Polmans was appointed Vice Chair of TIACA in 2017, taking over as Chair in 2019 with Sanjiv Gadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation as Vice Chair.
In 2021, TIACA by-laws were changed so both Polmans and Gadhia could serve another two year term.
Polmans started a third term in 2023 with Roos Bakker, Manager Business Development and Contract Management at CTSN, and Emir Pineda, Director Marketing and Air Service Development Division at Miami International Airport as vice chairs.
The election of new vice chairs is underway.
The terms for the Chair and Vice Chairs will officially commence at the close of the TIACA Air Cargo Forum, which will be held in Abu Dhabi from 3-6 November 2025.
Polmans will remain on the TIACA Board when his time as Chair has finished.
Glyn Hughes, Director General of TIACA says that the association has been transformed under Polmans’ leadership with a significant growth in membership and the launch of industry programmes such as its Sustainability Insights, Roadmap, BlueSky Program, making the Air Cargo Forum an annual event and enhancing the awards portfolio.
He said: “Steven’s leadership has been instrumental in securing the success that TIACA is today and his dedication to improving the organisation has been inspirational. We now look forward to working with Roos as she steers TIACA to even higher levels of success.”
Polmans said: “It has been an absolute privilege to have been TIACA’s Chair for the past 6 years, working with some exceptional Vice Chairs, initially Sanjiv Ghadia, CEO Astral Aviation, who worked tirelessly with me as we implemented a transformation strategy and more recently with Roos and Emir as we launched several new initiatives.”
Bakker said: “This is an exciting time for air cargo with a number of challenges affecting global trade, supply chain safety, security and operational efficiency and we need TIACA to enhance its value to support the industry in achieving even greater success. I am very much looking forward to this opportunity.”