Ted Reed
July 22, 2017
Leaders of the big three U.S. airlines and the unions representing their pilots and flight attendants have spoken out against Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker’s remark identifying U.S. flight attendants to grandmothers.
Now Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, has gone one step farther. The union has taken out an ad in Ireland, where Al-Baker made the remark.
“Who Hates Grandmothers?” proclaims the headline on ad that appeared in the Saturday edition of The Irish Times, Ireland’s largest daily newspaper.
Under a photo of Al-Baker, the ad contains four paragraphs of text and is signed by APA President Dan Carey, who is of Irish descent. He and his wife have homes in Rockville Centre, N.Y. and Ballyporeen, Ireland.
The text says that Al-Baker: “recently complained to guests at a Dublin gala that cabin crewmembers on US airlines are ‘grandmothers’ and characterized U.S. carriers as ‘crap’. The gala Qatar Airways’ new Dublin-Doha route.
“I have news for Mr. Al-Baker: We love grandmothers and we’re proud of our co-workers’ skill and experience. We rely on it every day on flights across the globe.
“If you’re like us and love grandmothers too, consider flying American Airlines,” the ad says. It then lists 11 U.S. destinations including New York, Charlotte, Philadelphia, California, Texas and Arizona. “Like Doha, some of the places we can take you even have sand,” it says.
Two of the four principal American Airlines labor unions are headed by New Yorkers with strong Irish roots. John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union, is Irish; has lived his entire life in Brooklyn, and is a strong admirer of Mike Quill, the co-founder of TWU who fought for the Irish Republican Army before immigrating to New York and going to work for the IRT subway line.
Speaking two weeks ago in Dublin at a celebration of the launch of Qatar Airways' Doha-Dublin service, Al-Baker referred to the "excellent service from our international cabin crew," adding, "By the way, the average age of my cabin crew is only 26 years."
By contrast, he said, "You know you are being served by grandmothers on American airlines."
Al-Baker also said, "There is no need to travel on those crap American carriers."
A video of Al-Baker speaking was posted on YouTube by Travel Extra, an Irish newspaper that covers travel. A few days later, Al-Baker apologized.
“The remarks were made informally at a private gala dinner, following comments about the Qatar Airways cabin service, and were in no way intended to cause offense," Al-Baker said in a prepared statement. "This is a time of strong rivalry between our airline and the U.S. carriers, and we are of course immensely proud of our own cabin crew.”
Al-Baker is locked in a conflict with American, Delta, and United because Qatar Airways, along with Emirates and Etihad Airways, all subsidized by their governments in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, have expanded rapidly in the U.S. in violation of the Open Skies agreements that enable the expansion.
"Our competitors who violate trade agreements are doing it from offshore, so we’re going offshore to fight them,” said APA spokesman Dennis Tajer
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Your dues thrown away!
A retired African American vice president - opined:
- When Willie Randolph (former Mets Manager) was ridiculed for saying having ‘grew up in Brooklyn and went to Samuel J. Tilden High School’ - wonders if it was a skin color issue.
- Whether John Samuelsen will defend other nationalities airlines - Jamaican Airways, Caribbean Airlines or South African Airways.
- A right hand man of Samuelsen who is over 59 years of age, divorced his high school sweetheart (she was old in his view = grandmother), married a young female who is 20 years old (over 35 years age difference).
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