MOSCOW (RT) - The CEO of American Airlines has said the company is not "particularly excited" about an offer by Qatar Airways to buy up to 10 percent of the U.S. carrier.
"It makes no sense," Doug Parker told CNBC.
"I found it confusing. I was a little bewildered. Why an airline we are aggressively fighting would want to take a stake makes no sense," added the company head.
Since 2015, American, Delta, and United have complained about unfair competition from three Middle East-based competitors — Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways. The American airlines are against the expansion of their Arab rivals into the U.S., blaming them for keeping prices artificially low because their governments are subsidizing them.
According to Parker, the offer from Qatar Airways probably meant the attitude toward the carrier would change if it owned something American.
"If that is their motivation, it is misguided and ill-conceived. All this is doing is strengthening our resolve to defend our airline, which we will continue doing vigorously," he told CNBC.
Parker also said he found Qatar Airways' proposed investment "puzzling given our extremely public stance on the illegal subsidies that Qatar, Emirates, and Etihad have all received over the years from their governments."