The sky is the limit for LIAT 2020 CEO Hafsah Abdulsalam

SOURCE: Trinidad & Tobago Guardian: A new airline with a familiar name, LIAT 2020 is a locally incorporated company owned by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and Air Peace Caribbean.

Not to be confused with LIAT 1974, LIAT 2020 takes to the skies under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Hafsah Abdulsalam, a well-seasoned expert in the aviation industry dedicated to distinguishing LIAT 2020 as a standout airline in the region and creating ease for intra- and inter-regional travel. Abdulsalam, a British resident of Nigerian heritage now residing in Antigua and Barbuda, has always dreamed of a life of travel. Schooled both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom up to the MBA level, she began her career in the aviation industry as a call centre supervisor in the customer service department of Virgin Atlantic.

Following the completion of her Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Planning, she saw an advertisement for a job at the call centre, and although she intended to pursue geography, she decided to give Virgin Atlantic a try.
“Growing up, we travelled a lot,” she says, “and I knew I wanted to be in a job that took me places, so when I was offered the job at Virgin, I took it. I didn’t necessarily have lofty ideals of a career in the industry at that time.”

Abdulsalam would never return to geography, instead pursuing a career trajectory where she has “seen all the different layers and flavours in aviation, from customer service to airline sales to commercial systems, organisation, and training.”

Following her years at Virgin Atlantic, she went onto a job in luxury travel management at TUI—perhaps a foreshadowing of her eventual residence in the region—where she sold the Caribbean as a luxury destination.

She was then headhunted by AJW Group, an independent component parts, repair, and supply chain solutions provider for commercial and business aviation. There, she delved into the backend of aviation, under the core mandate to ensure airlines had aircraft safely and consistently flying.

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By 2020, Abdulsalam had risen in the ranks throughout her ten years as the Group Sales and Commercial Director, managing the accounts of some of the most well-known airlines in the world, such as Delta and Air Canada.

“In 2020, COVID forced me to stop. I could hear myself think,” Abdulsalam said. She had been ruminating on her next move and finally had the opportunity during the less frenzied time of COVID to gain clarity on the next step. She left AJW Group and set up her own consulting firm that focused on supporting the development of African airlines.

“As a Nigerian,” she says, “I have always had a soft spot for African airlines, and in my travels I picked up on the need for the facilitation of their improvement of operational delivery.”

As a consultant, she then began working on a project where she developed a business plan and led the negotiations for the joint venture between the Government of Antigua & Barbuda and Air Peace Caribbean—which would eventually become LIAT 2020. When the negotiations were complete, the shareholders asked Abdulsalam to stay on and run the airline as the CEO.

“It was a difficult decision,” she shares, “as I already made the move to start up my own business and was then being called on a leadership role for a company.” After much thought, she decided to take on the role and left her company in the capable hands of her business partner.

Now an honorary Caribbean resident, she has relished in the challenge of finding her footing in a world that bears many similarities but also differences to the one she is accustomed to. “I’ve always had to deal with nationalities across the world and worked all my life in multicultural spaces.”

As she is both Nigerian and British, she has found various ways of aligning with the Caribbean culture and work environment. She relishes the “less frenetic work life” that she can enjoy, spending her weekends in nature, reading, and relaxing. Although she sheepishly admitted that she has not yet fully grasped the opportunity to see as many of Antigua’s 365 beaches as she would like, she still “loves what Antigua has to offer, how green it is.” It keeps her grounded, she said.

Abdulsalam’s admirable work ethic has been her steady compass in navigating the male-dominated space of the aviation industry. Simply saying that she just “gets the job done,” she has always made a point to focus on quality and efficiency in delivering her projects, understanding all facets of the subject matter that she deals with so she can both speak and execute with confidence. “I don’t like people telling me off,” she laughs, “so I make sure I do the job to the best of my ability.”

Her advice to women in similarly male-dominated professional spaces is to set clear goals and work towards those goals in a structured manner, armed with resilience and not shying away from hard work, which eventually garners respect. Even as a leading woman in the aviation industry, she empathises with the perennial female struggle of balancing family life and careers.

“Although people say it’s easy and you can do it, having two children of my own, I had to make sacrifices and difficult decisions,” she says.

But she encourages women and mothers not to be critical of themselves while looking at other women who may spend more time with their children, but instead focus on giving themselves grace.

She also encourages men to support their partners and credits the support of her husband, whom she describes as “my biggest cheerleader, always challenging me to reach my goals.”

He is a major driver in her career’s success. The sky is the limit for Hafsah Abdulsalam. With the inaugural flight of LIAT 2020 in August 2024, she has begun to find her footing in bringing our region closer together.

Describing LIAT 2020 not as an evolution or transition from LIAT 1974 but as an entirely new entity, she said this airline “will be an entirely different culture,” with her visionary and transformational leadership. A self-proclaimed “quiet and shy person,” she stands firmly planted at the helm of the aviation industry, blazing the trail for greater exploration of the Caribbean.

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