Ronce Almond was named Managing Director, International Government Affairs in July 2024. Based in the airline’s Washington office, he plays a leading role in advocating the airline’s policy and legal priorities in international affairs before the U.S. federal government, foreign authorities, and international institutions.

Prior to joining American, Ronce was Senior Counsel at the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. As the top Democratic staffer on the Subcommittee on Aviation, he led historic legislation and policies to address challenges facing aviation and shape the future of the global aerospace industry. Before serving on Capitol Hill, he was partner and vice president at The Wicks Group, a law and consulting firm focused on aerospace, transportation, and international aviation. In addition to being a member of Aero Club of Washington Board of Governors,

Ronce has served on the Editorial Board of the Air & Space Lawyer, a journal of the American Bar Association. He has taught at Georgetown University School of Law and published extensively on aviation and international affairs. Ronce holds a Juris Doctor, cum laude, and Master of Arts (Political Science) from Duke University and a Bachelor of Arts (History), cum laude, from George Washington University. He and his wife Yasmine are parents of two children.

Yanina Belen Vidal is a Senior Industry Manager at Google, passionate about shaping the future of the Travel industry. She leads cross-functional teams to develop cutting-edge solutions that address complex industry challenges. With a background in International Studies and experience in finance, Yanina brings a unique perspective to her role. Her fascination with technology's impact on the world led her to participate in Singularity University's Executive Program. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring her passions for wine, chess, and astrology.

Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar is the Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). He was first appointed for a three-year term starting August 2021. On 11 March 2024, the ICAO Council renewed his appointment for a second consecutive three-year term, to begin August 2024.

His career in international civil aviation spans over 30 years in various advisory and leadership roles. Prior to his appointment as Secretary General, Mr. Salazar served as Director General of Aeronautica Civil of Colombia – Aerocivil. For the twelve years prior to joining Aerocivil, Mr. Salazar was a Senior Advisor to the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority.

His professional experience also includes terms as the President of Latin American Civil Aviation Commission (LACAC), Secretary of the Colombian Civil Aviation Board and Director of its Air Transport Office, Director General of Air Transport at the Colombian Ministry of Transport, Corporate Secretary and Director of the Legal Department of Tampa Cargo (currently known as Avianca Cargo).

Mr. Salazar is a lawyer and has earned advanced degrees from Harvard University (Master in Public Administration - MPA) and McGill University (Master in Air and Space Law - LLM), and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree in Law from Korea Aerospace University. He is fluent in Spanish, English and French, and speaks basic Arabic.

Selina Chadha was appointed Group Director for Consumers & Markets and a member of the Civil Aviation Authority Board on 27 August 2024.

Selina's role includes overseeing the Civil Aviation Authority's economic regulation, competition, consumer protection, consumer enforcement activity and the ATOL financial protection scheme.

Prior to joining the Civil Aviation Authority, Selina served as Director of Policy (Competition and Consumer) at Ofcom. Her time at Ofcom was marked by strategic leadership, and a strong commitment to promoting investment and competitions, and protecting consumers in the communications sector.

Kate is an aerospace reporter on the aviation team at Bloomberg, covering airlines and space across the UK and Europe. She delves into a range of topics including supply chain issues, strikes and air travel post-Covid. Kate joined Bloomberg last year after spending almost three years on the business desk at Business Insider, where she covered similar themes.

Jim Fairlie was born in Perth and has lived and worked in the area all his life. He began his career as a shepherd before becoming a hill farmer. He built a successful food and events-based catering business and has extensive experience in urban and rural affairs. He was elected to represent Perthshire South and Kinross-shire at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

He was appointed Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity in February 2024.

Luke joined Loganair in March 2024 and has already set about making significant changes aimed at improving performance and the customer experience. Before his time with Scotland’s Airline, Luke already had an impressive background in the UK regional airline sector. His extensive experience includes notable roles such as Group COO and Accountable Manager for Flybe until 2018, as well as senior positions with BA CitiExpress and Brymon Airways. He has also held senior executive roles at easyJet and Wizzair. Beyond the airline industry, Luke has worked in the onshore and offshore rotary sectors as CEO of one of the UK’s largest helicopter Air Ambulance providers, Specialist Aviation, and was Managing Director of Bond Offshore Helicopters, and a board member of Oil & Gas UK. Luke lives in Edinburgh.

