Akbar Al Baker is really mad about Mr. Anderson of Delta Airlines! He is saying the Anderson is misleading the U.S government and the American consumers. AAB was also saying that Anderson has no Ethics, no dignity and a weak personality and he will soon expose and un-cover him.

Quote from the article:

“I want to say in very clear terms, Mr Anderson is not a patriot of his country because what he is doing is stifling the interest of the travelling public in the United States. He is very single-minded in looking at himself. He still feels that he is a prosecutor - he was previously prosecutor before he came to Delta. He thinks that everybody is a criminal but he is forgetting his own backyard,” said Al Baker.
“I'm not going to mince my words and I am going to meet the press. I think Mr Anderson has never seen a CEO that will be so direct, so insulting and absolutely to the point to expose him. He is working against the interest of his own country. He has no dignity, he has no ethics, he has, in my frank opinion, a weak personality and is only hiding behind all this nonsense, misleading his government in a big way. I will go to the government in a very clear way, in a very precise way, in a very direct way to show them the misleading information,” he added."

source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/no-pl...-pre-clearance-at-doha-591841.html

Americans for Fair Skies and Partnership for Open and Fair Skies are stretching the truth quite a bit about the ME3 affecting American workers while ignoring the positives of partherships, interlines and codeshares with AA, B6, and AS.

Besides the fact that the thread title could be very easily misread ... 

This catfight is getting way too serious and attracting the wrong kind of headlines. Could anyone help out on what AAB means by saying "forgetting his own backyard"?

One BIG question, what did the U.S. airlines get out of open skies with the ME3 countries other than the availability to serve 3 cities?

Quoting papatango (Reply 3): other than the availability to serve 3 cities

Not to mention, that very few people in the US actually want to travel "to". Travel "through" sure, but not "to". And "to" is the only thing that matters to US based airlines.

Quoting papatango (Reply 3): One BIG question, what did the U.S. airlines get out of open skies with the ME3 countries other than the availability to serve 3 cities?

Fedex get to operate a cargo hub in Dubai for one. Then feed and codeshare. Of course, the important question is "what does the American consumer get out of this".

It's appropriate for AAB to rake Anderson over the coals on account of business practices and policies. But he crosses an unseemly line with petty personal attacks like: "He has no dignity, he has no ethics, he has, in my frank opinion, a weak personality and is only hiding behind all this nonsense, misleading his government in a big way."

The more I am exposed to AAB and his vicious, take-no-prisoners venom, the more repulsive he becomes. -ir

Quoting Ab345 (Reply 2): Besides the fact that the thread title could be very easily misread ...

First thing I thought of too, vulgar minds think alike.  

But seriously, the ME3 are half a world away from the US3, except for India....how much traffic do the US3 think they are losing? Not as if the ME3 are poaching the Chicago-NYC pax.

Sure Al Baker has no ethics at all!!!!

Quoting adamh8297 (Reply 1): Americans for Fair Skies and Partnership for Open and Fair Skies are stretching the truth quite a bit about the ME3 affecting American workers while ignoring the positives of partherships, interlines and codeshares with AA, B6, and AS.

Absolutely. The ads these organizations have in the market are completely mis-leading and on the verge of libel. It's embarrassing.

I'm told AAB will be in Washington, DC next week for meetings with key government officials. It's time the U.S. hears the other side of the argument.

Quoting AABB777 (Reply 10):

Whats the other side? "Let us fly everywhere anyime so we can make more money that won't go back to US tax payers"

Hardly anymore sympathetic.

Quoting AABB777 (Reply 10): It's time the U.S. hears the other side of the argument.

Quoting thekorean (Reply 11): Whats the other side? "Let us fly everywhere anyime so we can make more money that won't go back to US tax payers"

Pretty much, get ready for a whole bunch of patriotic ads on tv, just to get the population worked up, hell, that would probably work a treat.

For the non American's, we are running into an election year, politics gets down and dirty for a whole year and if you don't think that Anderson etc has had a quiet word with their congressional reps pointing out that DL etc can quite easily say that a vote by Rep xxxxxx cost x number of American jobs given to a Middle Eastern country, you are naive.

[Edited 2015-05-09 16:22:57]

Quoting jetwet1 (Reply 12):

Not saying I believe that but neither side really cares about the consumers or believe a word they say.

