After 14 years leading the industry organization Airlines for America (A4A) President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio has decided to step down.

Calio is set to retire when his contract ends at the close of 2025.

In making the announcement, A4A credited Calio with a long list of notable accomplishments including rebranding the industry organization and honing its focus on "being an influential voice in helping to shape legislative and regulatory policies and priorities that improve air travel and air cargo shipping for consumers.¡±

Over the years, Calio also came to be known for his ability to build consensus, and transformed and re-launched the association by working collaboratively with airlines, labor unions, Congress, the executive branch and key government agencies, as well as foreign governments to promote the safety, security and health of the U.S. airline industry, the organization said in a statement today.

¡°All of this has been possible because of A4A¡¯s strong Board of Directors. I have been fortunate to work for and with some of the sharpest minds in business over the past 14 years and blessed with A4A Board Chairs Scott Kirby, Robin Hayes, Gary Kelly, Brad Tilden and Doug Parker, some of whom served twice,¡± Calio said in a statement.

¡°Together, we have accomplished so much for so many, and I have learned from their counsel and benefited from their enduring friendship.¡± Calio added.

The outgoing A4A CEO is credited with having led multiple FAA reauthorization negotiations and is said to have been instrumental in avoiding total crisis during the 2022 5G C-Band implementation.

Under Calio's leadership, A4A also successfully navigated through the tumultuous years of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is credited with helping to ¡°save the industry from ruin,¡± working closely with Congress, labor organizations and other groups to create the Payroll Support Program and securing $60 billion as part of the CARES Act that kept airline employees on the job.

¡°We worked with both sides of the political aisle, both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, as well as labor, suppliers, manufacturers, various associations and others.¡± Calio said. ¡°Our board members were unified and laser focused on saving countless jobs, their companies and the U.S. airline industry.¡±

During his tenure, Calio approached Harvard University¡¯s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI) and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to conduct independent research that examined air quality on airplanes and concluded that¡ªbecause of multiple layers of protection¡ªthe risk of exposure to COVID-19 during air travel is extremely low.

More recently, Calio advocated for addressing the air traffic controller shortage saying that more needs to be done to cover retirements and attrition facing the FAA.

The longtime A4A CEO also stressed the importance of implementing new strategies for recruiting, hiring and training¡ªincluding reinvigorating the Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) program.

Additional areas Calio focused on included the need to ensure the FAA¡¯s Facilities & Equipment budget is fully funded and that the FAA has the flexibility to address the most pressing modernization issues, especially as the U.S. airline industry is seeing record air travel, employing one million people and transporting millions of tons of cargo around the world, while remaining the safest mode of transportation.

A4A Board Chairman and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Board Vice Chairman and American Airlines CEO Robert Isom will be directing the search for Calio¡¯s successor, which is expected to begin immediately.

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