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IATA under fire for lack of transparency

By Issac John DUBAI - The International Air Transport Association, or IATA , came under heavy fire from leading carriers for its lack of full transparency and voting process as the global body announced leadership changes at its Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Singapore.

Emirates, Qatar Airways and British Airways fired broadsides at IATA and called for the association to be more transparent about its voting processes to elect its new leadership.

Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways , accused IATA of being "run for the few, by the few."

Al Baker, who sparked off a tense debate about the structure of IATA and its finances, joined British Airways and Emirates in calls for the association of 238 global carriers to be more transparent about its voting processes. He was backed by a number of international airlines over IATA 's failure to show clear transparency in its election processes.

Al Baker questioned some of IATA 's expenditure, including $18 million on travel, $58 million on data processing and IT and $29 million on outsourcing and consultancy. He called on IATA to justify "such large sums spent on travel" and the processes by which consultant and outsourcing contracts were awarded.

The Qatar Airways chief backed a motion for IATA to reconsider the appointment of its auditors, having been unconvinced about the industry body's financial accounts and auditing process, a Qatar Airways statement emailed to this paper said.

Regarding the nomination of James Hogan, Etihad chief executive officer, by IATA as a new board member Al Baker told the AGM: "We believe such issues should not be surprises. Firstly, such decisions should be transparent and secondly, if geographical representation is the basis of the composition of the board, the regional airlines involved should be informed in advance of their regional allotments so that they can coordinate who should represent them." Emirates called for greater dialogue to ensure IATA was more transparent while International Airlines Group, the holding company of British Airways, sought clarity on the entire voting process of board members.

The debates created an unusual a level of tension during the normally carefully orchestrated morning sessions of IATA AGMs.

Peter Hartman, President and CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, succeeds David Bronczek, CEO of FedEx Express, as Chairman of the IATA Board of Governors following the completion of Bronczek's one-year term. Tony Tyler, former Chief Executive of Cathay Pacific, was confirmed to succeed Giovanni Bisignani as IATA 's Director General and CEO. Tyler's appointment is effective from July 1, at which point Bisignani will become Director-General Emeritus.

When asked about the issues raised during the session, Bisignani said: "This is a transparent association," but added: "The world has changed and this means the association must change, in a certain way."

In other developments at the annual meeting, Jazeera Airways was inducted into the IATA as a full airline-member. Air Niugini representative called for broader board representation and increased engagement with the smaller airlines in IATA . The debate over the growth of and competition from Gulf carriers also became a focal point at the annual meeting.

Emirates president Tim Clark responded by saying accusations of government aid are like a "cracked record. Show me evidence of a non level playing field."

Al Baker said the arguments against Gulf carriers made little sense in an "age of globalisation and free trade."

© Khaleej Times 2011