Quoting thekorean (Reply 11):

How exactly is the US tax payer someone that AAB should be worried about? If QR was taking advantage of something that was built with US tax money or using taxbreaks without having to give something back then yes , but I m not aware of anything like this. Correct me if I m wrong

What any country , or union of countries, does for their aviation industry whether that is flying or manufactoring is fair game when it aims to create growth and work through cooperation with internal and external competition. Let's take the US goverment for example. I ve never been comfortable with the relationship the US Army has had with Boeing (or Lockheed , McDonell) over the years and I think that the aviation world would have looked a lot different hadn't it been for the army. Boeing took advantage of the situation and went on to become a world aviation leader. And right they did. Whether all was legal and accounted for is not for me to judge and in the end it brought work and prosperity to the country. But when Airbus for example wants to build a FAL in Mobile , suddenly you hear about american job stealing? You should read the comments section of the Seattle Times when JL and DL ordered the A350.

On the other hand Boeing cries foul about goverment subsidies and launch aid that Airbus gets from European states. And right they are but then again 7 billion tax break from Washington for the 777X isn't state aid? Maybe it's not federal but then again EU is not like the US in this nature as an entity.

Anyway my numbers may be a bit off or I may have gotten the whole debate wrong but this has been discussed to death from both sides of the pond and what it comes down to is that now the US has to take on both the EU and ME3 while the EU does exactly the same. I don't think anyone is a winner here and this will just drain resources, time and in the end only lawyers will get richer  

Mr. Al Baker is entitled to his opinion. It does, however, appear to me that Mr. Anderson is speaking to issues, whatever your opinion of the issues. It appears that Mr. Al Baker is frequently inclined to ad hominem attacks and generally nasty comments. Of the two, I actually prefer to support Mr. Anderson.

Quoting Ab345 (Reply 15):

Never said he should,

But he can't make any case that US public should find sympathetic.

Quoting adamh8297 (Reply 1): Americans for Fair Skies and Partnership for Open and Fair Skies are stretching the truth quite a bit about the ME3 affecting American workers while ignoring the positives of partherships, interlines and codeshares with AA, B6, and AS.

But the good news is that when there is a trade war it's good for American jobs because instead of importing products, the USA can just make its own. OH WAIT, not with air travel. It's just frozen not producing any jobs. I wonder if anybody explained that to the unions???

Quoting Ab345 (Reply 2): Besides the fact that the thread title could be very easily misread ...

Same thought...

Quoting papatango (Reply 3): One BIG question, what did the U.S. airlines get out of open skies with the ME3 countries other than the availability to serve 3 cities?

Excellent point, USA should suspend Open Skies with Britain and France too. Also, Italy. And Japan. And Egypt. And Israel. And Panama. And Costa Rica. And New Zealand. And pretty much everywhere. We should only have Open Skies with countries with as many cities as the USA has. Let's see, that's pretty much Russia and China. The USA doesn't have Open Skies with either.

Quoting thekorean (Reply 7): No ethics from someone who's from Qatar is hilarious.

???

Quoting dubaiamman243 (Thread starter): weak personality

I think you can say anything about Richard Anderson except that he has weak personality.

Richard: The head of one of the most successful airlines in the world--having presided over one of the most seamless mega-mergers in corporate history. Richard is also a very nice person for those who haven't met him. He's also surprisingly humble.

AAB: Genuine a-hole, running a company that's never had to earn a dime and has been given everything it has.

Quoting IslandRob (Reply 6): The more I am exposed to AAB and his vicious, take-no-prisoners venom, the more repulsive he becomes. -ir

  

Well that was good for a laugh.

"It's not subsidies for us. It's proper government equity in a company that is owned by the sovereign fund of my country."

While I tend to believe that the US airlines don't have a solid case on subsidies, saying that you've got government money in your government-owned company isn't exactly helping your 'we don't get subsidies' argument.

"The problem is when you start flying 767-200s around, which is a 35-year-old aeroplane and stopped production two decades ago, fooling your customers"

Apparently he's fooled Al-Baker as well, since DL hasn't flown the 762 for a while - those are 763s (and they're very nice ones at that - their interiors are as good as they come).

"He has no dignity, he has no ethics"

Given how Qatar treats its staff, Al-Baker has absolutely no grounds for referring to anyone else as lacking dignity or ethics.

-Mir

Quoting dubaiamman243 (Thread starter): AAB was also saying that Anderson has no Ethics

I hate this guy. He's a hothead who feels he's entitled to US resources, and can complain about the US3 and EU3 crying foul. His country doesn't have a gazillion frequencies a day from the US3 or EU3, and if he did, I bet he'd be whining about it too.

