Robert Isom, Chief Executive Officer of American Airlines Group and American Airlines, ranked No. 1 in the CEOWORLD magazine’s Best Airline CEOs for 2023. The 2023 rankings placed Ed Bastian, Chief Executive Officer at Delta Air Lines, in the second spot ahead of Scott Kirby, Chief Executive Officer at United Airlines (No. 3), Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive Officer at Lufthansa (No. 4), Bob Jordan, President and Chief Executive Officer at Southwest Airlines (No. 5), and Shinya Katanozaka Chairman All Nippon Airways ranked sixth in the world.
While Sean Doyle, Chief Executive Officer at British Airways, ranked seventh, and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Emirates Airline, eighth. Overall, among the top 10 Best Airline CEOs for 2023, the ninth and tenth positions are held by Robin Haye, CEO at JetBlue Airways and Tan Wan Geng, President and Chief Executive Officer at China Southern Airlines.
Best airline CEOs in the World for 2023
| Rank | CEO | Title | Airline | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Isom | Chief Executive Officer | American Airlines Group and American Airlines | US |
| 2 | Ed Bastian | Chief Executive Officer | Delta Air Lines | US |
| 3 | Scott Kirby | Chief Executive Officer | United Airlines | US |
| 4 | Carsten Spohr | Chief Executive Officer | Lufthansa | Germany |
| 5 | Bob Jordan | President and Chief Executive Officer | Southwest Airlines | US |
| 6 | Shinya Katanozaka | Chairman | All Nippon Airways | Japan |
| 7 | Sean Doyle | Chief Executive Officer | British Airways | UK |
| 8 | Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum | Chairman and Chief Executive | Emirates Airline | United Arab Emirates |
| 9 | Robin Haye | Chief Executive Officer | JetBlue Airways | US |
| 10 | Tan Wan Geng | President and Chief Executive Officer | China Southern Airlines | China |
| 11 | Akbar Al Baker | Chief Executive Officer | Qatar Airways | Qatar |
| 12 | Anne Rigail | Chief Executive Officer | Air France | France |
| 13 | Shing-Hwang Kao | President | China Airlines | Taiwan |
| 14 | Li Yangmin | President and Vice Chairman | China Eastern Airlines | China |
| 15 | Ben Minicucci | Chief Executive Officer | Alaska Air | US |
| 16 | Marjan E.F. Rintel | President and CEO | KLM Royal Dutch Airlines | Netherlands |
| 17 | Goh Choon Phong | Chief Executive Officer | Singapore Airlines | Singapore |
| 18 | Antonoaldo Neves | Group Chief Executive Officer | Etihad Airways | United Arab Emirates |
| 19 | AKASAKA Yuji | President and Chief Executive Officer | Japan Airlines | Japan |
| 20 | Ibrahim Koshy | Chief Executive Officer | Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) | Saudi Arabia |
| 21 | Ronald Lam | Group Chief Executive Officer | Cathay Pacific Airways | Hong Kong |
| 22 | Sun Chia-Ming | President | EVA Airways | Taiwan |
| 23 | Michael O’Leary | Group Chief Executive Officer | Ryanair | Ireland |
| 24 | Javier SÁNCHEZ-PRIETO | Chairman and CEO | Iberia (airline) | Spain |
| 25 | Bilal Ekşi | Chief Executive Officer | Turkish Airlines | Turkey |
| 26 | Johan Lundgren | Chief Executive Officer | EasyJet | UK |
| 27 | Shai Weiss | Chief Executive Officer | Virgin Atlantic | UK |
| 28 | Greg Foran | Chief Executive Officer | Air New Zealand | New Zealand |
| 29 | TOPI MANNER | Chief Executive Officer | Finnair | Finland |
| 30 | Jayne Hrdlicka | Chief Executive Officer | Virgin Australia | Australia |
| 31 | Peter Ingram | President and Chief Executive Officer | Hawaiian Airlines | US |
| 32 | Tony Fernandes | Chief Executive Officer | AirAsia | Malaysia |
| 33 | Pieter Elbers | Chief Executive Officer | IndiGo | India |
| 34 | Michael Rousseau | President and Chief Executive Officer | Air Canada | Canada |
| 35 | Sergei Aleksandrovsky | Chief Executive Officer | Aeroflot – Russian Airlines | Russia |
| 36 | Marco Sansavini | Chief Executive Officer | Vueling | Spain |
| 37 | Ted Christie | President and Chief Executive Officer | Spirit Airlines | US |
| 38 | Alan Joyce | Chief Executive Officer | Qantas Airways | Australia |
| 39 | Cho Won-Tae | Chairman and CEO | Korean Air Lines | South Korea |
| 40 | Roberto Alvo | Chief Executive Officer | LATAM Airlines | Chile |
| 41 | John Peter Rodgerson | Chief Executive Officer | Azul Linhas | Brazil |
| 42 | Zhao Dong | Chairman | Xiamen Air | China |
| 43 | Andres Conesa Labastida | Chief Executive Officer | Aeroméxico | Mexico |
| 44 | Güliz ÖZTÜRK | President & General Manager (CEO) | Pegasus Airlines (Flypgs) | Turkey |
| 45 | Alexis von Hoensbroech | Chief Executive Officer | WestJet | Canada |
| 46 | Steve Heapy | Chief Executive Officer | Jet2 | UK |
| 47 | CHAI EAMSIRI | Chief Executive Officer | Thai Airways | Thailand |
| 48 | Dieter Vranckx | Chief Executive Officer | Swiss International (SWISS) | Switzerland |
| 49 | Lynne Embleton | Chief Executive Officer | Aer Lingus | Ireland |
| 50 | Michał Fijoł | President and Chief Executive Officer | LOT Polish Airlines | Poland |
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