An effort by Qatar Airways to purchase up to 10% of
American Airlines stock won’t dissuade American from its fight against the Gulf
carriers in a long-running dispute, American CEO Doug Parker wrote in a letter
to his staff on Thursday.
"If anything, this development strengthens our resolve to
ensure the U.S. government enforces its trade agreement regarding fair
competition with Gulf carriers, because we want to make it crystal-clear that
no minority investment in American will ever dissuade us from doing what is
right for our team members, our customers and all of our shareholders," Parker
wrote.
On Thursday, Qatar said it plans to make an initial
investment of 4.75% of American stock, the most allowed without advance approval
from American’s board of directors.
Qatar explained in a statement that it likes the
fundamentals of American.
The move comes as a feud rages on between United, American
and Delta on one side and Qatar, Emirates and Etihad on the other. The Big 3
U.S. carriers are pressing the White House to clamp down on the Gulf carriers,
who they accuse of accepting more than $50 billion in state subsidies since
2004, which is in violation of open-skies pacts between the U.S. and the nations
of United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The Gulf carriers deny the charges.
Qatar already owns more than 20% of IAG, the parent airline
group of British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling. It also has a 49%
stake in Italy’s Meridiana and owns 10% of South America's LATAM Airlines
Group.