[Edited 2015-05-09 21:55:44]

Quoting Mir (Reply 24): While I tend to believe that the US airlines don't have a solid case on subsidies, saying that you've got government money in your government-owned company isn't exactly helping your 'we don't get subsidies' argument.

Half the world's airlines are fully or partially owned by their government.

Quoting 29erUSA187 (Reply 25): From the man who's country may fund terrorism

Actually one of the "moderate Syrian groups" that the USA Congress voted to provide weapons to joined Al Qaeda in the last couple of months taking that all with them. There are no clean hands.

Quoting dubaiamman243 (Thread starter): AAB was also saying that Anderson has no Ethics

I'm sure it's not the first time he's heard that, he has the stones to take a verbal beating ot he's not CEO material.

Quoting Ab345 (Reply 2): Besides the fact that the thread title could be very easily misread

I was going to suggest a slight word change, this title has a pretty bad double meaning ... HA!

Quoting papatango (Reply 3): One BIG question, what did the U.S. airlines get out of open skies with the ME3 countries other than the availability to serve 3 cities

That sounds about right, Oh boy. The US3 can't hardly support a route when there is a war in the region & lots of people are going back & forth. There is little that a US carrier can do with that. The big winners are the ME3 & the US public. Who will get cheaper airfares in 10 abreast 777's on 14 hour flights.

Quoting IslandRob (Reply 6): But he crosses an unseemly line with petty personal attacks like: "He has no dignity, he has no ethics, he has, in my frank opinion, a weak personality and is only hiding behind all this nonsense, misleading his government in a big way."

Well, he did say he would not mince his words, I guess that is how he feels, that's freedom of speech here. It certainly is not the sugar coated crap that's being said most of the time, refreshing, some may say.

Quoting OzarkD9S (Reply 8): First thing I thought of too, vulgar minds think alike.

OMG, I'm in the club as well ...   

Quoting enilria (Reply 18): Excellent point, USA should suspend Open Skies with Britain and France too. Also, Italy. And Japan. And Egypt. And Israel. And Panama. And Costa Rica. And New Zealand.

The only difference I can see is that every place you've listed (maybe sans Egypt) are places Americans want to go & also travel to a lot more than the Middle East.

Also each place you listed (maybe sans Costa Rica) has millions of people, who do travel to the US. The ME3 countries total a small population base (I'm not including workers) In a very inhospitable swatch of land with lots of sand, that Americans as a whole, rarely visit or want to visit.

Quoting AABB777 (Reply 10):

A lot of what I am seeing was expressed by another poster very eloquently, protectionism wrapped up in a flag. There is another side to this, and we have seen other U.S. entities (Boeing, FedEx) come out against this recent political exercise by the US3.

This is not the first forum this has been raised, I believe it is their 3rd large scale attempt, in other forums other U.S. carriers also withdrew their support.

Quoting Mir (Reply 24):

The structure QR has is very similar to SQ, SQ has Temesek behind it which is the Singapore soverign wealth fund of the government. Most flag airlines had government investment, and it was not considered a subsidy.

Quoting dubaiamman243 (Thread starter): AAB was also saying that Anderson has no Ethics, no dignity and a weak personality

Oh the irony in that coming from AAB...  

Quoting dubaiamman243 (Thread starter): “I'm not going to mince my words and I am going to meet the press. I think Mr Anderson has never seen a CEO that will be so direct, so insulting and absolutely to the point to expose him. He is working against the interest of his own country. He has no dignity, he has no ethics, he has, in my frank opinion, a weak personality and is only hiding behind all this nonsense, misleading his government in a big way. I will go to the government in a very clear way, in a very precise way, in a very direct way to show them the misleading information,” he added."

You know you've lost the argument when... Especially when you're not making money like EK or DL.

Quoting 777Jet (Reply 29): Oh the irony in that coming from AAB...

  

Quoting Mir (Reply 24): Given how Qatar treats its staff, Al-Baker has absolutely no grounds for referring to anyone else as lacking dignity or ethics.

  

Quoting thekorean (Reply 7): No ethics from someone who's from Qatar is hilarious.

