Qatar exec departure could clear the air for fresh landing rights bid
Qatar Airways’ outgoing chief executive is no stranger to controversy, having built the airline into a globally significant force during his lengthy tenure.
Qatar Airways’ outspoken chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, will leave the airline after 27 years, sparking hopes that his replacement could strike a more conciliatory tone in Canberra.
Badr Mohammed Al-Meer was named as Mr Al Baker’s successor from November 5.
Fabrice Bregier, CEO of Airbus, left, and Akbar Al Baker, head of Qatar Airways, sit in the economy-class cabin. Bloomberg
During Mr Al Baker’s nearly three-decade stint, the Middle Eastern airline became one of the fastest-growing carriers globally. But Mr Al Baker made a number of enemies among other airlines, manufacturers and governments.
Earlier this year, Qatar Airways settled a $2 billion dispute with aircraft manufacturer Airbus over damage to the surfaces of long-haul planes.
And former American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, who will stand for election to the Qantas board next Friday, opposed Qatar Airways’ plan to snare a stake in the United States carrier in 2017.
At that time, Mr Parker claimed the three biggest Persian Gulf operators – including Qantas’ partner Emirates and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways – had gained an unfair advantage through their deep-pocketed sovereign backers.
Mr Al Baker earned condemnation after he called US flight attendants “grandmothers”, comments for which he later apologised unreservedly.
Mr Al Baker also criticised Sydney Airport’s curfew in 2012, when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was transport minister.
Mr Albanese responded by telling Mr Al Baker that Qatar Airways was free to fly to airports other than Sydney, sentiment that he repeated after the Labor government sensationally blocked a bid for the airline to add extra services to Australian cities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar Airways under Mr Al Baker expanded while other airlines shrank. It ran repatriation flights, including for Australia, as a means of keeping its operations viable and ready to strike when aviation schedules recovered.
But in July, Qatar’s request to add further daily services into Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane, or 28 flights a week, was rebuffed by Transport Minister Catherine King.
Ms King’s failure to properly explain the reasons for this rejection, at a time of high airfares and rising complaints about home-grown carrier Qantas, prompted a Senate inquiry last month. The inquiry called for the decision to be re-examined.
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