Qatar Airways CEO Calls American CEO "Frightened"

The more telling part is DP's inability to rally American investors to rebuff the unwanted stake purchase.

Not sure I would refer to Mr Al Baker as "most prolific." (Most fruitful? At what? Making braggadocious claims?). I'm thinking the word you're looking for might be "preposterous."

@JoeMart : exactly how do you think they could have "rebuffed" it ? If you're purchasing shares of a public company before the threshold that requires board approval, there's hardly anything DP could do.

I'm no fan of either AAB or DP, but I'm not sure how your suggestion is realistic.

For someone who heads a company that has lost a good share of its market due to an embargo of his carrier by neighboring countries, AAB is mighty loose with the term "freightened". If anyone should be frightened, it's him.

While I am in agreement that the ME3 are not taking jobs away from USA and think that they are actually beneficial for USA consumers, I cannot support Qatar (NOT pronounced cutter btw) Airways buying a stake in American. Qatar airways is owned by the government of Qatar and they support terrorists so why in the hell would we want to support terrorist? Besides, governments in general should not be able to invest in private industries

@F Costanzo

Not sure who "we" are, but the USA has a LONG history is supporting terrorists, both domestic and abroad. Just open up a history book on South America, South-West Asia, or Central Asia - to name a few. In fact, the USA still does. Not sure who you think they are in cahoots with in Syria, for a quick example off the top of my head.

f costanza: "Qatar airways is owned by the government of Qatar and they support terrorists so why in the hell would we want to support terrorist? "

They do?

Who, which, how?

Being gay is illegal in Qatar, right? Not much interest in this story or airline. And why anyone would support investment in a US company by a company with a long history of women/gay repression, from a country with Sharia law, is beyond me..

F costanza - they support terrorists and yet the USA within days turns around and sells Qatar $12B in US armaments?

@F Costanzo I've worked and traveled quite a bit in the Middle East .... you can pronounce Qatar as "cutter" or "Kuh-tar" .... It is, in fact, pronounced both ways in Qatar, depending on who you talk to. As well as in the Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

I've actually heard it pronounce more often as "kotter" than "cutter", and "kuh-tar". I've heard it pronounced "cutter" in the middle east, but less often than "kotter" and "kuh-tar".

It seems to have become the fashion nowadays in the comments section to have atleast one obligatory post stating that so and so country (mostly middle eastern ones) is anti gay/women/pro terror, and therefore supporting that country or its airlines is immoral/unethical/illegal/whatever. Not quite sure what these commenters hope to achieve by making such posts, but I sure do hope that they're holding themselves to higher ethical standards than the rest of us average misguided folks....

@Mr. Wise it is quite true that most countries in the Middle East have laws and customs that are mostly certainly oppressive to women and LGBT, as well as non Muslims and Jews (very specifically). Whether that means you should, or should not, fly on airlines associated with those countries is a whole different question.

Regardless, we should ask ourselves whether we are willing to support a regime that throws women in jail for "adultery" or executes someone for being gay. It's not a matter of being superior, in my opinion, so much as a matter of whether you live according to your principles, or not.

Eric, your reply seems well thought out to me, and I definitely agree with your statement that it not about being superior. What gets me is that certain commenters seem to have a holier than thou attitude when it comes to these matters, and I guess my post is aimed at them.