This airline’s CEO said a woman couldn’t handle his “very challenging” job, and WTF?
Sometimes it feels like for every step forward we take towards gender equality, we also take one step back. Sexism is still alive and well in this world, and it affects women in the workplace all too often. Case in point, the (male) CEO of Qatar Airways recently said that his position is too difficult for a woman.
HuffPost reported that yesterday, June 4th, at the International Air Transportation Association’s (IATA) annual conference, Akbar Al Baker stunned the crowd when answering a question about the lack of women in high-powered roles in airlines, especially in the Middle East. Al Baker initially dismissed the question, claiming that gender inequality was not an issue for Qatar Airways.
The reporter probed further, asking, “Well, certainly it’s being run by a man?”
"Of course it has to be led by a man. Because it is a very challenging position," Al Baker responded, eliciting gasps from attendees.
Al Baker tried to backpedal, telling Bloomberg after the news conference that he “was only referring to one individual” and not “the staff in general.” He continued the interview with Bloomberg by noting that 44% of Qatar Airways’ employees are women, some of them pilots and vice presidents. Al Baker also reiterated that there is no gender inequality at the company. He even stated that he would be happy to “have a female CEO candidate I could then develop to become CEO after me.”
The CEO of Qatar Airways says only men can do his job https://t.co/HY6EOVX9PT pic.twitter.com/8sb1Ekl6FG
— Bloomberg (@business) June 5, 2018
Later, in a statement issued by the company, Al Baker attempted to write his sexist comment off as a joke.
"While I am known in the media for some lightheartedness at press conferences, it is crucial that I emphasize the facts as I did today and the importance of women representatives in the airline industry," the Qatar Airways statement read.
Even if Al Baker’s comments were genuinely a (distasteful) joke, gender disparity remains a huge problem among airlines. According to The Guardian, there are only two women on IATA’s 31-person board of governors (of which Al Baker is now chairman), and just 3% of airlines have female CEOs. Fortune reported in 2017 that 6.4% of all CEOs were women.
AHEM:
1. Mary Barra: CEO of General Motors, $145.6 billion (revenue)
2. Gail Boudreaux: CEO of Anthem, $89.1B
3. Ginni Rometty: CEO of IBM, $79.1B
4. Indra Nooyi: CEO of PepsiCo, $63.5B
5. Marillyn Hewson: CEO of Lockheed Martin, $51.0BQatar Airways: $10.6 B…….. k.
— blocké (@bflkldn) June 5, 2018
Let’s be clear: Gender does not affect your ability to do a good job, and we sincerely hope that Al Baker will refrain from “joking” about female CEOs ever again.
