Flybe CEO Christine Ourmieres-Widener Named To The Board As Its Only Woman Member

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker (pictured), has assumed his duties as Chairman of the IATA Board of Governors (BoG) for a one-year term effective from the conclusion of the 74th IATA Annual General Meeting in Sydney, Australia. Al Baker is the 77th chair of the IATA BoG and the first CEO from Qatar Airways to hold the position. He has served on the BoG since 2012. He succeeds Goh Choon Phong, CEO of Singapore Airlines.

"I am delighted to be here in Sydney and honored to be leading the IATA Board of Governors as Chairman for the year ahead," said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker. "To be nominated to such a prestigious leadership position in the industry is a great honor, made all the more pertinent in the difficult circumstances in which Qatar Airways currently operates.

“I look forward to continuing my work in the coming year for our great aviation industry, connecting safely the peoples of the world, a sector which will only continue to grow in the years ahead, and one in which I am most proud to work and represent one of the world leading airlines.”

Al-Baker was named Qatar Airways’ Group Chief Executive in 1997. In this position, Al Baker has spearheaded the growth of Qatar Airways from a small regional carrier into a major global. He was president of the 70th AGM which was held in Doha in 2014.

“I want to thank Goh Choon Phong for his strong support and leadership over the past year. He has led major changes in IATA’s governance that will enable the association to work even more closely with its members. Under his leadership the industry approved a major modernization of our settlement systems, and made excellent progress on transformative initiatives such as New Distribution Capability and ONE Order. Choon Phong’s insights were particularly helpful as we contended with the PEDs ban and growing infrastructure capacity shortfalls in key regions, while also working with governments to prepare for the arrival of the historic CORSIA program to help airlines manage their future emissions growth,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

“I am confident that Akbar will be a strong voice on behalf of the Business of Freedom in the face of growing challenges including creeping re-regulation and a movement away from open borders and toward trade protectionism and restrictions on the free movement of people. I look forward to working with him on these and other key industry issues,” said de Juniac.

IATA also announced that Carsten Spohr, Chairman and CEO of Lufthansa, will serve as Chairman of the BoG from June 2019, following Al Baker’s term.

The board also appointed Flybe CEO Christine Ourmieres-Widener to the board, making her the only woman to sit on the 31-member panel, according to a report form Buying Business Travel.

She is a former vice president and current board member at the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) and was appointed to IATA’s board in an interim role in April 2017 following the departure of Fernando Pinto, CEO of TAP.

She is one of only a handful of female airline CEOs and is an advocate for encouraging women to work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) roles, as well as senior corporate positions.

(Source: IATA news release)

FMI: www.iata.org