Perhaps the most interesting part of our time in Qatar last week was the power-hour we spent face-to-face with Qatar Airways CEO His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, the man that everyone at Qatar Airways calls “Chief.”
     As part of a major air cargo press gaggle at a 45-minute conference and then “an invited guest” for ten minutes of time in a small room with the Chief, we gained incredible insight into what makes QR Cargo great.
     There is no doubting Qatar Airways’ position today. At the top of the heap, QR Cargo is number three in freight ton kilometers flown according to the latest IATA figures.
     The Chief also exists within a small and unique band of airline leaders—boldly outspoken, passionate, and possessing of a sharp, contemporary mind that keeps up-to-date with everything regarding his airline.
     The fact that he was born in Doha and is a Muslim makes the story even more exciting.
     Imagine a local boy making good with his hometown airline, as we in America would say it.

     Akbar Al Baker seems to be everywhere at once. He is fluid up and down the line at the airline, out on the hustings meeting people and media at trade shows, attendant at high-level meetings, buying airplanes, and ruffling feathers and taking names.
     One might have thought some rock star was going to open the Qatar Cargo media event based on the buzz and air of excitement in the pressroom, with aides and other people scurrying about.
     Microphones were repeatedly adjusted, details of the press stage meticulously scrutinized—the top on the Chief’s bottle of water was even pre-twisted for him prior to his arrival.
     Al Baker took the stage and sat down with his colleagues to address the press. A short cargo film preceded his speaking.
     During the film the Chief stared straight ahead, expressionless, ruminating in thought.
     For a moment he looked like a prizefighter, a boxer awaiting his moment to jump into the ring.
     But when he spoke he carried the complete sense and purpose of the moment. The plan—the past and the future of air cargo at Qatar Airways—unfolded right in front of the room.
     It was a bravura performance with depth, clarity, and uncanny knowledge about our industry.

Charge This

     By now everybody has heard the charges and counter charges as the uproar continues over the emergence of the Gulf carrier’s impact on world markets.
     No doubt the controversy will continue, and for the 60 minutes we were with the Chief, both in public at the big press session and later at a small gathering of reporters, he often leaned into the dispute although few asked him about it.

Déjà vu All Over Again

     The airline business has occasionally given the world top executives that emerge larger than life.
     It was Eddie Rickenbacker at Eastern Airlines in the U.S., Freddie Laker of Laker Airways in UK, and Richard Branson at Virgin.
     Other colorful and outspoken pioneers of our industry that livened up the news by “telling it like it is” include Robert Crandall at American (he still does), Herb Kelleher at Southwest, and Michael O’Leary at Ryanair.
     Akbar Al Baker ignites in my memory the late, great Salim Salaam who led Middle East Airlines (MEA) through its “Battle for Survival” during the terrible Civil War era from 1975 to 1990. At the time The Times of London described MEA as “arguably the world's most resilient airline” for its ability to continue functioning through difficult situations, such as President Ronald Reagan’s attempt to blockade Beirut Airport in 1980.
     Qatar Airways has never been in the same boat MEA was in during that time, but Al Baker’s determination and total concentration reminded me of Salim some 25 years earlier in New York City, when we sat down and he talked to us about his airline.

The Chief & Air Cargo

     All else aside, it is the Chief’s hands-on knowledge, interest, and passion for the air cargo business that is most impressive.
     It is one thing to deliver a speech at an event.
     It is quite something else—and totally unique in my experience—to witness an airline CEO deftly fielding questions in a room full of cargo reporters.
     We later found out that the Chief is often in the cargo transfer facility, asking questions and looking things over.
     At the presser a reporter from Eastern Europe wondered what happened to the QR freighter that used to fly into a city.
     The Chief leaned toward QR Head of Cargo Uli Ogiermann and after a ten second mini-conference was able to not only recite what was driving QR’s decision to pull out the service, but also provide an up-to-the-minute update of the situation, adding:
     “We’ll be back.”
     Indeed, as the story unfolds, we hope to be back, too!
Geoffrey