Emirates dismisses Delta apology. Photo Alessandro Caproni
The war of words between Delta Airlines and the Gulf carriers continues, this time with a flat-out rejection of Thursday’s apology by Delta Airlines for its CEO’s comments alluding to the Gulf carriers benefiting from the 9/11 terror attacks. Emirates released a statement that rejected the apology while also calling into question whether Delta CEO Richard Anderson is fit to lead a public company.
Emirates rejects the apology issued by Delta Air Lines in response to comments made by its CEO … which intimated a link between the Gulf carriers and the 9/11 attacks.
We believe that the statements made this week by Mr. Anderson were deliberately crafted and delivered for specific effect. This brings into question his credibility as a CEO of a US public listed company, as well as the integrity of the submission which his airline has submitted to the US authorities.
The submission in question is a report — which has only been seen by the airline and the U.S. government — claiming that over $40 billion in subsidies have been given to Gulf airlines, which is in direct violation of a global “open skies” trade agreement.
The original comment related to the 9/11 attacks was:
It’s a great irony to have the United Arab Emirates from the Arabian Peninsula talk about that given the fact that our industry was really shocked by the terror of 9/11 which came from terrorists from the Arabian Peninsula that caused us to go through a massive restructuring.
There’s sure to be more coming in this particular dramatic episode, as there’s plenty at stake here as far as the airlines are concerned. Onto round five of the Open Skies Showdown!