Airforwarders Association Appoints Airlink Founder Steve Smith as Executive Director

## Airforwarders Association Names Steve Smith as New Executive Director The Airforwarders Association has appointed Steve Smith, the founder of humanitarian air logistics organisation Airlink, as its new executive director, according to FreightWaves. Smith will be based in Washington, where the association maintains its headquarters. Smith brings a distinctive profile to the role, having built Airlink into a recognised force in disaster response logistics — an organisation that coordinates air transport capacity to deliver humanitarian aid in the wake of crises around the world. His experience bridging commercial aviation assets with urgent, mission-critical freight operations is expected to inform his leadership of the trade association. The Airforwarders Association represents air freight forwarders and the broader air cargo industry in the United States, advocating on regulatory, legislative, and operational matters affecting its members. The appointment of a leader with Smith's humanitarian logistics credentials signals a potential emphasis on the sector's broader societal role, alongside its commercial interests. While the appointment originates in the air freight sector, it carries relevance for the wider freight and logistics community, including maritime professionals involved in multimodal supply chains. Air and sea freight are increasingly interconnected, with forwarders routinely managing cargo transitions between ocean and air modes depending on urgency, cost, and capacity constraints. Further details on Smith's strategic priorities for the association are expected to be outlined following his formal assumption of the role. *Source: FreightWaves*