  

Hell ! That's all we've been talking about. Akbar? All you have to DO is come in and set all this straight (if you can)
Because your days for talking are coming to an END. Got it? If Anderson is Wrong?
Then you can put this all to right. and Put it all to BED. I think Anderson is "turning the SCREWS" On Al Baker personally Though I'm not really sure of his motive
I know if he succeeds in "jacking up" the ME3 Airbus is going to have their A380 sales go down the toilet until they're converted to freighters "or Box cutters".
I can't help but think there is an end game scenario in this but I'm not exactly sure what or where the point of it is.
I know when the ME3 were awash in oil they used it like a weapon.. Now that only the Saudi's are still awash in oil something is really amiss here because the Saudi's are
not getting into this "fray" And they're quiet about it as well. So? Is this long sought retribution for something Kuwait, UAE and Qatar did or said in the past?
This is hoot to watch but what is the end game here??
Neither United, American, nor Delta are gong to make money flying into the ME, that I'm almost sure of, So??
Is all of this in Retribution FOR some perceived slight leveled by one or all of the ME3?
Is Anderson taking up a cause for our friends in Canada because their military deployment to the ME was cut off because they
wouldn't allow unlimited landing rights in Canada TO the ME3?
I mean there's something behind what's going on here and is hasn't a damn thing to do with what's been said so far.
This looks like some "Cat and mouse game" that might not even have anything to Do with landing rights.
If I tried I could think of a thousand different conspiracies that might be happening. But I'm more interested in What do you guys think this is?
Because I doubt it's just Political. Somehow? This seems like Retribution to some perceived slight. Though I could be wrong.
And if I am? Then Why did Anderson pick this fight in the first place?? Because I get the impression that Smisek (UAL) and Parker (AMR) Could care LESS!
Unless I'm Mistaken on that as well.

Quoting thekorean (Reply 7): No ethics from someone who's from Qatar is hilarious.

        

Quoting thekorean (Reply 7): No ethics from someone who's from Qatar is hilarious.

Sometimes nine words just say it all.


It's time for the ME3 to be held accountable.

Quoting Mir (Reply 20): Well that was good for a laugh.

Why yes it was. When the US3 started going after the ME3 on this issue, I realized that we'd be hearing an outburst from Mr. Al Baker sooner or later (and probably sooner; so the delay came as a bit of a surprise). And I was hoping that he'd throw a tantrum worthy of a toddler.

And boy, he did not disappoint me one bit! That was fantastic. Classic Al Baker, really. It's a fine art and only he can throw tantrums while being a small bald middle-aged man wearing a suit in quite his artful style.

I do have to admit...the 767 jab was a bit below the belt. From a passenger perspective, I like the 767 a lot. I'll take a well-maintained DL 767 over one of QR's sardine can 787s any day.   

Some of you are shocked and appalled at what he said. My friendly advice is not to be. This is what Mr. Al Baker does and he makes this hobby of ours so amusing with his rants. I certainly wouldn't tolerate an employee that talked the way he does.

Maybe he should see yet another provocation by Al Baker, is well known; the best defense is a good offense ...
Or it may be necessary to see a sign of weakness in the building of ME3.

Let me explain; from the perspective of a European, European airlines suffer at least as hard ME3 competition than US companies, if not more .. And what Mr. Anderson has created is nothing less than a lobby for the development of the US aviation market, and against the pro-industrial lobby of Gulf carriers. And this is precisely what is lacking in Europe. Worse, we even show signs of submission to what appears to be as an inescapable tsunami of the ME3 in Europe; IAG has already lent their allegiance.

The real question is: should we abandon our aviation market in favor of an industrial logic of preserving jobs in aircraft manufacturers? Or should we protect both our aircraft manufacturers and our airlines operating these aircraft? The question deserves to be asked and it goes far beyond simply to ask what is good or not for the customers. Because it is a very short-term vision : When the airline industry has suffered thousands of layoffs under pressure from Gulf carriers, what will be left of these customers?

The fact is that this is precisely what worries Mr Al Baker: So far no state, no government, no industry had shown such a determined and outspoken opposition against the unfair competition of ME3. Because their competition has created unprecedented distortions with our European and US airlines (ie in 2014 at CDG; airport charges amounted to € 1.8 Billion, compared to Emirates who only paid .... € 470 million ...) .
Taxes and state subsidies to Gulf airlines leave them far ahead of everyone in terms of operating costs.
This competition is unfair.

Today American companies show the way in terms of combat to lead against the distortions of competition caused by the ME3. Their goal is to raise public awareness on the challenges faced and why they are seeking change.

