Judges
Our expert judges
Montie Brewer
Montie Brewer was chief executive of Air Canada between December 2004 and April 2009. Prior to Air Canada, he was senior vice-president planning at United Airlines. He has also held senior positions at Northwest Airlines, Republic Airlines, Braniff and TWA. He currently serves on the boards of Allegiant Travel Company, Finnair and Radixx International, and was formerly on the boards of Swiss and Aer Lingus.
Christina Cassotis
Christina Cassotis has been chief executive at Allegheny County Airport Authority in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since January 2015. She has also been a director of S&T Bank since 2017. Prior to joining the airport authority, Cassotis worked for consultancy ICF SH&E where she held various positions including managing officer for airport services. Previous she was deputy director of communications at Massachusetts Port Authority. She holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BA from the University of Massachusetts
Rigas Doganis
Rigas Doganis advises governments and airlines on air transport policy. He was also former head of the air transport department at Cranfield University. He was Chairman/CEO of Olympic Airways in the mid-1990s, implementing a major restructuring. Has sat on the board of South African Airways and spent nine years on the EasyJet board. He chairs the European Aviation Club in Brussels and is the author of “Flying Off Course - airline economics and marketing” (2019)
Alex de Gunten
Alex de Gunten is the business development officer of HEICO Aerospace Corp, based in Miami. From 2003 to 2013 he served as Executive Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA), which he was instrumental in relaunching. De Gunten has also served in senior positions at Orbitz, LanChile (LATAM) and Canadian Airlines (Air Canada).
Chris Tarry
Chris Tarry established independent consultancy and advisory business CTAIRA in 2002, providing advice to clients across the industry. Prior to that, he was one of the most highly rated aviation analysts during his near 20-year period in the London market. He writes a quarterly column in Airline Business and lectures at a number of universities including Coventry University where he has a visiting professorship, besides chairing, moderating and presenting at conferences around the world.
Alan Joyce
Alan Joyce was chief executive of Qantas Group from 2008 until his retirement in 2023. He had worked at the company since 2000, notably becoming chief executive of low-cost unit Jetstar in 2003. Before Qantas he held senior roles at Ansett Australia and Aer Lingus. A strong advocate of diversity in the community and workplace, Joyce was a member of – and chaired – IATA’s board of governors during his time with Qantas.
Norman Liu
Norman Liu is president of Nordic Aviation Capital and is also a senior advisor to Global Infrastructure Partners and a board member of GA Telesis. Liu is former chairman, president and chief executive of GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), a role he held for eight years until the end of 2016. Liu had a 30 year career with GE Capital, of which 22 years were with GECAS, including 14 years as executive vice-president, commercial.