Aircraft
I’m Backing American Jobs, Al Baker Tells U.S. Critics
Qatar Airways has ordered 10 Boeing 777-8Xs and four 777 Freighters.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker (left), seated with Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner, reminded his opponents that his orders for Boeing airliners support American jobs. (Photo: Gregory Polek)
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker (left), seated with Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner, reminded his opponents that his orders for Boeing airliners support American jobs. (Photo: Gregory Polek)

A $4.8 billion firm order for 10 Boeing 777-8Xs and four 777 Freighters gave Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker yet another chance to take a swipe at American critics, who say that it, along with other Middle East carriers, benefit unfairly from government subsidies. During a Paris Air Show press conference, he also repeated his threat to leave the OneWorld Alliance in protest of the role fellow member American Airlines has played in lobbying U.S. legislators to exclude Gulf carriers from the Open Skies route access policy.