Exclusive | Oneworld prepared for Qatar Airways to leave but it is not giving up on trying to convince them to stay put
- Rob Gurney, CEO of the airline alliance, tells Post the group wants Doha-based carrier to stay
- Oneworld is continuing with biggest membership expansion in several years, having recently added Royal Air Maroc to its roster, with China Southern Airways possibly to come
Oneworld is braced for the exit of gulf carrier Qatar Airways, but the airline alliance has made a plea for the Gulf carrier to stay within the global airline grouping.
Despite the fissures in the global pact, CEO of the alliance Rob Gurney said in an exclusive interview with the Post that the group was ploughing on with its biggest expansion of member airlines in several years.
Qatar Airways remained a member of the airline club as of the conclusion of the biannual Oneworld board meeting in New York last week, having not yet carried out its threat to quit, according to multiple sources who were present. The Gulf airline confirmed this was the case, in spite of its CEO Akbar Al Baker skipping the gathering entirely.
Gurney praised the Gulf carrier as a “terrific airline” but he made an impassioned plea for its member to stay.
“We think the alliance adds a lot of value to them. They add a lot of value to the alliance. We don’t want them to leave, but at the end of the day, this has got to work for them; it has got to work for everybody,” he said.
The Doha-based carrier previously gave a deadline of Christmas before it would make good on its promise to leave. Alliance insiders, however, expected formal notice to be given at the New York board meeting.