The fight of Mr. Anderson's right, Al Baker knows it, and that seems enough to worry for him to take the trouble to (badly!) reply in this way by the press.

I would like for me to have an airline sufficiently supported by the trade unions in order to carry out a similar action in Europe. But for now this is just a sweet dream ...

Quoting BiggerJetsPlz (Reply 4): Not to mention, that very few people in the US actually want to travel "to". Travel "through" sure, but not "to". And "to" is the only thing that matters to US based airlines.

I think this is the most important point, there´s plenty of one stop options to travel anywhere in the USA to any other place, if they were offering open Skies to a plane like India where most of the traffic will be India-USA is great but offering open skies for another 1 stop option is not that great.

Quoting thekorean (Reply 7): No ethics from someone who's from Qatar is hilarious.

I think his ethics are not for the same ethics book most of us use.

I think we should dedicate one day to AAB in our calendar, so many ours of talking thanks to him, I would like to meet him once and talk to him, or actually listen him talking about aviation, I think he lives in another reality.

Quoting zeke (Reply 24): This is not the first forum this has been raised, I believe it is their 3rd large scale attempt, in other forums other U.S. carriers also withdrew their support.

Can you explain what you mean by "other forums", Zeke?

Quoting airproxx (Reply 31): Taxes and state subsidies to Gulf airlines leave them far ahead of everyone in terms of operating costs. This competition is unfair.

You are confusing 2 separate and different issues.

Subsidies would be unfair. I haven't seen proof that Emirates receives subsidies. Taxes and airport charges are sovereign decisions by each government. They are 100% fair.

Yes, there is no income tax in Dubai. But there is no state funded pension system either. Or state mandated bonuses, vacation time, 38 hour work week, minimum wage, unemployment benefits... Even garbage collection is not funded by the state.

The costs are lower so the fees are lower. France is free to do the same thing. It would probably result in a 10 year long strike, but they could try.

Quoting enilria (Reply 22): Half the world's airlines are fully or partially owned by their government.

It's not just (partial) government ownership.... Anderson can't walk up to the state of NY/the PANYNJ and demand them to build a superhub within 5 years that has capacities for beyond 100M passengers/year.

Even if such a project ever got on track it would probably take at least one and a half decades to get finished, have its costs skyrocket up and away into the trillions and end a couple dozen local politicians' careers.
Why? NIMBYs, Environmental regulations, a working and influential(!) opposition that doesn't end up behind bars for having an opinion and last, but not least, union-organized workers who get paid wages that allow them to live a modest life and if not they'd strike. Same goes for every other western or east-asian or Oceanian democratic country and its respective air carrier but NOT for AAB and QR.

That is just why

Quoting thekorean (Reply 7): No ethics from someone who's from Qatar is hilarious.

and pretty much the rest o what he said, as well. And I didn't even start addressing the highly unprofessional way he got personal towards Anderson with his insults.

This is another example of why this guy is a fake:

Background
Mr. Akbar Al Baker has been Chief Executive Officer at Qatar Airways since 1997. Mr. Al Baker has been a successful businessman in Doha for more than 25 years, and is also Chief Executive Officer of several divisions of Qatar's national airline - these being Qatar Airways Holidays, Qatar Aviation Services, Qatar Duty Free Company, Doha International Airport, Qatar Distribution Company and Qatar Aircraft Catering Company. He has been a Non Executive Director of Heathrow ...

This guy is a nobody outside his little circle. He could not fly a kite PROFITABLY, ... if he tried!

Trying to keep it short - but I don't think the 'ME3' are doing anything 'unfair' or 'illegal'?

For the last few years most manufacturers (and airlines) have given priority to greater range, and 'point-to-point.' The 'ME3' (brilliantly, in my opinion) have gone the other way - developed 'one-stop' solutions, based on their 'home airports' in the Gulf, that pretty well link up the whole 'populated' world - from the USA to China, and probably even Australia.

Nothing 'unfair,' or 'illegal,' about that. Just a helluva good idea. It's up to the rest of the world's airlines to respond - and I'm sure they will.

[Edited 2015-05-10 05:42:46]

Quoting sharktail (Reply 33):

The one I remember off the top of my head was a lobby group based in DC called Airlines for America. He was a lot more balanced back then identifying lots of structural issues in the US, remember he was saying the block time in the the 1950s on a DC6 between ATL and DCA is the same today on a 757.

