ATA Names Calio To Succeed May As CEO

The Air Transport Association has hired the former chief liaison to Congress for both Bush administrations to become its new president and CEO as of Jan. 1. Nicholas Calio currently leads Global Government Affairs for Citigroup, both in the U.S. and in more than 100 countries in which the company does business, and has been in that lobbyist position since early 2003. But before joining Citigroup he was assistant to the president of legislative affairs for two years for President George W. Bush—the same position he held for his father, President George H.W. Bush. “I think what I bring to the job is the ability to work with all sorts of different people and different personalities,” having done so with Congress and the Cabinet, Calio says. He notes that he works with Democratic majorities in Congress during the first Bush presidency and has “reached out to people on both sides of the aisle.” That presidential experience also meant learning to deal with crises, think on your feet and think about how what you say affects different constituencies, he added. Having experience in both the public and private sectors also helped hone his skills in identifying issues and identifying policy trends, he says, and his experience with Citigroup has helped him learn more not just about politics in other countries but also their cultures. One thing Calio does not have is an in-depth knowledge of the aviation industry, other than all of the traveling he has done on airlines. In that respect, he is similar to the person he is replacing: James May, who came to ATA from the National Association of Broadcasters, where he served as executive vice president. May says he is advising Calio to “learn to drink from a fire hose” because there will be so much to take in. He will need to “open wide and get ready for a real learning experience,” May says. May says he “started feeling comfortable about six months into the process” after joining ATA in February 2003. Calio will be facing some immediate challenges, such as FAA reauthorization and NextGen funding, as well as trying to make the case for lower—or at least not higher—aviation taxes at a time when Congress is newly focused on cutting the deficit. But May says Calio comes into the job with at least one advantage that May did not get during most of his tenure: the U.S. airline business is making a profit.