Qatar Airways CEO: Still interested in investing in US carrier but don’t ‘want to rock the boat’

FAN Editor

Longtime foe of the biggest U.S. carriers is still considering an investment in an airline in the United States, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker told reporters at an event in New York on Thursday.

Qatar Airways in the summer of 2017 surprisingly expressed intent to buy up to 10 percent of American Airlines, a move that was rebuffed by the Fort Worth-based airline.

American along with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines had feuded with government-owned Qatar Airways and other Middle East airlines Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways over alleged government subsidies and their rapid expansion. The Middle Eastern airlines agreed earlier this year to make financial statements public to quiet the conflict, but the agreement stopped short of forcing the foreign carriers to cut flights.

Tensions continue over the issue, despite the agreements. Qatar Airways chief Al Baker said he is considering pulling out of the Oneworld alliance, which includes American, British Airways’ parent, International Airlines Group, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Latam.

American Airlines announced it was ending its code-sharing agreement with Qatar Airways in March and a similar agreement with Etihad saying “relationships between American and these carriers no longer make sense for us.”

Al Baker accused American of creating a “bad feeling” and said as the state-owned airline the Qatar government can invest in its carrier. He said he expects to make a decision “soon.”

“American is a founding member of Oneworld and we hope the alliance’s membership remains in tact,” said American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller about Qatar Airways’ threats to leave the group.

A spokesman for the Oneworld alliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Al Baker, whose airline is a major customer of both Boeing and European rival Airbus, said he is still open to investing in a U.S. airline.

“Any stable CEO of an airline would want to invest in the United States,” said Al Baker.

JetBlue Airways and Qatar Airways each have an investment in JetSuite, a private and scheduled charter company, but Al Baker declined to say whether his carrier would invest in JetBlue directly or any other airline.

“At the moment we are happy with what we have,” he said. “As you know there is a lot of resistance to Qatar Airways investing” in one of the three big U.S. airlines but that if the opportunity were to arise and it had the blessing of the U.S. government the carrier would be open to it.

Al Baker also said he expects Qatar Airways to privatize in the next decade.

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