Qatar Airways chief executive hits out at US rival over passenger video

Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said that his airline would never treat a passenger the way United Airlines did. Satish Kumar / The National

The Qatar Airways chief executive has branded United Airlines “wicked” over a controversial video showing the mistreatement of one of the US carrier’s passengers.

United Airlines has faced worldwide condemnation since a video released online showed one of its passengers being dragged down the aisle of an aircraft and ejected from the plane to allow its staff to fly instead.

Akbar Al Baker, in a typically pugnacious mood on the opening day of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, said that his airline would never treat a passenger in this way.

“Even if the chief executive needed to travel he would sit in the jump seat,” he said.

Qatar Airways, along with Etihad Airways and Emirates, have been involved in a long-running dispute with the three main US carriers United, American and Delta claiming that the Gulf carriers have been given state subsidies in contravention of open skies policies. All three Gulf carriers reject the allegations.

With Donald Trump in the White House, and a shift to a more protectionist mood in the US, there had been some speculation that the open skies row would be reignited.

“I cannot believe they are still trying this form of bullying,” said Mr Al Baker. “Two US administrations, under Mr Obama and Mr Trump, have now looked at this and found nothing. They [the US carriers] only operate routes where they can swindle their customers, they do not represent the United States.”

Concerning an attempted US travel ban that targets 6 predominantly Muslim nations and a restriction on electronics carried on board flights from the UAE, Qatari and other Middle Eastern airports, Mr Al Baker said “I’m sure it will soon be resolved”, but gave no further details.

Mr Al Baker also announced 12 new destinations for the Qatari airline including a new route to San Francisco next year. Mr Al Baker said it had not experienced as much of a drop- off in demand for travel to the US as Emirates, which recently made cuts on five of its services to America.

“We have seen some decline in our traffic to the United States,” said Mr Al Baker. He said “some” means it is manageable. “We have not seen any massive declines like some carriers, we still have robust loads and revenues. In every downturn there is opportunity, which is why we are launching San Franciso and we will also launch Las Vegas in the first half of next year. The US is not the entire world, there are other geographies that we will expanding into as well.”

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