Airline Leadership Hits New Altitudes

As we return from the 2025 International Air Transport Association’s Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in New Delhi, we reflect on the meaningful conversations we had with airline CEOs from around the world—underscoring critical trends and emerging leadership imperatives reshaping the future of aviation.  

After a period of strong recovery and record performance, airline CEOs now find themselves confronting a new wave of uncertainty. Although demand has surged and profitability has returned for many carriers, the horizon remains clouded by persistent supply chain disruptions, geopolitical instability, economic instability, and the need for reimagining current commercial models. 

What follows are the key themes and insights that emerged from the conversations.

Airline CEOs shared a common sentiment: the industry is moving into a new phase. After transformation programs aimed at cost-cutting, restructuring, and survival, companies are thinking about their next phase of growth—through new routes, strategic partnerships and alliances and joint ventures, cross shareholding, product and fleet development, and expansion into adjacent businesses. With clear winners and losers emerging, the industry continues to see consolidation and bankruptcies. The critical question now is: what comes next? 

Executives are actively exploring new avenues for growth, from premium leisure travel and holiday packages to advanced retailing strategies that follow the customer across their entire journey. Meanwhile, digital transformation is accelerating—not as a buzzword, but as a practical lever for operational efficiency and commercial advantage. Artificial intelligence, data analytics, and technology-driven decision-making are no longer optional—they are becoming core to competitive success. 

Yet, across all these shifts, one theme surfaced with unmistakable urgency: leadership. The conversations made clear that CEOs are focusing on the importance of leadership, relationships, culture and development to tackle this uncertainty period, as we examine below. 

Leadership succession emerged as one of the sector’s most urgent and complex challenges. Many airline leaders expressed concern about the narrowness of internal talent pipelines—often shaped by siloed career paths that don’t fully prepare leaders for the breadth and complexity of the CEO role. In an environment where leadership must shift from technical mastery to systems thinking and people-centric management, this is a critical vulnerability. 

Key succession considerations include: 

• Start early: Preparing a successor typically requires two to three years of structured development. Forward-thinking leaders are now prioritizing this process to ensure a smooth and capable transition. 
• Broaden leadership pipelines: Organizations must build general management capabilities earlier in leaders’ careers to avoid over-specialization. 
• Inject external talent: To challenge entrenched ways of thinking and stimulate innovation, some airlines will need to look beyond the aviation industry for future leaders and follow successful examples of integrating outstanding non-airline executives into their organizations 
• Leverage data-driven insights: Boards and CEOs must leverage data—on tenure, previous industry background, and diversity of perspectives. Based on Egon Zehnder data, Airline CEOs have been in the industry for an average of 25 years. This represents a 19% increase compared to 2016, when average tenures were shorter. Furthermore, the talent pool continues to exhibit a significant focus on the airline sector and specifically on internal successors. These metrics highlight critical opportunity areas for leadership pipeline development and succession planning. 

When it comes to leadership succession, the question is no longer simply “Do I have the right strategy?” but rather “Do I have the right team, the right talent, and the right successors in place to deliver it?” 

Boards are being called to step up in new ways. In a sector shaped by complexity and constant disruption, traditional governance models are no longer enough. Airline boards must now complement their oversight responsibilities with sharper strategic foresight and a more engaged posture. 

Key governance imperatives include: 

• Strategic foresight: In recent years, boards were primarily focused on oversight—ensuring that transformation efforts were effectively executed. Now, the focus must shift to foresight: looking ahead and shaping strategic perspectives for the future. 
• Balanced engagement: During periods of intense transformation and growth, boards often leaned toward over-involvement. Today, CEOs need boards that strike the right “altitude”—constructively engaged at the right level, without overreaching or becoming disengaged. 
• Transformation experience: Boards should include members with firsthand experience leading complex transformations. These individuals bring valuable insights, pattern recognition, and practical guidance that can help CEOs navigate similar journeys. 
• Industry expertise and diversity of experience: The “aha” moment for many boards is realizing the need to balance deep industry knowledge with outside-in perspectives. CEOs increasingly value board members with broad judgment across topics—not just technical specialists—who can challenge assumptions and bring fresh thinking from other sectors. 

As we heard from one top executive, “Does my board really understand what it means to be an airline CEO today?” This question captures a growing call for boards to recalibrate -toward deeper relevance and sharper alignment with the realities of modern airline leadership.

As airlines pursue new growth areas—such as standalone loyalty businesses, vacation units, and expanded retailing—they must rethink how their organizations are structured and how leadership roles are designed. 

This evolution calls for: 

• Redesigning operating models: Structures must be aligned to support entrepreneurial growth in adjacent businesses and foster agile decision-making. 
• Attracting specialized talent: Airlines will need to bring in leaders with expertise in digital, retail, and customer experience to accelerate innovation and build customer loyalty. 

These shifts may require greater openness to external hiring and a broader redefinition of what leadership looks like in the airline industry.

After years of intense focus on performance, cost, and survival, many leaders are now turning their attention back to culture. There is a growing recognition that collaboration at the top, the dismantling of silos, and sustained investment in leadership development will be critical to long-term success. 

In certain markets, airlines are placing greater emphasis on developing the talent they already have—investing in their existing talent to ensure they are ready to step into leadership roles when the time comes. This shift reflects a long-term commitment to building sustainable, market-aligned leadership from within, which, when combined with external forces of innovation that bring best-in-class elements of other sectors to aviation, can enable a disruptive future.

Today’s airline CEOs are navigating a uniquely demanding landscape. They are expected to deliver near-term performance while preparing their organizations for the long game—a dual mandate that calls for a fundamentally different kind of leadership. 

The traditional model—built around deep technical expertise or functional mastery—is no longer enough. The demands of the moment require leaders who are agile, collaborative, and capable of leading across boundaries. Success hinges on the ability to foster inclusive cultures, build cross-functional alignment, and lead teams that can adapt at speed. 

As one executive put it, “It’s not just about our strategy and performance anymore, but how we build the right culture to deliver on our ambition.” 

While the “hardware” of aviation—aircraft, infrastructure, and physical assets—will remain relatively stable over the next decade, it is the “software” of leadership, culture, and talent that will define competitive advantage. The airlines that thrive will be those that intentionally invest in leadership development, cultivate cohesive top teams, and embed adaptability deep into their organizational DNA.

The future of aviation will be shaped not just by strategy and systems, but by the strength of its leaders. Now is the time to invest in the leadership, culture, and capabilities that will define the next era of flight. Learn more about Egon Zehnder’s Air Transport Practice and get in touch today. 

In the days following the event, we were saddened by the tragic Air India accident—a tragedy that has shaken not only the global aviation community but the world at large. Our thoughts are with those affected.