Doha
SITA, global IT business solutions provider for the air transport industry, must clean up its act and concentrate on serving the industry, said Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways chief executive, at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meet in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday.
“We [must] make sure that SITA is owned by airlines and are serving the airlines properly and that individuals who are not in the industry should not occupy board membership,” he told reporters.
Tuesday’s outburst followed comments from the Qatar Airways chief and other airline executives on Monday urging reform at SITA.
“People should know that they are accountable and that they should not be doing management changes that are in personal interest of certain individuals,” Al Baker said.
The SITA Chair, Paul Coby, has announced the organisation’s chief executive will step down from the position in 18 months.
“In theory you are having a CEO who is a lame duck for the next 18 months, so nobody is ready to take his direction. He is [no longer] accountable because he is already having no cooperation from his people,” Al Baker said.
He added that “it is not something for people just to sit in a position and get the perks … [they have to] actually serve the industry.”
Al Baker, a staunch advocate of the airline industry, is known to be vocal in his criticisms of those seen to be impeding the sector.
