Washington/Chicago: The head of Qatar Airways lashed back at criticism that state-owned Gulf airlines have an unfair financial advantage, saying efforts to block the carriers from American airports come from “greedy” US competitors.
There are no grounds for denying Gulf airlines access to US markets, Akbar Al Baker, chief executive officer of Qatar Airways, said on Wednesday after meeting with US transportation regulators in Washington.
Al Baker accused US airlines of “bullying tactics,” providing “crap” service and being unwilling to compete directly. The feisty comments made at a news conference and later in interviews thrust Al Baker again to the forefront of a spat between US airlines and three rapidly expanding state- owned Gulf carriers — Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways.
Al Baker declined in an interview to say how he addressed the charges during talks on Wednesday with US officials to lobby for maintaining the Open Skies agreement. He is the last of the three Gulf airline CEOs to meet with officials in Washington.
The CEOs of US-based Delta Air Lines, United Continental and American Airlines say the Gulf carriers have relied on government subsidies totalling $42 billion to compete unfairly, offering cheap connections via their hubs to snatch international traffic.
The US airlines have asked the Obama administration to keep the Gulf carriers from adding flights into the US pending a review of the Open Skies air treaties among the nations. They are set to reiterate their demands on Friday at a news event in Washington.
“The big three cannot back their claim of harm,” said Al Baker, referring to the major US airlines that brought the accusations to the US government. “They cannot in any way prove that there is any harm coming to them.”
He said US domestic airlines’ routes barely overlap with the Middle East and Asia routes of the Gulf-based carriers.
Al Baker said reopening treaties governing access to US airports by foreign carriers was a “Pandora’s box” because so many nations subsidise airlines or airports. He said it may also harm US companies that sell Qatar equipment or benefit from tourism.
Delta, American and United Airlines all benefited by shedding debt through Chapter 11 reorganisations and received subsidies after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Al Baker said. If they’re falling behind the Gulf carriers competitively, it’s because their on-board service falls short of the cabin luxuries touted by Qatar and its peers, he said.
“They’re trying to hide behind the allegations that they are making against us for their failure to provide to their passenger the high standards of in-flight products,” Al Baker said.
He scoffed at the notion that the airlines should lay bare its financial information to prove it isn’t getting unfair subsidies, saying US carriers have already uncovered all the financial documents it needs in public filings in other countries.
