L. Welch Pogue Award Dinner
The prestigious annual L. Welch Pogue Award for lifetime achievement in aviation will be presented to CEO of Airlines for America (A4A) Nicholas E. Calio, on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.
Nicholas E. Calio joins a long line of preeminent L. Welch Pogue Award winners who have helped shape modern international commercial air transportation.
The L. Welch Pogue Award is jointly presented by the International Aviation Club and Aviation Week Network.
Schedule of Events
5:15 p.m. -- Reception
6:30 p.m. -- Call to Dinner
6:45 p.m. -- Dinner and Presentations
Nicholas E. Calio has been president and CEO of Airlines for America (A4A) 
since 2011, leading the trade association which represents the major U.S. passenger and cargo airlines and advocates for safety, security and customer service. The industry drives five percent of U.S. GDP and supports 10 million U.S. jobs while transporting 2.7 million passengers and 61,000 tons of cargo daily.
Under Calio, A4A rebranded and refocused on shaping policy by building consensus and working collaboratively with industry, labor, Congress, the executive branch, federal agencies, foreign governments and other groups.
He has been and remains a staunch advocate for innovation and modernization of the air traffic control (ATC) system in the U.S., imploring Congress to pass an emergency funding package to make the fundamental changes and investments necessary to address the controller shortage and outdated ATC technology while providing predictability and stability for future funding.
Additionally, he has led multiple FAA reauthorization negotiations and was instrumental in avoiding total crisis during the 2022 5G C-Band implementation in the U.S.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Calio’s leadership helped save the industry from ruin, as A4A worked closely with Congress and an industry coalition to create the Payroll Support Program, securing nearly $60 billion that kept airline employees on the job, trained and certified. Simultaneously, Calio partnered with Harvard’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and the T.H. Chan School of Public Health to implement a robust, multi-layered strategy to effectively reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 during air travel and restore confidence in the flying public which eventually led to the reopening of key markets and destinations, both domestically and internationally.
On the international stage, Calio has successfully spearheaded A4A’s opposition to market access restrictions, onerous taxation and unnecessary, over-burdensome regulations that would negatively impact U.S. airlines’ global competitiveness.
Previously, Calio was Citigroup’s executive vice president for global government affairs and a member of its senior leadership committee. Calio served President George W. Bush as Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs and held the same position during the George H.W. Bush Administration. Between the two administrations, Calio was a partner at O’Brien*Calio, a law and lobbying firm he co-founded in 1993.
In 2024, the Hermes Air Transport Organisation’s Katerina and George Iatrou Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Calio for his contributions to the global airline industry, and he received ATCA’s Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award for his lifelong contributions to advocacy and his work on behalf of the U.S. aviation industry. Vaughn College honored Calio in 2023 for his leadership to save the industry during the pandemic. He has also received the Fund for American Studies Business Leadership Award; the Excellence in Business Award from the Sons of Italy Foundation; and the People Who Move America Award from the Boy Scouts of America.
Calio graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, where he is currently the Board of Trustees Chair, and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He is a Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce trustee, a previous chairman of Heart’s Delight (American Heart Association) and a former Bryce Harlow Foundation Board member.
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Registration will open at 5:00 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:45 p.m.
Space is limited. Advance registrations are strongly encouraged.
Please let us know if you have special dietary needs by September 2. Requests received after this date are not guaranteed to be accommodated.
Guest names for name tags, recommendations to the Club for government invitees, and other questions should be sent to info@iacwashington.org.
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