Amanda Francis was appointed Chief Executive of AICES in 2020. AICES represents the UK’s international express sector which imports and exports 250 million consignments every year, supporting the UK Government’s objective to grow the economy and promote global trade. Members range from larger companies including DHL, DPD, Evri, FedEx, Parcelforce and UPS to SME express operators, collectively providing over 100,000 jobs across the UK.

Previously, Amanda acted as consultant to AICES and other clients including TNT Post, DHL, Hermes and the Governments of Guernsey, Jersey and the British Virgin Islands.

Ali is easyJet’s UK Country Manager and as head of easyJet in the UK market is responsible for leading the performance of easyJet’s UK network - easyJet’s largest operation in Europe - including 10 bases and 181 aircraft. Ali has been with easyJet for over 10 years, during which time she has overseen the successful growth of the U.K. operation, which now operates over 400 routes from 21 airports across the UK.

Philip Georgiadis is Transport Correspondent at the Financial Times, where he covers airlines, airports and wider transport policy issues. Over the past three years he has covered the industry's response to the coronavirus pandemic, government border policies and last year's travel restart. He is increasingly focused on aviation and how the industry plans to hit its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. A journalist at the FT since 2019, he previously worked for the Wall Street Journal in London.

Steve is Boeing’s Regional Director – Europe and METACA Sustainability. In this role he leads a team supporting Boeing’s customers and partners achieve their sustainability goals across Europe, the Middle East, Türkiye, Africa and Central Asia.

Prior to this role, Steve was Boeing’s NATO Director and UK Head of Government Affairs.

Steve joined Boeing from Rolls-Royce, and the Ministry of Defence. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and has lived and worked in Belgium, India, the USA and China.

Chris is an executive at GE Aerospace in Brussels where he leads the government relations team for GE Aerospace in Europe. His main responsibility includes building and maintaining relationships with the EU institutions as well as with relevant national governments where GE Aerospace has a presence. He represents GE Aerospace interests in policy developments in the area of sustainability, trade and regulatory matters. He also enables the participation in collaborative R&D programs like Clean Aviation and EDF. Other areas of relevance are digital, state aid and competition law. Lastly, he supports the business in Europe on large scale investment projects. Prior to joining GE in 2011, Chris worked for 15 years at Deloitte and PwC as a director. He led a team that consulted on innovation strategies for large corporations and evaluated the effectiveness of government policies.

Chris has a Master’s degree in International Law from Leiden University the Netherlands as well as an MBA.

Louise Haigh was appointed Secretary of State for Transport on 5 July 2024, the youngest female Cabinet Minister to ever be appointed.

She was elected as the MP for Sheffield Heeley in May 2015.

Since being elected as an MP, Louise has held a number of shadow ministerial roles, including Shadow Secretary of State for Transport from 2021 to 2024.

Louise served as a Special Constable in the Met Police between 2009 and 2011 and worked for Aviva as a public policy manager from 2012 to 2015.

Louise studied politics at Nottingham University and law at Birkbeck, University of London.

Sophie joined the ATI in September 2021 as our Chief Relationships Officer overseeing the organisation's external relationships with key government and industry stakeholders in the UK and overseas while also leading the ATI's communications and thought leadership activity. Sophie has over 15 years' experience working in Central Government on defence, security and trade primarily and five years in industry. Most recently, Sophie was the CEO of a Saudi-British joint venture growing engineering expertise in the Kingdom.

Andrew was appointed MAG’s Chief Strategy Officer in September 2024. He leads the Group’s work on sustainability, corporate affairs, strategic planning, property and international development.

Andrew was previously the Chief Commercial Officer at Vertical Aerospace, a UK start-up developing of electric aircraft. He led development for a global order book across airline and other customers in the US, Asia and Europe and work on new infrastructure and policy solutions for the novel aircraft.

