IATA was founded in 1945 in Havana, Cuba with 57 founding members from 31 nations. It represents, leads, and serves 290 airlines from over 115 countries carrying 84% of global air traffic. IATA works to promote aviation safety and efficiency standards, reduce costs for airlines, and ensure smooth air travel worldwide. Its goals for the future include achieving zero accidents, reducing aviation's carbon footprint and delays, increasing profitability and customer satisfaction, and finding sustainable aviation fuels by 2050.