Qatar Airways issues apology after CEO says women can't take on his 'challenging' job

33 per cent of Qatar Airways employees are women

The CEO of Qatar Airways has courted controversy by claiming that a woman would be incapable of doing his job.

Questioned over gender disparity within the aviation industry in the Middle East, Akbar Al Baker, who sits on the board of Heathrow airport and is the new head of industry body the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said only a man could be in his “very challenging” role.

“Of course it has to be led by a man, because it is a very challenging position,” he told a press conference in Sydney.

This comment was met by groans at the press conference for the annual meeting of the IATA.

Today it was announced that Al Baker had been chosen as the 77th chair of the IATA Board of Governors, a role that he will assume for a year.

Following the negative response, Al Baker later backtracked on his comments about women within Qatar Airways.

“I was only referring to one individual, I was not referring to the staff in general,” he clarified. “You know we have more than 33 per cent that are female in Qatar Airways.”

He went on to state that his airline introduced female pilots and engineers fairly early on and that the Qatar Airways training programme consists of more women than men.

“There is no gender inequality in Qatar Airways or in my country,” he said. “It will be my pleasure to have a female CEO candidate that I could develop to become CEO after me.”

Al Baker has since issued an apology for the comments that he made, as outlined in a statement provided to The Independent:

"I would like to offer my heartfelt apologies for any offence caused by my comment yesterday, which runs counter to my track record of expanding the role of women in leadership throughout the Qatar Airways Group and has been sensationalised by the media," he said.

"Women comprise almost half (44 per cent) of our work force, and the dedication, drive and skill they bring to their jobs tells me that no role is too tough for them, at all levels of the organisation.

"Qatar Airways firmly believes in gender equality in the workplace and our airline has been a pioneer in our region in this regard, as the first airline to employ female pilots, as one of the first to train and employ female engineers, and with females represented through to senior vice president positions within the airline reporting directly to me.

"Qatar Airways is made stronger by its female employees for whom I hold nothing but the highest regard. I support all IATA initiatives to promote the advancement of women in our industry, and I am a strong advocate for these and will continue to be moving forward."

As part of the 74th IATA annual general meeting, which took place on 3-5 June, a 20-minute interview about the importance of gender equality in aviation was conducted with Mandi Samson, acting managing director of Air Namibia, and Mylene Scholnick, principal of consulting firm ICF.

In April, a report published by Ryanair revealed that there was a 67 per cent pay gap between its male and female employees.