Andrew also spent more than a decade at Heathrow Airport, most recently as Chief Strategy and Carbon Officer. He worked across many areas including Airport Expansion, regulation, operations, strategic planning and commercial developments with airlines and other partners.

Andrew began his working life at McKinsey & Co, with roles in Tokyo and London focused on transport and infrastructure. He has degrees from Hitotsubashi University, LSE and INSEAD. He has held a number of non-executive roles, including with the UK Government’s Jet Zero Council, a large pension fund, Heathrow Express railway and as Co-Chair of for the Future Airspace Integration working group.

Simon McNamara joined Heart Aerospace in 2023 as its Director Government & Industry Affairs responsible for leading their interaction globally with government bodies, regulators and industry stakeholders.

Prior to Heart, Simon led IATA’s United Kingdom & Ireland office engaging with Government across a range of policy areas.

Previously he was Director of Communications at the UK regional airline Flybe and prior to that he worked in EU affairs for 18 years ending with a term as Director General of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA), a European trade body representing regional airlines.

Simon has a degree in Aeronautical Engineering (1994) from City University, London and an MSc from Cranfield University in Air Transport Management (1995). He is a current Board Member at ERA.

Robert helps clients sharpen their storytelling to shape public debate. He is an award-winning former foreign and political correspondent for BBC and Sky News, working in Washington DC, Brussels and Westminster on both radio and television. In 2018 he became the national spokesperson for the British railway industry, regularly appearing on BBC radio and TV, Sky, ITV and Channel 4 News. He helped hone and deliver the industry’s messaging to customers, business and government before and during the pandemic. Robert sits on the Advisory Board of the public services think tank ‘Reform’, is a Leader in Residence at UCLAN and a Senior Fellow at the John Schofield Trust.

Marie joined IATA in 2022 as Chief Economist. In January 2023 Marie added responsibility for IATA’s Environment and Sustainability activities to her role. Marie joined IATA from Lombard Odier where she was Head of Global Trends and Sustainability. Her 30-year professional life includes roles for both investment banks and private bank, including HSBC in London, Merrill Lynch in Paris, and Indosuez in Geneva. Outside of the financial sector Marie worked for IKEA, and she also founded and manged her own company in the equine industry. Marie holds an MBA from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and a PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. She speaks Swedish, English and French fluently.

Head of Airbus Group UK Public Affairs, Oriel leads the company's external engagement and strategy in the UK, where it employs c.12,000 people across 25 sites.

Before joining Airbus, Oriel was a senior civil servant and diplomat. From 2015 to 2019 she was responsible for commercial diplomacy at the British Embassy in Paris, becoming the first Deputy Trade Commissioner for Europe in 2018.

Oriel is Co-Chair of the CBI Global Competitiveness Committee, Chair of the Aerospace Growth Partnership’s Strategy & Engagement Working Group, a Trustee of the Franco-British Council and sits on the Board of the French Chamber of Great Britain.

David Shepherd is the CEO of IAG Cargo, the global logistics business of International Airlines Group (owners of British Airways, Iberia & Aer Lingus). He is a Non-Executive Director on the Aer Lingus UK Board and has held a number of executive roles within the Group.

David Silk is the Director, Aviation in the Department for Transport, having previously been the department’s Director for Airports, Infrastructure and Commercial Interventions. He is responsible for all aspects of aviation policy. Prior to joining DfT, David’s career was in HM Treasury, where he had a number of senior roles, including on welfare, housing, local growth and education spending as well as Private Secretary to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He has significant experience in policy, strategy and commercial roles.

Michael joined the DfT in June 2023 as the Deputy Director for Aviation Commercial, Strategy and Consumers. His role covers consumers policy (including passenger rights, accessibility and ATOL), as well as overall sector strategy, commercial monitoring and interventions and CAA sponsorship. Prior to DfT, Michael worked in sports policy at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; and across tax, spending and public sector efficiency areas in HM Treasury. Michael worked in the private sector as a real estate investment manager before joining the civil service. He lives in South London with his wife, daughter and cat.

