Qatar Airways CEO Trolls Delta CEO

Qatar Airways CEO Trolls Delta CEO

The CEO of Qatar Airways, Ali Al Baker, said that a route from Doha to Atlanta, slated to start June 1, 2016, would “rub salt in the wounds” of Delta.

The remark was made by the CEO at a time tension between the two companies is high.  Qatar’s taunts are directed towards the U.S. big carrier that has provided the greatest opposition to Qatar’s expansion into the U.S. market.  Delta has led the large among the three big U.S. carriers against the expansion, saying it isn’t right that airlines subsidized by the Gulf countries are able to undercut U.S. companies that aren’t subsidized by the government.  Delta recently canceled its service from Atlanta to Dubai and blamed it on the Middle East airlines.

According to Forbes:

Qatar, which continues to expand rapidly, will begin daily Doha-Boston on Wednesday, March 16. Boston will be its ninth U.S. destination and will be served with an Airbus A350 XWB, the world’s newest airplane.

Philadelphia, where service began Jan. 1, also has A350 service, and a second daily flight to New York Kennedy International Airport will begin April 1: it too will be served by an A350.  The Atlanta route will have a Boeing 777-200LR.

Delta ended Atlanta-Dubai service on Feb. 11. “The cancellation of nonstop service between Atlanta and Dubai comes amid overcapacity on U.S. routes to the Middle East operated by government-owned and subsidized airlines,” Delta, said in announcing the cancellation in October.

The remark really is laudable.  The U.S. carriers are carrying on about their competition because the product they offer is a threat to the U.S. airlines.  Instead of trying to improve their products just a little, in order to match that of the Middle Eastern/Gulf airlines, they have attempted to have the government step in and prevent airlines like Qatar from entering the market.  These airlines are good for consumers, which is the most important thing to focus on when considering this issue.