A charismatic and thoughtful leader at his home airline, Air Canada, and then for the wider industry at IATA, Pierre Jeanniot was also an innovator behind systems and practices that are now regarded as fundamental standards in air transport operations. These include the development of the “black box” flight data recorder, implementation of the world’s first real-time computer reservation system, the pioneering of ETOPS widebody, twin-engine flights over the Atlantic, the introduction of non-smoking flights, and formalizing safety as the top priority for IATA, leading to the establishment of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA).
For such a long—yet still incomplete—list of accomplishments, Jeanniot’s beginnings in the air transport industry were humble. He joined Air Canada in 1955 as a junior technician before moving to positions in technical services, operations, marketing and strategic planning. He rose to become Air Canada president and CEO between 1984 and 1990, guiding the airline through privatization in 1988 and leading it through a major restructuring and transformation.
Following retirement from Air Canada, Jeanniot was elected director general and CEO at IATA, where he increased airline membership from 200 to 280 and, most significantly, brought in Chinese mainland carriers. He also established and strengthened IATA regional centers in Singapore, Miami and Amman as well as opened IATA’s first China office in 1993.
Under his leadership at the IATA AGM in 1995, the industry agreed to set a target of reducing the airliner accident rate by 50% in 10 years. The goal was indeed achieved in 2005. At the same AGM, in Kuala Lumpur, members agreed that periodic reviews of each airline’s safety and operating processes and systems should be carried out by external agencies and that satisfactory safety performance would become a requirement for maintaining IATA membership. This is what ultimately became the IOSA process that lies at the heart of the association’s safety initiatives today.
His many contributions to systems and processes that are taken for granted today were extraordinary for their breadth and forward thinking. He contributed to the development of the first comprehensive flight data recorder by modifying, enhancing and re-orientating an existing failed analogue maintenance recorder and proposing it be housed in a container capable of withstanding the impact and fire associated with an aircraft crash.
As the first head of Air Canada’s computer systems and communications division in 1970, he directed the development and implementation of the airline’s Reservec II, a groundbreaking real-time computer reservations system that made Air Canada a recognized world leader in the field. Also under his direction, he established the first ACARS data link over the Atlantic, enabling flight information to be transmitted electronically and automatically rather than via radio…
