The Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) was established in July 1990 as a subsidiary group of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the backing of Sir Colin Marshall, CEO of British Airways and Bob Crandall, CEO of American Airlines. Boeing and Airbus then joined along with the Airport Association Coordinating Council (a predecessor to ACI World), at which point an Advisory Board was formed.
In the early 1990s, ATAG’s membership base expanded across the aviation sector and several types of membership were introduced, to allow for different levels of involvement and financial support.
ATAG became an independent association in 2003, with a view to obtaining official recognition among various intergovernmental organisations. Around the same time, ATAG began to further widen its membership to encompass a greater cross-section of the civil aviation industry. Rolls-Royce and CFM International joined in 2001, Airports Council International joined in 2004, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation joined in 2007 and Pratt & Whitney, Embraer, Bombardier and GE Aerospace became members in 2008. SAFRAN and ATR joined in 2012.
ATAG was born out of a desire for various sectors of the industry to work together to address long-term challenges for the whole air transport industry, while promoting aviation’s economic and connectivity benefits. Its original mandate included increasing public awareness of solutions to congestion issues; supporting the restructuring of European air traffic control (such as the Single European Sky); addressing capacity constraints; developing support groups to address local issues of concern; and encouraging dialogue between experts and environmental groups. Regional infrastructure initiatives which ATAG focused on in the early days included the second runway at Narita International Airport and the development of Terminal 5 at Heathrow.
ATAG’s scope of activity gradually shifted over the years to wider issues of concern for the future development of air transport. A significant focus in the late 1990s was the protection of radio spectrum for commercial aviation as new mobile telephone users started to encroach on the radio frequencies used by air traffic control to interact with flight crews. Intermodal transport - including the promotion of rail links to airports - was a focus for a few years, before a strong pivot to environment and sustainability issues. This includes raising awareness of aviation’s actions, goals and targets; and of the industry’s contribution to the global economy.
In the early to mid-2000s, the main focus of ATAG’s activities was addressing aircraft noise, with the impact of climate change taking over as the key priority from the late 2000s onwards. In 2008, ATAG was instrumental in developing the joint Aviation Industry Commitment to Action on Climate Change, which was signed by various aviation manufacturers and industry associations. It was the first aviation industry commitment to address its carbon emissions.
Providing data on aviation’s role in the global economy and the resulting economic benefits has remained a key activity since ATAG’s inception. The first study of this kind was published using 1992 data and it has been updated approximately every two years since. Nowadays, Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders analyses social as well as economic impacts: at a global level, for various regions and groups and also on a country-wide basis.
Today ATAG is a truly global organisation with over 45 members representing all the key sectors of the aviation industry, as well as its suppliers, with Thales having become a principal partner member in 2025, and with a number of new energy suppliers having joined from 2023 onwards.
Collaboration to address aviation’s challenges remains just as important today as when ATAG was established in 1990. ATAG achieves this by connecting members and stakeholders through working groups; virtual briefings; events; and facilitating the development of joint papers, strategies and industry positions.