Al-Baker with Iata director general and CEO Tony Tyler in Beijing

Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar al-Baker has been voted onto the board of governors of the global aviation industry body, International Air Transport Association (Iata). Al-Baker was selected by fellow airline executives attending Iata’s annual World Air Transport Summit in Beijing. His is a newly-created position to increase representation for Middle East carriers on the revamped 10-member Iata board.
Iata is an international trade body, created more than 60 years ago by a group of airlines. Today it represents the interests of over 240 airlines comprising around 85% of total air traffic.
Last year at the Iata summit in Singapore, al-Baker was vocal about the structure of Iata, its lack of transparency and questionable auditing processes.
He had also highlighted the lack of fair and equal representation of airlines from the Middle East on Iata’s board.
“I have been lobbying Iata to be more transparent and have a structure where it speaks on behalf of all airline members and not just for a few,” said al-Baker, speaking in China’s capital city.
“The old guard at Iata is gone and I am delighted to have been voted onto the board of governors and assure Iata members, both in my region and around the world that I will do my utmost to serve in the interests of the airline industry as a whole.”
“I am delighted that Iata, now under a new leadership, has understood my concerns and acted accordingly to reflect the demands for greater transparency and improved membership representation on the Iata board,” al-Baker added.