Akbar Al BakerCEO of Qatar Airways, is not known for mincing his words. And in recent weeks, his wrath has been directed at the alliance Oneworldwhich Qatar Airways joined in 2013. The CEO of Qatar Airways expressed his frustration with a group that would not allow him to fulfil his growth ambitions. Akbar Al Baker spoke in particular ofhostility of American Airlines and Qantas. At a press conference in New York, the voluble CEO of Qatar Airways blasted the negative attitude of American Airlines, which in 2017 put obstacles in his way to prevent him from acquiring 10% of its capital. American Airlines is also following US position on distortion of competition from which the Gulf airlines benefit, in particular Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways - the latter three being accused of benefiting from government subsidies to maintain routes deemed to be loss-making and fares deemed to be too low. The American carrier has also terminated its codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways, despite the alliance...
Qatar Airways' grievances are not just directed at American Airlines. The airline also has a grudge against Australia's Qantaswhich also seems reluctant to see any expansion by the Qatari carrier in Australia. It has to be said that Qantas has a very extensive cooperation agreement with Emirates Airlinesmany of its passengers via Dubai. Qatar Airways' expansion in Australia is therefore seen as more negative. Last week, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce suggested that Qatar Airways should make good on its threat and leave Oneworld. Speaking to the Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post, the Australian airline's CEO said that if "Qatar Airways decided to leave because the alliance was no longer delivering the expected benefits. Nobody should be in an alliance if it's not working. If [Qatar's management] think they'll do better outside the Oneworld framework, that's their decision"..
The departure of Qatar Airways could therefore take place in 2019 but many experts believe that the carrier's potential exit would enable it to create its own capital alliance. Qatar Airways is already present in the capital of IAG, Latam and Cathay Pacific and has invested in Air Italy, its first European subsidiary. On paper, therefore, it would have the means to building a new alliance or a group with a truly global footprint. All the more so as there are rumours of Cathay Pacific's possible exit from Oneworld. A reorganisation in the offing, then, which could see the emergence of an attractive new force in the business travel market...
