Qatar Airways has been in the news in India in recent days. The reason for this is not related to new flight routes or its in-flight service.
Rightwing activists in India have circulated calls to boycott the national carrier of Qatar after the country summoned the Indian ambassador over comments made by BJP spokespersons about Prophet Muhammad.
Social media users on both sides of the ideological divide argued over calls to boycott Qatar Airways. A spoof video featuring Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker went viral. In the video, the voice of Al Baker is digitally altered to poke fun at those calling for a boycott of Qatar Airways.
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Al Baker has an old connection with India, dating from his family's business dealing in rice, spices and other items.
In the 1960s, Al Baker studied at the St Peter's Boys School in Panchgani, a hill station near Mumbai. Later on, Al Baker went on to pursue his graduation at Mumbai's prestigious Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics.
According to Forbes India, his parents brought him an apartment in the Cuffe Parade area near the college. In a profile of Qatar Airways in 2016, Forbes India quoted Al Baker as saying “I always feel good going to India... I have a lot of friends who are industrialists, and your prime minister [referring to Narendra Modi], whom I admire very much.” In 2017, Al Baker described Modi as a “futuristic” PM, whose reforms could pave the way for 100 per cent foreign ownership of a domestic carrier.
Role in rise of Qatar Airways
Akbar Al Baker is considered one of the most reputed executives in the aviation sector. In the initial years after its launch in 1994, Qatar Airways was known as a small regional carrier, predominantly serving routes in the larger Persian Gulf.
Akbar Al Baker took over as its chief executive officer in 1997 and oversaw a transformation of the carrier. Al Baker is credited with both expanding the airline's operations and enhancing its service quality. Under his tenure, Qatar Airways has won 'Airline of the Year' and 'Best Business Class in the World' awards multiple times in the past decade, based on rankings of Skytrax World Airline Audit.
Under Al Baker's tenure, Qatar Airways has grown to have a fleet of 233 aircraft (108 Airbus, 97 Boeing and 28 cargo aircraft), according to a company fact sheet from April.
Qatar Airways currently serves about 150 destinations, a drop from its pre-Covid-era figure of over 170 destinations. Qatar Airways has been known for its aggressive pricing and innovative use of the 'hub and spoke' model for long-distance travel from Asia or Africa to Europe, the Americas and Australia via Doha.
While the rise of Qatar Airways has been parallel to the rise of the small Gulf emirate as a hub of commerce, Al Baker's reputation as a tough manager and negotiator has helped the airline.
“He [Al Baker] doesn’t care much about his popularity ratings and doesn’t indulge in superficial congeniality. With him you get what’s in his mind. There are no pretensions. He drives himself and his people hard. But those who can handle the stress swear by him,” Amber Dubey, an aviation expert, told Forbes India in 2016.
Al Baker is famous for arguing that the 'three class' (first, business, economy) model adopted by airlines was unviable. Qatar Airways started doing away with first class on numerous routes over a decade ago, noting low demand.
And despite his sentimental attachment to India, Al Baker has been tough on the issue of bilateral flying rights and access to more routes in India.
