At this point I’m posting this simply because I find it to be one of the most hilarious cases of conflicting information in a long time
On Friday Flightglobal hinted at inside information that Qatar Airways would join the OneWorld alliance:
Oneworld will hold an event announcing a “significant membership development” on 8 October, coming amidst widely-reported discussions with Qatar Airways about joining the alliance.
The event will be held in New York and includes Bruce Ashby, chief executive of Oneworld, Tom Horton, chairman and chief executive of American Airlines, and Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group (IAG), according to documents obtained by Flightglobal.
Qatar has been linked to joining one of the big three alliances in the near future.
Then yesterday Reuters claimed that this wasn’t true, quoting their CEO:
Qatar Airways has no plans to join the oneworld airline alliance, its Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker said on Sunday, dismissing reports that the airline had become the newest member of the group as “rumor.”
Asked if the carrier would join oneworld, which includes British Airways, owned by IAG, Baker said: “No, we will not. It’s all rumors.”
Then late last night the Financial Times reported that Qatar Airways will be joining the OneWorld alliance:
Qatar Airways is set to be the first of the fast-expanding Gulf carriers to become a member of one of the global airline alliances, by agreeing to join oneworld.
Then today Reuters once again reported that Qatar Airways won’t be joining OneWorld, quoting the CEO:
Baker also said Qatar was not preparing to join the oneworld alliance after sources close to the airline group said that next week it would become the first Gulf carrier to join.
“Qatar Airways is not considering joining oneworld at this time,” Baker said.
Earlier on Tuesday sources close to the alliance said Qatar Airways would be unveiled as the group’s latest member at a news conference in New York planned for Monday.
Baker added he was not going to New York this weekend.
Man, this is some juicy drama! Every reliable source (other than the CEO, though not convinced he’s actually a reliable source!) I’ve heard from suggests that Qatar Airways will be joining OneWorld, so I guess we’ll see. If they do join next week, the CEO has some ‘splaining to do.
Given the inconsistent reports, I might as well add a poll. Let me know below if you think Qatar Airways will be joining OneWorld next week or not.
[poll id=”21″]
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.