LONDON – National flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Gulf Air has announced today that Captain Waleed Al Alawi has been appointed as a new Chief Executive Officer of the carrier as per Board of Directors resolutions passed today.
Captain Waleed Al Alawi has led Gulf Air in various capacities during his career with the airline. He assumed the office of Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Air followed by acting Chief Executive Officer.
Gulf Air ‘Boutique Strategy’
During that time, he was praised for his instrumental attributes in rolling out and implementing airlines ‘Boutique Strategy’ in 2018 where Gulf Air emphasising overall customer experience centric attributes allowing carrier to attract more passenger numbers throughout its network.
The ‘Boutique Strategy’ has led Gulf Air to scale new hights and was praised with various prestigious global awards with latest being ‘World’s Most Improved Airline’ award bestowed upon carrier in September 2022.
Captain Waleed Al Alawi
Captain Waleed Al Alawi bring along his decorated career spanning across 40 years with fine experience in the field of aviation across many verticals. With his journey starting in the field of aviation in 1980’s, he joined Gulf Air as a training captain of the carrier.
After years of dedication in the kingdom’s flag carrier, Alawi was handed over with even bigger challenges that led him to the top of the Gulf Air organisation, including that of leading the prestigious carrier in the pandemic era, one of the biggest setbacks and most critical period in the history of aviation.
Captain Waleed Al Alawi has abundance of experience in the business integration part of the industry along with his aviation background. He has exhibited strong operational experience along with reputed flying career of over 16,000 hours across the globe with cumulated flying experience onboard mix fleet aircrafts.
With his decorated part, Captain Alawi has been introduced to the high-level senior government projects supporting the Kingdom of Bahrain along with various major government entities. Captain Alawi has been known for his role in engaging in various productive dialogues with regional and international government bodies for the betterment and future of aviation.
Along with his professional qualification in the Aviation industry, Captain Alawi holds a Master’s Degree in Aviation Management from City University London, United Kingdom since 2007.
Gulf Air statements
Speaking on this day, Minister of Industry and Commerce and Chairman of the Board of Director at Gulf Air, H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani said “We are delighted to make this announcement and proud to add that Captain Al Alawi is the First Gulf Air CEO to have started his career with Gulf Air as a Cadet Pilot and reached all the way to the helm of the compan”
“We are confident that his knowledge and experience will take the company to newer heights and wish him all the best in his new challenge.”
Commenting on this exciting announcement Captain Al Alawi said that “I am both honoured and humbled by the trust of the Kingdom’s leadership, and the airline’s Board of Directors for appointing me as a Gulf Air’s Chief Executive Officer. Gulf Air currently has a great business model and a talented team that uniquely positions it to capitalize on the changing aviation environment.”
“As the industry evolves through restructuring and digital transformation, and with all the developments the airline has been going through lately; Gulf Air is in position to take the lead in today’s competitive travel market, and to reap the positive outcomes of its Boutique Strategy.”
