The International Air Transport Association (Iata) has appointed Marie Owens Thomsen as its chief economist.
Thomsen joins on January 4 from Swiss private bank Banque Lombard Odier, where she has been head of global trends and sustainability since 2020.
Prior to that she was global head of investment intelligence at Indosuez Wealth Management from 2011-2020, and has also served in chief economist and related roles for Merrill Lynch, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and HSBC.
Owens Thomsen succeeds Brian Pearce, who retired from Iata earlier this year after serving as chief economist since 2004.
Iata director general Willie Walsh said: “Marie’s work on macro-economic issues with a focus on sustainability will prepare her to address aviation’s top issues—namely recovery from Covid-19 and sustainability.
“Coming from outside the aviation sector, she will bring valuable new insights and perspectives. And I am confident that she will carry on Iata’s reputation for objective reporting and analysis that is essential for explaining aviation’s contribution to the global economy and advocating for the polices airlines need to be successful.”
Owens Thomsen said: “I am joining Iata to contribute to the aviation sector which has been a formidable long-term driver of economic growth. I’ll do this with a research approach that identifies causal factors for critical issues and their high-priority solutions.
“This is important as aviation begins the recovery from Covid-19 and continues the journey to net zero emissions. I look forward to a future where aviation can flourish within a sustainable global economy.”