The CEO of Qatar Airways has courted controversy by claiming that a woman would be incapable of doing his job.

Questioned over gender disparity within the aviation industry in the Middle East, Akbar Al Baker, who sits on the board of Heathrow airport and is the new head of industry body the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said only a man could be in his “very challenging” role.

“Of course it has to be led by a man, because it is a very challenging position,” he told a press conference in Sydney.

This comment was met by groans at the press conference for the annual meeting of the IATA.

Today it was announced that Al Baker had been chosen as the 77th chair of the IATA Board of Governors, a role that he will assume for a year.

Following the negative response, Al Baker later backtracked on his comments about women within Qatar Airways.

Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Show all 4 1 / 4 Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Jessica Sundquist: 787 Dreamliner captain at Norwegian Jessica Sundquist, a Swedish 787 Dreamliner captain for Norwegian, has spoken extensively about being a woman in the industry. In the past she’s spoken about the concept of “putting your femininity aside” in order to succeed. Sundquist says today that she felt she “didn’t have to do it”, but also wanted to fit into the industry “without being known as ‘the girl’”. Today, times are changing, she says, and more women are joining the industry – but it’s not all good news. “Despite working hard to get to where I am today as a captain at one of the most modern and exciting airlines, the industry still has a lot more work to do to give women more opportunities,” she says In the future, she’d like the discussion on gender inequality to remain “open and ongoing”, but argues that real action also needs to take place to make any difference. Norwegian Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Joanna Riggs: A380 first officer at British Airways First officer Joanna Riggs says she was never “particularly exposed to aviation as a career choice”, but became a BA cabin crew member after university in order to see more of the world. She says that entering such a highly male-dominated profession wasn’t daunting, but that she felt “lucky to have two other females” on her course. Colleagues have always been supportive in Riggs’ experience as have – for the most part – passengers, though some are “surprised” when they see a female pilot. “I hope it will one day be normal to everyone,” she adds. Some passengers give a “thumbs up or a girl power sign”. As for gender differences on the flight deck, Riggs says, “We are very professional on the flight deck so it doesn’t matter what the gender, race or sexuality of my colleague is. “Flying with a fellow female is always a treat though. My brother is also a British Airways pilot, and although I haven’t flown with him, I get the feeling we would be very similar. British Airways Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Lucy Tardrew: Boeing 747 captain at Virgin Atlantic Lucy Tardrew had always wanted to join the RAF, she says, but it was never allowed to happen – because ”they weren’t taking girls at the time”. Instead, she travelled to America, where she trained before becoming a flying instructor. After returning to the UK and converting her licences, she began flying night mail – “literally all the posts around the country at night” – before stints flying executive jets, and last-minute jobs including air ambulances and freighting transplant organs, before joining Virgin 23 years ago. Tardrew is enthusiastic about the company, but is saddened that the ratio of women in the industry as a whole remains low. As for challenges in the workplace, she’s never experienced any discrimination. Noting the rare pay equality in the piloting industry, Tardrew feels the reason there aren’t more female pilots is down to the fact that ”there aren’t enough female role models for schoolchildren to think, ‘I’m going to become an airline pilot’.” Virgin Atlantic Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Kate McWilliams: captain at easyJet At 26, Kate McWilliams became the youngest commercial captain in the world. “I love being a captain for easyJet,” she says. “And I’m really happy to be working for an airline that is working hard to increase the number of female pilots.” Flying was always her goal – but she didn’t realise how far she could take it. “I joined the air cadets at 13-years-old, but it wasn’t until much later that I realised I could become a commercial pilot,” she says. “EasyJet is aiming to inspire young women, with the Amy Johnson Flying Initiative and their sponsorship of the Brownies, giving girls aged seven to 10 the opportunity to earn an Aviation Badge. The work it’s doing is really important.” The Amy Johnson Flying Initiative was launched in October 2015 with the aim of doubling the number of female new entrant pilots, to 12 per cent, over a two-year period. After achieving its aim in the first year, the airline set a target of 20 per cent for new entrant cadet pilots in 2020. easyJet

“I was only referring to one individual, I was not referring to the staff in general,” he clarified. “You know we have more than 33 per cent that are female in Qatar Airways.”

He went on to state that his airline introduced female pilots and engineers fairly early on and that the Qatar Airways training programme consists of more women than men.

“There is no gender inequality in Qatar Airways or in my country,” he said. “It will be my pleasure to have a female CEO candidate that I could develop to become CEO after me.”

Al Baker has since issued an apology for the comments that he made, as outlined in a statement provided to The Independent:

"I would like to offer my heartfelt apologies for any offence caused by my comment yesterday, which runs counter to my track record of expanding the role of women in leadership throughout the Qatar Airways Group and has been sensationalised by the media," he said.

"Women comprise almost half (44 per cent) of our work force, and the dedication, drive and skill they bring to their jobs tells me that no role is too tough for them, at all levels of the organisation.

"Qatar Airways firmly believes in gender equality in the workplace and our airline has been a pioneer in our region in this regard, as the first airline to employ female pilots, as one of the first to train and employ female engineers, and with females represented through to senior vice president positions within the airline reporting directly to me.

"Qatar Airways is made stronger by its female employees for whom I hold nothing but the highest regard. I support all IATA initiatives to promote the advancement of women in our industry, and I am a strong advocate for these and will continue to be moving forward."

As part of the 74th IATA annual general meeting, which took place on 3-5 June, a 20-minute interview about the importance of gender equality in aviation was conducted with Mandi Samson, acting managing director of Air Namibia, and Mylene Scholnick, principal of consulting firm ICF.