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LONDON: Qatar Airways boss Akbar Al-Baker courted controversy at this week’s International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting by saying his job as head of the airline could only be done by a man.
When the Qatar carrier’s outspoken Chief Executive was asked about the issue of gender equality in the airline industry and why his job could not be done by a woman, Al-Baker said: “Of course it has to be led by a man because it is a very challenging position.”
In typical Al-Baker fashion, it was not instantly clear if his answer was serious or a badly-timed joke.
His response comes at a time when the global aviation industry is under pressure to be more gender balanced, with equality a hot topic at the predominantly male-attended IATA AGM being held in Sydney June 3-5.
The comment came minutes after Al-Baker — who has a reputation for hitting out at rivals and suppliers over poor performance — had joked that one of his roles as the new chairman of IATA was to be less controversial.
Pressed further as to why being a woman was incompatible with holding the CEO position, Al-Baker said that he was “only referring to one individual” and “not to the staff in general.”
And, later during the IATA panel, Al-Baker may well have quelled some of the outrage when he said Qatar Airways was the first airline in the Middle East to hire female pilots and put women in senior roles.
He eventually went on to tell Bloomberg: “We actually encourage women. We see that they have huge potential in doing senior management positions.
“It will be my pleasure to have a female CEO candidate I could then develop to become CEO after me.”
It is not the first time Al-Baker has made outlandish remarks. During a spat with Delta Airlines CEO Richard Anderson, he called the American “unethical, unpatriotic and weak.”
And when Donald Trump signed a highly-controversial executive order known as the “Muslim Ban,” Al-Baker was quick to defend his “friend” Donald, saying: “We have been friends a long time. I think it is an exercise only to gain political mileage. Nothing more.