Qatar Airways is headed for an annual loss after a Saudi-led blockade of its home nation forced the scrapping of some routes and the diversion of others. The carrier expects to post a loss this year, though it’s too early to say how big the deficit will be, CE Akbar Al Baker said Tuesday. Net income at the group rose 22% to US$525m in the year through March. “It is painful because there are many routes that slide as much as 2 1/2 longer, and there are routes that are narrow-body routes where we had to convert to wide-body in order carry enough fuel to go the longer distance,” the CE said. All told, Qatar Air has lost almost 11% of its network and 20% of revenue, he added. Al Baker’s comments are his frankest yet following the imposition of trade and transport barriers by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE in June. <br/>
oneworld
Qatar Airways wants to create a virtual mega-carrier that will benefit from economies of scale in negotiations on fuel and aircraft purchases while it boosts investment in other airlines, its CE said Tuesday. The carrier announced a US$661m deal Monday to buy a 9.61% stake in Cathay Pacific Airways to broaden its reach and potentially allow the oneworld alliance member to increase traffic through its Doha hub. "Frankly, I wish I could buy more. But the Swire Group and Air China hold most of it and I’m the third-largest shareholder, which is not bad," Qatar Airways CE Akbar Al Baker said. Al Baker said that Qatar Airways wants shareholdings to be exchanged between itself and its portfolio airlines as it seeks to become a virtual mega-carrier. "I see a lot of synergies we could bring as a group," he said, <br/>
The CE of Qatar Airways has continued his war of words with rival US carriers who have jointly alleged for some time that Qatar Airways, along with fellow Gulf carriers Etihad and Emirates, receive unfair subsidies. Akbar Al Baker said Tuesday that those allegations were a smokescreen. "The allegations they are making against us are nothing more than just to protect their own companies from the unions who now want, legitimately, for their members to get better pay because of the record profits that they are making." Al Baker said US carriers should better look after their staff and consider following the Qatar Airways model of pay. "You know when my staff make the airline get profit, they get a share of the profit and the same should be done by these 3 American carriers who are making record profits," Al Baker said. <br/>
British Airways pledged to spend US$5.9b on improving its passenger experience as the airline looks to bounce back from a turbulent year. Some of the investment had already been allocated in previous announcements but it seems CE Alex Cruz wants to spend even greater sums on making the airline more competitive. It comes after a torrid year for the airline, which has seen it battle strikes, a massive IT failure, and criticism over its decision to eliminate free food on some of its flights. While Cruz didn’t link the recent problems with the improvement program, it is clear that he believes the airline needs to get better if it is to thrive. For one, the airline is going to reinstate its policy of offering 2 full meals on certain long-haul flights, an indication that its decision to replace one of these with a snack was a bad idea. <br/>
American Airlines Group and its largest regional affiliate will pay US$9.8m to resolve a lawsuit by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming the carrier failed to help disabled employees return to work. American and Envoy Air fired or put some workers on unpaid leave instead of making reasonable efforts to reassign them, federal officials say. The workers' disabilities included cancer and back and knee injuries, among others. The agency says violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act occurred from 2009 until August 2015. An American spokesman said the policies were holdovers from carriers that merged with American, which then worked to "harmonise” legacy policies with present standards. In addition to the settlement, the deal also outlines clearer disability policies for the company moving forward. <br/>