Airlines for America

Airlines for America (A4A), formerly known as Air Transport Association of America (ATA), is an American trade association and lobbying group based in Washington, D.C. that represents major North American airlines since 1936.

The A4A is frequently involved in US government decisions regarding the aviation industry including the creation of the Civil Aeronautics Board, establishment of the air traffic control system and airline deregulation. In its lobbying efforts, A4A publicly promotes the air transport as safe and efficient, and it advocates for favorable regulations on taxation, competition, and environmental standards.

Since 1956, the A4A has been responsible for publishing numerical technical classifications and defining specifications for electronic technical data interchange of aircraft systems and sub-systems used in aircraft engineering and aircraft maintenance. These are grouped into 100 Chapters, referred to by civil aviation standards as spec 100, containing the data specifications for maintenance requirements and procedures, aircraft configuration control, and flight operations. In 2000, ATA incorporated earlier specifications into spec 2100 and eventually ATA iSpec 2200 as Information Standards for Aviation Maintenance. In that publication, the ATA described iSpec 2200 as "a global aviation industry standard for the content, structure, and electronic exchange of aircraft engineering, maintenance, and flight operations information".