IAG CE Willie Walsh believes there is a real likelihood that the Qatar Airways’ CE will follow up on his public statements and take the carrier out of the oneworld alliance. Qatar Airways Group CE Akbar Al Baker has said the carrier could exit from oneworld in 2019. During an October media briefing in New York, Al Baker said American Airlines has been “talking against Qatar Airways.” Friction arose between the American and Qatar CEs over the alleged subsidy campaign that American, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines ran against Qatar, Emirates and Etihad Airways. This was exacerbated when Qatar Airways revealed in June 2017 that it was looking to take a 10% stake in American. That move was strongly and publicly rebuffed by American CE Doug Parker and the bid was dropped soon after. <br/>
oneworld
British Airways has been accused of providing “deplorable service” after more than 100 London-bound passengers were stranded in the US for nearly 3 days due to a technical fault on a plane. Passengers said their children were forced to sleep on the floor of New York’s JFK airport after their flight from Orlando in Florida to London was diverted. Flight BA2036 was scheduled to leave Orlando and arrive in London 8 hours later. But after being held up by a “technical defect” and then a diversion to New York, it arrived in London 77 hours late. Passengers said many people were stranded at JFK without information, accommodation or access to food or drink for several hours. The company said it had been unable to find accommodation for all passengers because the New York marathon meant that hotels were fully booked. <br/>
Faced with a significant rise in fuel costs, Royal Jordanian reported a Q3 net profit decline of 28% to JD22.9m (US$32.3m) compared to the year-ago period. The carrier’s fuel bill increased 43% to JD41.3m year-over-year. To deal with fuel costs, the company has been offering “continuous sales promos,” president and CE Stefan Pichler said. The marketing efforts contributed to a 7% Q3 increase in the number of passengers carried, resulting in a two percentage point boost in load factor to 77%, he said. Revenues grew 2% YOY to JD198m, while operating costs rose by 9% to JD153m. For the first 9 months, passenger numbers grew 4%, while load factor increased from 71% to 74% YOY. The company reported a JD10.2m net profit for the 9-month period, an 87% increase. <br/>