Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) opened nominations for the 2024 Diversity and Inclusion Awards. Nominations are welcome from all individuals or organizations in the aviation sector and will close at 23:59 CET on 17 April 2024. This is the fifth edition of these annual awards which focus on recognizing excellence in diversity and inclusion in three categories:

• The Inspirational Role Model Award recognizes a woman holding a senior position within the air transport industry who has had a significant impact on the aviation agenda through her strong contribution to business delivery, as well as her ongoing support for the diversity and inclusion agenda. Nominees are welcome from across the aviation industry.

• The High Flyer Award recognizes a female aviation professional under the age of 40 who has demonstrated leadership through concrete action in favor of diversity and inclusion, making a positive impact on the industry. Open to all women professional in the aviation industry.

• The Diversity & Inclusion Team Award recognizes an airline that has seen measurable positive change in diversity and inclusion as a result of the work it has been doing in this area. Open to all IATA member airlines.

“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. Through the Diversity & Inclusion Awards and 25by2025 Best Practice guide IATA is helping organizations across the entire value chain become more diverse and inclusive.

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.