Qatar Airways must be an exception to an industry so badly gutted that it faces cash emergencies, unprecedented drops in demand and hundreds of planes parked and unlikely to be used for months. It continues to run an aggressive ad campaign.
Qatar Airways says its passengers can “travel in comfort.” It also claims it has “the highest levels in airline safety, hygiene standards and procedures.” If social distancing of six feet is what experts suggest to curtail coronavirus spread, its comments about safety are close to impossible.
Qatar Airways, however, is offering the ability for passengers to change travel plans through September 30. People can make changes free of charge. This at least acknowledges there is a trouble with global air travel.
What Qatar Airways does not mention is that passengers could be trapped in Qatar if the country decides to close its borders. Hamad International Airport, the carrier’s hub, is massive. It can handle at least 50 million passengers a year. That means tens of thousands of international travelers could be left without a way home.
Qatar Airways, unlike most other carriers, has an extremely rich parent, the Qatar government. Leading Qatar is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the monarch and head of state, who has an estimated net worth of $2 billion. In theory, that means Qatar Airways could operate through almost any economic downturn, even if it has almost no passengers.
Will Qatar Airways start to lose money? It says so. However, there is no sign it has or that it plans mass layoffs.
Will the very visible Qatar Airways marketing help the carrier get passengers, which is presumably its goal? No.
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