Nicholas Calio

Nicholas E. Calio (born 10 January 1953) is the President and CEO of Airlines for America and former Executive Vice-President for Global Government Affairs at Citigroup. He was responsible for government relations for Citigroup and all of its subsidiaries.

He worked as President George H. W. Bush's Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs. In this role, he worked with members of Congress to draft and pass legislation. He also held the same position under George W. Bush. Calio co-founded the lobbying firm O'Brien Calio in 1993. In 1998, he was named one of the ten most powerful lobbyists in Washington. Prior to this, he had served as the Vice-President of The Duberstein Group and as the Senior Vice-President of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. In 2002, Calio was a member of the White House Iraq Group.

Nick Calio became president of the Air Transport Association (as Airlines for America was then known), in January 2011. Calio was hired after the Republicans made big gains in the 2010 midterm elections. Hiring Calio, "a brand-name Republican," known for working well with Democrats, was seen as a positive for the ATA. Democratic lobbyist Jimmy Ryan said: "He’s so well liked by both Democrats and Republicans that for the ATA it’s a huge coup. The new challenge is figuring out how to get things done in a bipartisan manner and Nick is the guy who’s got the record to do it.” U.S. Senator Harry Reid said, "...Nick was a straight shooter and I appreciated that about him when he was at the White House. The ATA is fortunate to have a seasoned hand who understands the importance of finding bipartisan solutions.”

Calio was Citigroup's head of government relations. During Calio's seven years at Citigroup he expanded the firms government relations staff from two Washington-based lobbyists to 18 people working in 12 countries. Calio also managed Citi's legislative strategy during the debate over financial reforms that eventually produced Dodd-Frank. Calio mentioned that the financial crisis showed the value of personal relationships. He said, "Over the course of your career, treat people well, make sure they trust you and you’ll have a better platform to work on issues even in a very sour environment."

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