American Air CE 'frightened' by Qatar stake plan, Al Baker says

Qatar Airways ratcheted up a war of words with American Airlines over the Mideast carrier’s plans to take a stake in its US rival, as CE Akbar Al Baker said his counterpart Doug Parker is “frightened” by the proposed investment. Qatar Airways intends to buy shares of American if they’re attractively priced, regardless of Parker’s opposition, Al Baker said Thursday in his first public comments since news of the strategy emerged last month. “We will not impose ourselves on anybody,” he said. “However our filing is very well advanced, and we hope to start buying shares on the open market soon. We want to be a strategic shareholder. We’re not telling them what to do.” There are no plans to go beyond a 10% holding and certainly not to the maximum 20% available to a foreign carrier, Al Baker said. <br/>