Controversial Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker to leave next month after 27 years

Weeks after Alan Joyce’s early exit from Qantas, international aviation is set to lose another of its most colourful characters with Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker taking off.

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka (centre) with Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker at the 2022 IATA summit in Doha. Picture: IATA

Weeks after Alan Joyce’s early exit from Qantas, the outspoken chief of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, will step down from the role after 27 years on November 5.

Qatar Airways announced Mr Al Baker’s retirement on Monday night, adding he would be succeeded by the current chief operating officer of Hamad International Airport, Badr Mohammed al-Meer.

Mr Al Baker was also removed as chairman of Qatar’s tourism authority, with no reason given for the decision.

In a short statement, Qatar Airways said under his leadership the airline had “grown to become one of the most recognisable and trusted brands globally, synonymous with customer service quality and the highest standards”.

“The national carrier of the state of Qatar has achieved an unprecedented seven-times win of the world’s best airline award, and its state of the art Hamad International Airport which is under its management and operation has been recognised as the world’s best airport,” said the statement.

A Qatar Airways’ A350 takes off from Toulouse. Picture: Pascal Pavani/AFP

In his time as Qatar Airways CEO, Mr Al Baker became known for making controversial comments including a suggestion that women could not run airlines, calling American airlines “crap”, adding that their passengers were served by grandmothers.

Employment policies such as sacking flight attendants at 35-years of age, or if they fell pregnant were eventually scrapped at Qatar Airways, but curfews still exist for young cabin crew.

During a visit to Australia, Mr Al Baker declared Qatar did not want backpackers who just lay on the beach and spent no money, but assured women they could wear swimsuits in public.

More recently, Qatar Airways signed a partnership with Virgin Australia, only to have Mr Al Baker tell an international forum that Qantas was his first choice.

Sharing a stage with Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka at the 2022 International Air Transport Association summit in Doha, Mr Al Baker said he never expected to partner with Virgin.

“Jayne is new there. I’m sure she’s very experienced in aviation. Anyway, she was ex-Jetstar and we found this a fantastic opportunity,” he said.

In recent years, Mr Al Baker publicly clashed with Airbus over issues with peeling paint on A350 aircraft before reaching an out-of-court settlement.

He did not front a Senate inquiry into bilateral air rights that examined the Albanese government’s decision to deny Qatar Airways an extra 28 flights a week into Australia.

The department of infrastructure and transport has since indicated it will meet with the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority about its request for a review of the decision.

Mr Al Baker’s retirement comes after the exit of Mr Joyce, who brought forward his departure from November, to allow the “renewal” process to begin.