Robert Donald

Robert has extensive experience in the areas of international aviation, national and international commercial transactions, litigation and competition law, gained through both private practice and his role as in-house counsel.

Robert is the former General Counsel of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and spent 10 years with the IATA legal departments in Geneva and Montréal.

As the Chief Legal Officer of IATA, Robert was responsible for the legal affairs of the corporation and its subsidiaries in over 80 countries. He acted as legal advisor to the Aviation Conferences, he was the Secretary of the IATA Legal Committee and led numerous industry task forces including those which developed the legal framework to implement "E ticketing," and the task force responsible for ensuring IATA resolutions and recommended practices reflected the changes to the competition laws in the European Union.

Robert was a delegate to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Diplomatic Conference, which adopted the Montréal Convention of 1999, as well as the Legal Committee meetings which preceded it.

He was IATA's chief delegate at the ICAO Legal Committee meetings on Modernization of the Rome Convention and was appointed by ICAO to the Experts Study Group.

He was also a delegate to the Panel of Legal and Technical Experts on GNSS (Global Navigation and Satellite Systems) and to ICAO/UNIDROIT meetings on the Cape Town Convention.

Robert has also practised at national law firms in both Calgary and Montréal, focusing on aviation and corporate/commercial law and litigation.