Mohammad Taher, widely known as 'The Airport Guy,' is an aerospace engineering graduate, turned content creator and educator. While both excelling in his engineering career, becoming the aerodrome systems specialist for the biggest and most complex aerodrome in the UK, he has also built a thriving online community of over half a million people to empower individuals, particularly from underrepresented backgrounds, to explore careers in aviation. The impact he has had on the aviation sector has been recognised by the UK government who recently announced him as an Aviation Ambassador for the Department for Transport, as well as being named one of the top 50 most influential Muslims in Europe.

Alex joined the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) as Director of Policy and Insight in March 2022. In this role he is responsible for the policy positions adopted by the Chambers network and for the BCC’s extensive business insight programme. Before joining BCC Alex worked for over 20 years in various roles across the environment, transport, logistics and trade sectors, in the UK and overseas. Alex is a Chartered Member of the CILT, IEMA and CMI.

Shai Weiss is Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Atlantic and an Executive Director of its Board. With the belief that everyone can take on the world, Virgin Atlantic leads from the front in pursuit of its vision to become the most loved travel company. In service of its people, customers, and the communities from which it operates.

With an unrelenting commitment to business as a force for good, Virgin Atlantic has been pioneering sustainability leadership for more than 15 years, with a commitment to achieving 10% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050.

Shai was named Virgin Atlantic CEO in January 2019 and led the Company during Covid-19, emerging from the pandemic a transformed airline, in the process evolving from being a challenger brand to being recognized as a flag carrier. Shai joined Virgin Atlantic in 2014 as Chief Financial Officer later assuming the role of Chief Commercial Officer.

During Shai’s tenure Virgin Atlantic has been recognized as a leader in safety, customer and employee satisfaction and has been awarded the Global Five Star Award by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) for seven years running and the only British carrier to achieve this. In 2022, the airline was ranked as the number one most loved workplace in the UK by Newsweek and 1st in the UK and 7th globally in World’s Best Airlines 2023 by airlinesratings.com

Shai serves as a non-Executive Director of Check Point Software Technologies (NASDQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber security solutions. In 2022 Shai served on the Prime Minister’s Business Council.

In 2006 he was a Founding Partner of Virgin Green Fund and an Investment Partner with the Virgin Group from 2012. Before joining Virgin, he held several senior management positions at ntl:Telewest (now Virgin Media), the UK and Europe’s largest cable operator. Shai was part of the turn-around of ntl with roles including Managing Director of Consumer Products, Director of Operations, and Director of Financial Planning for the Consumer division and was behind the merger between Virgin Mobile UK and ntl:Telewest and the subsequent re-brand to Virgin Media. Prior to ntl, Shai established the European office of early-stage technology venture fund JVP and was a Senior Associate with Morgan Stanley Technology Group in London.

Shai holds an MBA from Columbia University in New York and a BBA from City University of New York, Baruch College.

He resides in London, has two children in university, attends Arsenal games whenever he can, loves The New Yorker and attempts to play basketball on weekends.

Thomas Woldbye took up the role as Heathrow CEO in October 2023. As CEO, Thomas is focussed on driving innovation in passenger service, sustainability and growth at the UK’s hub airport. He is also overseeing the airport’s multi billion pound investment plans to upgrade existing facilities and provide an even better service for passengers, including the next generation security programme and new baggage system for Terminal 2. Thomas is a member of His Majesty’s Sustainable Markets Initiative, the BritishAmerican Business Advisory Board and the Jet Zero Council.

Thomas was previously CEO of Copenhagen Airport from May 2011 – September 2023. Under Thomas’s stewardship, Copenhagen Airport was consistently rated as one of the world’s top airports, both in terms of customer and retail experience as well as efficiency and profitability. He worked in partnership with the trade unions in Denmark and put customers at the front of mind for all colleagues at the airport.

Previously, Thomas worked for A.P. Møller-Maersk for 27 years. He started his career as a management trainee in 1983, and over the next 20 years, held several management positions in Indonesia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Denmark. During this period, he was primarily involved in the management of Maersk Line, the company’s worldwide container business. In 2004, Thomas took over as Group CEO of Norfolkline Group with headquarters in The Hague.

Thomas has an HD in Financing from Copenhagen Business School and professional qualifications from the London Business School and the IMD in Switzerland.