Labour leader to Qatar Airways: I don't want your J-Lo concert ticket

Qatar Airways' entry into the Atlanta market isn't drawing the response that its publicists would have wanted. Instead, the carrier, which will begin Doha-Atlanta service June 1, is embroiled in controversy, reflecting its battle with hometown carrier Delta as well as with airline labour unions over the rights of subsidised Middle East carriers to expand their US service. Tuesday, Qatar staged a celebratory concert by singer Jennifer Lopez in Atlanta. Lopez didn't respond to a request by the president of the Association of Flight Attendants to skip the concert. In a public letter to Lopez, the union head decried the country of Qatar's exclusionary policies regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as well as labour unions. Delta has been a leader in the effort by the big three US airlines and their unions to convince the Obama administration to limit the Gulf carrier's rapid US expansion. <br/>