement with academics, civil society and international organisations. Zahidi founded and co-authors WEF’s Future of Jobs Reports, the Future of Growth Reports, the Global Gender Gap Reports, and Chief Economist Outlooks. She has served on the UN Secretary-General’s panel for Women’s Economic Empowerment and the European Space Agency’s High-Level Advisory Group. She is also the author of Fifty Million Rising, tracking the rise of working women in the Muslim world.

Zahidi holds a BA in Economics from Smith College, an MPhil in International Economics from The Graduate Institute and an MPA from Harvard University.