IATA expands Montreal head office operations

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is increasing its Montreal headquarters operations with the expansion of its Financial and Distribution Services (FDS) division. The move is expected to grow IATA’s employment in Montreal to more than 400 with the addition of 27 full-time jobs—some newly created, others relocated from Geneva, Switzerland.

IATA’s mission is to represent, lead and serve the airline industry. Its 280 member airlines from 120 countries comprise 83% of global traffic. IATA’s Montreal office provides critical services to the global aviation industry in areas that include safety, security, legal, training, passenger experience, technical audits and consulting.

This expansion of IATA’s Montreal operations is part of the creation of a Global Delivery Center (GDC) where the back office functions for IATA’s Financial Settlement Systems (FSS) have been consolidated into four locations. This allows IATA to better meet increasing expectations of airlines, travel agents, and freight forwarders using the FSS, which manages more than US$400bn of industry settlements annually.

“IATA’s financial settlement systems are the back office of the airline industry. They facilitate the selling, reporting, and remittance procedures of IATA-accredited passenger and cargo sales agents with some 400 participating airlines. Montreal will play a key role in the GDC which also includes Beijing, Madrid and Singapore. Working together across these locations, the GDC will ensure that the airline value chain benefits from the game-changing innovation that are transforming the financial services industry,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

Montreal is also home to the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA), Airports Council International (ACI), four original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) (Bombardier, Bell Helicopter Textron Canada, CAE and Pratt & Whitney Canada), and over 200 aerospace companies.