IATA Reviews

Pros

Organization with international prestige, knowledgeable staff in general, good salary package, tax free status, 25 days vacation, good benefits in general

Cons

No promotions (in general), no career development, inefficient internal procedures, no adequate senior staff, no pay raise

Pros

The skill and knowledge level of employee that IATA locates is generally extremely high with much to contribute, with very relevant abilities within their field

Cons

Those highly skilled employees leave after a remarkably short time due to the realization of the extremely poor senior management abilities and skills

Advice to Senior Management

Human nature is such that you do not change your character and therefore to help the new DG make IATA become a more relevant organization for its airlines a complete clear out of top level management is required. Pack your bags and go.

Pros

You can learn about airline industry

Cons

However the hierarchy and politics are a burden

Pros

Unique example of a private body governing a whole industry. Potentially great opportunity to lead innovation, change, technology and governance for moving the industry towards its future.

Many great individuals within the mid & senior management, but unfortunately not reespected/recognized by the executive management (see the "cons")

Good compensation package.

Cons

Power is usurped/confiscated by the (former) CEO, who is managing by fear with the help of a few devoted followers (executers) who have no ethic, no vision and no sense business. CEO's decisions are all serving his individual success vis-a-vis the industry to whom he is lying on real achievements and delivered value.

Advice to Senior Management

The new CEO should conduct a full overhaul/re-engineering of the organization and open a new era with the airlines (industry). Hopefully, many valuable resources are available inside. Therefore, he should spend time listening to those who have skills, experience and motivation.

To succeed in this enterprise, he should:

1. ensure immunity to those who will talk (they are traumatized)
2. get rid of all apparachiks of his predecessor (including silent accomplices)

Pros

Better than average pay, good benefits such as health insurance, holidays. Great colleagues.

Cons

No salary increases even to compensate for increasing cost of living or inflation. Outdated system of review. Management by FEAR. Spineless, self serving Senior Management looking only at very short term gains with scant regard for the needs of their Members. Employees treated as slaves. The place is now run by young MBAs and project managers with no knowledge whatsoever of the airline industry. Tremendous pressure on everyone to sell everything from Manuals, consultancy services to training courses at ridiculously high prices. All this to support lavish business lifestyles and outrageously generous packages for the chosen few.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of everyone from the HR dept. from Assistant Director and above and do that quickly. Revamp the entire Senior Management:get your own people with industry knowledge and experience. Get rid of MBAs hired from various management consultancies who have zero industry knowledge and bring back the experienced, dedicated veterans who were fired only to make the numbers look good in the short term and to reduce the average age of the employees to 35-36 years. Most importantly, walk the talk: treat employees as real Human Capital not an expendable commodity.

Pros

Compensation, pension, benefits, great international exposure;
Met there some very nice people with high professional profile;
Occasion (because you have to) to develop many personal skills and competencies.

Cons

I agree with most of the "cons" reported on this website.
I was especially shocked by how unfairly employees were treated. This created an ambiance of fear and discouragement, and most people were working there on a "surviving" mode before managing to find another position or being fired.
I was also shocked by the firing process itself. Eventhough you show them you accept the laid off decision, the HR people need to make the process painful, even humiliating, pushing great pressure to sign their document, ensuring that you won't sue them.
Personnally, I had been relatively protected from all that for several years, until my direct supervisor and the entire team, save me, were laid off. Then it was a dreadful time with a lunatic manipulative supervisor, for whom I never felt any trust and respect.

Advice to Senior Management

If change should be implemented, and it should, on HC policy, it should come from the CEO himself. Some "vicious" person, who have been benefiting from favoritism for years should be removed in priority.
I hope the Italian era is soon over and that IATA will have a fair and respectful management culture in place. Because, I am also convinced this company could be a good to place to work for somebody who is very interested in gaining a geat international experience.

Pros

pay, pension. Met some really nice, passionate managers... unfortunatly most have left. a challenging but wonderful industry.

Cons

People are called for meeting then taken by surprised and presented with their redundancy letters, taken back to the door by security... a normal practice for the HR "leaders". No vision, no sense of service or operational excellence, just politics and management by fear by a few, serving their interest first. No respect for the airlines needs , and even less so for the Travel Agent community.

Advice to Senior Management

run a full check to control past practices in terms of millions spent in redundancy packages. Check all financials and outsourcing deals as numbers and search for conflict of interest among the senior team, remotivate the employees by building a vision, a project and enabling them to do their job without fear.

Pros

It's a great industry to work in. IATA gets involved in some very interesting and varied subjects. It has a industry leadership opportunities which are hard to find elsewhere. In my time, compensation and conditions were good, including the quality of the business environment (offices, travel etc). IATA has (had) very good staff and there is plenty of opportunity to learn and develop.

Cons

Executive management manages by fear and threat. If you don't support this, your on the way out. It's a tough place to operate. Staff lives in fear of there jobs. Every last friday of the month could be your last one. Leadership development has lofty objectives and IATA does make the investment. Too bad that those that succeed tend to move on and those that fail get moved on. Why bother?

Advice to Senior Management

Embrace the arrival of a new boss as a new era. Remove the fear culture (and those that promote it). Go back to basic business: develop your team, take some risk, be leaders and above all, be fair.

Pros

IATA is an international trade association with a tremendous exposure to the full air transport industry. New hires not only have an international exposure but can rapidly be exposed to senior management given the size of the organisation.

Cons

The organisation is a disaster, lots of bureaucracy and has been running unefficiently with poor project management skills for quite some time. The implementation of an ERP system has tremendously increased the level of bureaucracy since there is no empowerment. Endless bottle necks to approve meaningless purchase orders and lots of frustration among staff generally and finance more specifically due to a failed attempt to implement what could have been a simple straight forward project.

Advice to Senior Management

Where to start from:
Empower your employees
Encourage more management by objective rather than management by fear
Stimulate your employees by setting tangible objectives and clear accountabilities
Create a real Project Management Office
Loosen your financial procedures
Remove bureaucratic procedures for meaningless purchases

Pros

Money. That's the only reason people will join the organisation. Once you have joined, you will not get a rise unless you are rated A, which is possible for 15% of the employees and decided before your review by your management team of directors and above, allocated on quotas for the entire organisation.
Pension - excellent - bet you never claim it though
Health - excellent - you'll need that cover for the burn out
Vacation - 5 weeks, if you have time to take it. However you need to be contactable if you responsible for anything.

Cons

It's not a healthy environment to work. You will have to do more than 40 hours a week, maybe 60+. You will have to work and travel weekends. This time will not be given back. There is a general culture of fear, as you never know when you might be sacked - normally for no good reason. Cuts are imposed, not discussed. Management generally fail to understand what their staff do, and seek short term opportunities. It is a very political working environment with a large number of inflated and fragile egos - upsetting them is never forgiven and often results in your leaving the company.
There is little or no communication on why things happen, and the answers provided are often transparently spun - indeed communications is a growth industry with internal messages getting vetted before they are sent.

Advice to Senior Management

Change the HC policies to reflect industry best practices. Start serving your members interests with an equal vigour as applied to the chasing of profit. Give something back to your staff other than stress.