This specific anti ME stance is very misdirected in my view.

Quoting dubaiamman243 (Thread starter): Mr Anderson is not a patriot of his country because

Debate and controversy and differing opinions are fine with me. I'm not interested in one of his ilk telling me who is and who is not an American patriot, thank you. I find the comment beyond offensive.

Quoting northwestEWR (Reply 19): Richard: The head of one of the most successful airlines in the world--having presided over one of the most seamless mega-mergers in corporate history. Richard is also a very nice person for those who haven't met him. He's also surprisingly humble.

No matter how "nice" Mr. Anderson is, the man has decided to start a political war with the UAE and Qatar, to the potential detriment of the US traveling public. This is the issue we should be focused on, not the wellbeing of UA, DL or AA and their shareholders. We, the US traveling public, care about efficient, high-quality and convenient air travel to multiple destinations, at the lowest cost possible. If the three mega-US carriers are unable to compete effectively with the likes of QR, EK or EY, then they need to work harder and stop complaining to our policy-makers! Why are these executives hiding behind public policy-makers, claiming unfair competition, when they should be devising ways of competing effectively with the ME3.

Any move to restrict, limit, or reduce the scope and coverage of our existing Open Skies commercial agreements with Qatar, the UAE or anyone else will simply damage us, the US traveling public. Finally, why are we allowing political arguments to govern commercial sectors, especially the commercial aviation industry?

As long as Al B keeps opening his mouth you have nothing to worry about. If a foreigner conducted themselves the same way in Qatar they would either be imprisoned or thrown out of Qatar. I think they enjoy acting and jumping up and down when they can't get their way. Something of a cultural thing.

Quoting xdlx (Reply 35):

He has created a world class top tier airline, unlike EK and EY which have foreign bosses, also Kuwait and Saudi with ten times the wealth are still stuck as run of the mill carriers, especially more liberal KU which is still in 1990s or even 80s, while Gulf Air which had the name. fame and al has pratically become a regional carrier.

This man is a complete idiot. He can think whatever he likes of Richard Anderson, but for an Airline exec to resort to name-calling is totally unprofessional and also speaks loudly about his character (or lack thereof). That kind of behavior just screams: "I have absolutely no class!"
Had he expressed his discontent in a firm yet dignified manner, he could have earned some points with his cretics.

I feel that AAB is living in his little protected shell in QR. The EU3 and US3 have a reason to complain. Theres like a million frequencies a day from the ME3 into the US and Europe. Theres what? 1x daily UA and 1x daily DL into the Middle East. If there was 50+ daily frequencies into the UAE or Qatar by the US3, you can bet your but EK, EY, and QR would be crying foul, and would have probably already gotten Open skies with the US revoked.

AAB and the rest are Hypocritical, Unethical, Entitled, jerks that have no right to complain about the US/US3's internal affairs.

Quoting enilria (Reply 17): It's just frozen not producing any jobs.

"Frozen?" DL plans on hiring 2000 flight attendants per year for the next 5 years. Not sure about other departments.

Quoting RWA380 (Reply 23): It certainly is not the sugar coated crap that's being said most of the time, refreshing, some may say.

Never will understand how lying can be "refreshing".  


The difference between these two CEOs is that Al Baker resorts to insults instead of actually coming up with meaningful arguments.........Richard Anderson, on the other hand has said nothing insulting and instead, just goes ahead with his own reasons for his arguments.

[Edited 2015-05-10 10:37:35]

Quoting migair54 (Reply 32): I think his ethics are not for the same ethics book most of us use. I think we should dedicate one day to AAB in our calendar, so many ours of talking thanks to him, I would like to meet him once and talk to him, or actually listen him talking about aviation, I think he lives in another reality.

So I take it that you wouldn't accept the spot anymore if they offered it to you?

Quoting 29erUSA187 (Reply 48): I feel that AAB is living in his little protected shell in QR. The EU3 and US3 have a reason to complain. Theres like a million frequencies a day from the ME3 into the US and Europe. Theres what? 1x daily UA and 1x daily DL into the Middle East. If there was 50+ daily frequencies into the UAE or Qatar by the US3, you can bet your but EK, EY, and QR would be crying foul, and would have probably already gotten Open skies with the US revoked. AAB and the rest are Hypocritical, Unethical, Entitled, jerks that have no right to complain about the US/US3's internal affairs.

