Christopher T. Sununu
September 12, 2025
Christopher T. Sununu became the President & CEO of Airlines for America (A4A)—the trade association for the leading U.S. airlines, both passenger and cargo carriers—in September 2025.
In that position, he leads the association’s advocacy, including efforts to ensure that aviation remains the safest mode of transportation, especially at this time of record air travel and increased reliance on cargo shipments. As such, he works with Congress, the executive branch and relevant federal agencies, notably the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Sununu collaborates with groups across the industry (airlines, manufacturers, labor and others) to forge consensus on issues of mutual concern, such as efforts to fully modernize the nation’s air traffic control (ATC) system, get ATC facilities fully staffed and ensure the FAA has predictable and stable funding. He also guides the association’s work at the state and local levels as well as on the international stage.
Prior to joining A4A, he served four terms as the 82nd governor of New Hampshire, recognized as a national leader in his commonsense approach to government and balanced navigation of policy issues that impacted the state’s residents.
Under Governor Sununu’s leadership, New Hampshire was rated as one of the best states for business and growth in the United States. Specifically, it was ranked number one for both personal and economic freedoms and as the state for best return on taxpayer investment, making it the most efficient state government out of all 50 states.
During the COVID pandemic, he took a balanced approach: maintaining the health and safety of Granite Staters as top priority while keeping the state’s economy strong. As a result, New Hampshire ranked among the safest states for Covid yet maintained one of the strongest economies in the country; it was the only state in America that saw more business startups than company closures in 2020.
At the conclusion of his tenure in office, the Granite State was the fastest growing state in the Northeast, had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation and had the lowest child poverty rate of any state in America.
As an environmental engineer, Sununu worked for ten years cleaning up hazardous waste sites across the country before moving into business and real estate consulting with his family’s business, Sununu Enterprises. There he dedicated four years to business plan development, financial modeling, startup financing and commercial real estate development primarily in the hotel and leisure sector.
Sununu grew up in Salem, New Hampshire, and completed a five-month through-hike of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. He earned a BS in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.).