Qatar Airways boss savages IATA
Monday, 08 Jun, 2011
0
Qatar Airways’ chief exec has attacked airline industry body IATA, saying it is “run for the few, by the few”.
Akbar Al Baker blasted the organisation during a session at the IATA AGM in Singapore, saying it failed to be adequately transparent in its processes.
He called into question the auditing process for IATA’s 2010 financial statement and highlighted some of IATA’s expenditure including US$18 million on travel, US$58 million on data processing and IT and US $29 million on outsourcing and consultancy.
He asked how the organisation could justify such large sums of money on travel and how they went about awarding contracts to data processing and IT companies.
Al Baker went on to question the surprise board nomination of Etihad chief executive James Hogan to broaden the representation of carriers from the Middle East.
“We believe such issues should not be surprises," he said.
Firstly, such decisions should be transparent and secondly, if geographical representation is the basis of the composition of the board, the regional airlines involved should be informed in advance of their regional allotments so that they can coordinate who should represent them.”
Al Baker backed a motion for the body to reconsider the appointment of its auditors and asked for better dialogue between IATA and airlines to ensure better transparency.
by Dinah Hatch
Dinah
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Clearing CSS/JS assets' cache... Please wait until this notice disappears...
Updating... Please wait...
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025