The issue is not specifically about frequencies & service - or lack of service - to DOH/AUH/DXB by the US3. It's the bigger picture that an open skies policy with Qatar and the UAE benefits U.S. consumers by allowing many one-stop travel options to cities beyond DOH/AUH/DXB that the US3 don't offer. For example, QR offers U.S. customers easy connections via DOH to 12 cities in India and flies to four countries that have zero US3 service: 7 cities in Pakistan along with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. U.S. consumers are not proprietary travelers of the US3.

I am an American I have met both CEO's.

First,AAB is a very hard and blunt individual. Working with him is difficult at best.

Second, Anderson is in many ways exactly what AAB says. I for one despise his comments against the support to foreign airlines for purchasing of Boeing aircraft yet he used similar funding to buy Airbus aircraft. He is truly one who appears to hate americans through his actions. I am waiting for him to act supportive of American consumers and workers.

My first question for you is:
Have you really read the article linked to by the thread starter?

My next questions are:
How many of you found spelling errors or wrong use of words in this article?
Did you notice the strange use of personal pronouns in contexts where one usually uses company names?

To me it seems this article is a very poor translation to English after an interview/article in Arabic. Could it be that Al Bakar has expressed himself in more delicate terms than what the article reflects?

I find it intersting that so many countrymen of Mr. Andersson defend him in such certainty. I know it is strong national feelings in the US and they hate to be corrected of other then their own countrymen (I've been exposed to this big time in the late 90s as I was hired as an expert to help our US subsidiaries to comply with the GMP rules specified of FDA), but why can't the Americans accept that something that is proven to be wrong, isn't the truth. This is indeed a question about feelings vs the truth - I tend to rely on the truth.

The truth about Mr. Al Bakar I don't have, but I have seen things he supposed to have said I agree with and I have seen things I don't agree with. I will not characterize Mr. Andersson, but I met one of that executive type during my stay in the US in the late 90s and he didn't last long.

Everybody is working an angle; al Baker, Anderson...everybody. They will use every dirty trick in the book to gain some advantage.

Tomorrow, they may code share...if that's what would be best for both of them. There is no doubt that al Baker can act like a boor, but his outrage is no different than a football player shouting at the ref for a bad call. It doesn't mean anything, but it may gain an advantage down the road.

It will take years for anybody to settle the 'subsidies', question, (maybe years to just hammer out the definition of subsidy), and even when there is a judgement one way or the other, appeals may drag this out for decades.

Al Baker's outrage is a tactic...nothing more.

Quoting PDPsol (Reply 40): No matter how "nice" Mr. Anderson is, the man has decided to start a political war with the UAE and Qatar, to the potential detriment of the US traveling public. This is the issue we should be focused on, not the wellbeing of UA, DL or AA and their shareholders. We, the US traveling public, care about efficient, high-quality and convenient air travel to multiple destinations, at the lowest cost possible. If the three mega-US carriers are unable to compete effectively with the likes of QR, EK or EY, then they need to work harder and stop complaining to our policy-makers! Why are these executives hiding behind public policy-makers, claiming unfair competition, when they should be devising ways of competing effectively with the ME3.

To What Detriment are you referring to? And PLEASE be EXACT in your reply.
Anderson seems to be saying the ME3 cannot just come to the USA and ride Roughshod where ever they damn well Please.
I do not believe that this was isolated at all. This seems to have started (or the time I noticed it) around the time an American was traveling on a passport from Isreal and was denied boarding on an EK flight to Paris.
For all WE know? It could have been Anderson's Sister!!
I stated then that the ME3 were going to find trouble if they did that, And "Lo and Behold"?
Troubles they've got !! And the fact that American Delta and United are all in this "Fray" ??
Leads me to believe there is more here than meets the eye.
the ME3 cannot do anything to force the USDOT or the DOJ to do anything.
They made a mistake telling Can da to get their peace keeping forces out of the ME because they wouldn't allow unlimited Access to Canada.
Surely they could NOT have thought Nobody would Notice did they?. Whether intentionally or un-intentionally?
They poked a stick into a hornets nest and this isn't going away.
Whether it's all related? I cannot say. My airline, United is still flying fat dumb and Happy to the Middle East
But then again?? They'd BETTER!! Because the Rhetoric flying about right now? Had Better not affect one plane, Not ONE Crew Member, and Not One USA Passenger.
My Brother and Sister In Law have flown to DUX on My passes. they had a nice time, (But to be honest? They'd Better Had a nice time...