The US airline industry has hit back against ‘insulting’ comments made by Qatar Airways’ CEO about ‘crap’ US carriers and the age of their cabin crew.
In a message to its staff, American Airlines vice president of flight service Jill Surdek accused Qatar boss Akbar Al Baker of making ‘incredibly offensive’ comments, which were ‘both sexist and ageist at the same time’.
The row between the Oneworld partners broke out after the CEO of the Middle East airline said passengers on rival US carriers are ‘always served by grandmothers’.
He was speaking at a gala ball at the InterContinental Hotel, Dublin, to celebrate the launch of a new route between the Irish city and Doha last week.
During his speech, Al Baker talked of the advantages of traveling on Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
He also mentioned the ‘excellent service from our international cabin crew’ and added: "By the way, the average age of my cabin crew is only 26 years. So there is no need for you to travel on these crap American carriers."
Meanwhile, the Air Line Pilots Association said the Qatar chief had ‘sunk to a new low’ and the Allied Pilots Association at American called the comments ‘insulting, disrespectful and childish’.
Inevitably, it brought another chorus of scorn from the airline lobby fighting the ‘unfair’ subsidies it says are enjoyed by Gulf carriers Qatar Air, Emirates and Etihad.
"Mr. al Baker’s comments are misogynistic and demeaning, and they are offensive to the hardworking Americans that his subsidized airline is trying to put out of work," said Jill Zuckman, chief spokeswoman for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies.
"Flight attendants have battled sexism and ageism for decades, and Mr. Al Baker is trying to perpetuate these ideas to attack American jobs."
